Building Systems Scavenger Hunt

BUILDING SYSTEMS SCAVENGER HUNT

M. Lorena Reyes BahamonIND 5615 | Fall 2011

Assignment 1

Building Envelope

Location: My house

In this picture, three elements of the building envelope are visible: the exterior wall, a window, and the front door which is also made of glass.

Building Layers

Location: Brickell

This picture depicts three building layers: a lower layer which is completely commercial, in which restaurants and shops with high traffic can be seen, a middle layer with lower traffic or more private shops, and an upper layer (seen in the back) where parking occurs.

Energy Star Rated

Location: my laptop

The Energy Star Rated sticker on my computer is clearly visible, next to logos of other features, like the software and hardware of the computer

UL listed

Location: FIU

Here, the UL logo is visible on the side of a vending machine in FIU. Coincidentally, next to an Energy Star logo!

Porous pavement

Location: my house

The driveway in my house is made of loose bricks, that allow for water to drain between them, diminishing runoff. Grass and plants can be seen growing between the bricks.

Plenum

Location: Berenblum Busch Architects

Here we can see a closed plenum, with acoustic tiles.

Service Core

Location: Mary Brickell Village

The service core at one of the buildings in Mary Brickell Village includes storage, mechanical rooms, a staricase and elevators. (I forgot to include myself in this picture.)

Accessible doorway

Location: Chase bank, 8th street

The doorway at this location is clearly accessible because there is a ramp from the parking area to the entrance, there is no differentiation in the floorlevel of the door and the interior. The doors can be seen in the background.

Two people with different metabolic rates

Location: Lincoln road, Southbeach

Two people of different genders, weights and ages have different metabolic rates. The skinnier person probably has a faster metabolic rate. Also, woman, which is younger will probably have a quicker metabolic rate.

Source of UV and IR radiation

Location: My friend’s house

The tungsten lightbulb in this lamp emits both UV radiation and Infrared radiation, creating heat.

BONUS! LEED AP

My friend Nicole Snarski works for Cassidy Turley, a real estate company, as a Sustainability project coordinator, and was nice enough to send me a picture of her business card (she works in DC)

Lintel

Location: The Biltmore, Coral Gables

The horizontal element above the window is a lintel

Pilaster


Here I am standing between two pilasters. They look like columns embedded in the wall.

Load Bearing Wall


This wall is evidently load bearing because it is an exterior wall, more than fifty percent of it is solid, and seems to be very thick.

Live Load


This bellboy and his cart (and I) are live loads, since we are not actually part of the structure, and are easily moved.

Fenestration


This view shows many of the Biltmore’s windows, or in other words its fenestration.

Screen block style CMUs

Location: Miami Beach

I forgot to pose with this one, as I was driving, but the framed elements on the left are typical Miami screen block style CMUs.

Running Bond

Location: Miami Ave, Brickell

Although it is not easy to find brickwork in Miami due to its absorption of heat, I found this restaurant in Brickell. The brickwork is a running bond because of the style they are set in where the ends of the bricks on one row coincide with the middle of the bricks above and below them. This is more clearly seen in the picture.

Expansion Joint

Location: sidewalk in Coral Gables

This type of cut is made in the cement at certain intervals in order to allow for the material to expand and contract, reducing the cracking of the surface.

Exit Stair

Inclined platform lift on a stair

Couldn’t find one

Balustrade


These small elements (called balusters) that support a railing are called a balustrade.

Tread depth and riser height

Location: SIPA building, FIU

Here we can see that the main staircase in the SIPA building is compliant with the maximum riser height (7 “) and minimum tread depth (11”). Here they are actually 11.5” deep

Hydraulic elevator cab

Location: The Biltmore, Coral GablesAlthough I did not take pictures of a hydraulic elevator, a sign like this one would tell us it is hydraulic. This one actually says electric.

Elevator signals…


Here we can see raised braille on the buttons, the hall light (and yes, it did make sounds), ant that the height of the call button is compliant with ADA guidelines (we forgot a measuring tape, but measured with letter sized paper, and it is aproximately 44” above the ground

Graywater

Location: friend’s house, Coral Gables

These pipes drain the already used water from the kitchen sink. Since it has been used it is called graywater

Potable water

Location: my friend’s house, Coral Gables

The kitchen sink is (in the US at least) a source of potable, or drinking water), although many people prefer to filter it again.

Branch supply line

Location: my friend’s house, Coral Gables

The white element that the pipes are attached to are a branch supply line.

Shutoff valve

Location: my house

If you look carefully behind my hair you can see a residential shutoff valve, used to turn off the water supply to a toilet.

Large building solid waste collection


The solid waste collection area in the Biltmore is obviously kept away from the guests, in order to avoid unpleasant odors. It is interesting to note the communication between back of house and front of house areas in places like these.

ADA compliant sink p-trap


Here the p-trap has been recessed, covered in protective plastic, AND set behind a recessed cabinet, and thus protects handicapped guests from possibly burning their legs.

Commercial sink

Couldn’t get access to one

Interesting public restroom layout


This is in reality more than a bathroom, but the layout is interesting to me. As soon as one enters, one sees the stalls ahead to the left, and before this, immediately to the left one finds the sauna and steam room. The core of the area consists of the toilet stalls on one side, and showers on the other, making plumbing more efficient. Then further ahead was a place with stools for touching up, doing your makeup or styling your hair followed by lockers. The circulation is central, around the stalls and showers.

Interesting public restroom design feature


This folding cabinet is a nice way to hide plumbing elements, closing it off so that they are not available to the publicwhile making them accessible enough to be fixed when necessary.

Unique toilet!

Location: Kohls stand in HD Boutique, Miami Convention Center

Not only is this stall visually unique and out of the ordinary, but it included all sorts of “amenities”. These included warming your feet, an incorporated bidet, and an automatic lid.

Aesthetically pleasing finish but not functional

Location: Sipa building, FIU

This glass tile adds a pleasing aesthetic quality to the bathroom, yet It serves no functional purpose since it is so high up. If it were located closer to water or the sink one could say that it was placed there as a backsplash, but it is not.

Drinking fountain INSIDE a bathroom!!!!

Location: The Biltmore

GROSS!!!! This drinking fountain is actually set INSIDE the bathroom area of the gym’s women’s restroom. It is not separated by a door, and through the sequence of pictures one can see how close it really is to the stalls.

Building Systems Scavenger Hunt

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