COSC 354 EXAM 1 - BAILEY

Why is sustainability important?

Sustainability in construction is crucial for minimizing environmental impacts, reducing resource depletion, and promoting long term ecological balance

What 3 organizations hold companies accountable for sustainability?

LEED, International Living Future Institute, and Green Building Council

What are the four levels of leed systems?

Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum

Certified

40-49 points

Silver

50-59 points

Gold

60-79 points

Platinum

80 + points

What are the 7 pillars of sustainable construction?

Sustainable design

Durability

Energy efficiency

Waste reduction

Indoor air quality

Water conservation

Sustainable building materials

What is sustainable construction also called?

Green Design

____% of construction materials in landfills were because of demolition of buildings

32

Waste Conservation

→ Low-flow water fixtures (toilets and urinals)

→ Rainwater harvesting

→ Efficient irrigation - or no irrigation (plants that don't need much water for survivability)

→ Monitoring water use through technology

Integrated Design Process (IDP)

A holistic understanding from all parties (owner, architect, engineers, contractors) of the building design, construction, and operations. Help optimize sustainability, energy efficiency, and overall projects performance

Life Cycle Analysis

The method to quantify the environmental impacts associated with materials and buildings

Phases of a Life Cycle

1. Raw material extraction

2. Construction

3. Operations of the building

4. Maintenance (use stage)

5. Demolition and recycling

3 environmental impacts during the phases of the life cycle

Energy use

Emissions

Resource depletion

Cradle to Gate Analysis

tabulates the environmental impact of the material extraction up until it leaves the factory

Cradle to Grave Analysis

a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance

Commissioning Process

Is a systematic process of ensuring that a building performs in accordance with the design intent, contract documents, and the owners operational needs

Cons of Design Bid Build

There is little to no collaboration between the general contractor and the design team (architects and engineers)

Most of the time the owner selects the low proposer - which is not always the most qualified

Pros of Design Bid Build

- Competitive

- More control for owner (separate contracts)

- Known/predictable method

Construction Manager at Risk

The owner contracts with two entities, the design team and the construction manager

For this method, the construction manager is brought on early in the design stage for constructability reviews.

Pros and Cons of CMAR

Even though there are two separate contracts, the construction manager is typically brought on early for constructability review, so this method encourages collaboration

For the owner, the CMAR method does not always provide the lowest overall construction cost

There is a chance of potential risk for the owner that the GMP provided is not complete, so the dollar value submitted could increase

More transparency through the process of costs - All costs and fees are "open book"

Design Build

The owner contracts directly with one entity

The entity may be made up on a singular firm that does design and construct work, but also could be a joint venture between a contractor and design firm

Typically, the selection process is made through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) step, so Fees are not known at the time

Pros and Cons of Design Build

The contractor is brought on very early on the design stage to help with constructability reviews

This method encourages collaborations between the design team and construction teams

Typically used on more technical or challenging projects

For the owner, they most likely will not end up with the most competitive pricing

Typically can move quicker through the design because there is one entity so it increases the efficiencies of the workflow

What are the 4 Pre-Construction Design Phases

Planning / Programming

Schematic Design

Design Development

Construction Documents

A

Assembly

B

Business

E

Educational (elementary, middle, and high schools)

F

Factory Industrial (low and moderate hazards production or fabrication)

H

High Hazard (processes, manufacturing, or storage involving hazardous)

I

Institutional

M

Mercantile (grocery store)

R

Residential

U

Utility and Miscellaneous

Type I-II construction

(most common commercial construction)

Exterior and interior building elements must be noncombustible materials

Type III Construction

Exterior must be non combustible

Interior may be any permitted by code

Type IV Construction

(Heavy timber)

Exterior must be non combustible

Interior must be solid or laminated wood without concealed spaces

Type V construction

(typically residential)

Exterior and interior building elements may be any permitted by code

Two major Agencies

ASTM and ANSI

ASTM International

Formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials

Private Organization that sets standards of materials and methods throughout the U.S

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Private non profit organization that certifies standards for both materials and safety

Ultimately, ANSI is an umbrellas organizations that certifies the standards that other organization create

ANSI provides voluntary guidance on product safety and conformity - including regulations on work environments andj obsite safety

Construction Specifications Institute (CSI)

Large organization whose purpose is to create and maintain the standards that guide the construction industries communication and documentation

An estimator for XYZ construction company is providing a cost estimate for a building. The estimator is working on providing a conceptual estimate for the building piers. What Level 1 Group Element will this estimate fall into?

Substructure

Uniformat

Organized building scopes of work into divisions

Organizes the building systems into Functional Groups

Systems-based Organization

This is mostly used during conceptual estimating when you are broadly providing cost estimates on a systems level

Lean Construction

an approach to design and build systems that aim on reducing time, effort, and material waste

De-Centralizing information

there is not a single person on the project with the information

Geotechnical report

A tool used to communicate the site conditions, and construction recommendations to the site-design, building design, and construction personnel

Test boring

Are the actual method used to perform the subsurface exploration for Geotechnical reports

A depth that is pre-determined from historical information is given

Moisture Testing

Each soil sample is weighed, then dried, then weighed again.

Atterberg Limits

The moisture content at which the soil changes state (typically through determining the plastic limit and the liquid limit of the soil)

Plastic Limit

The moisture content at which fine grained soil can no longer be remolded without cracking

Liquid Limit

The moisture content where the soil starts to behave as a liquid

Plasticity Index

The Liquid Limit - Plastic Limit (PL is an important value when determining soil types)

Sieve Analysis

This is how to determine the USCS (Unified Soil Classification System)

A well graded soil is _____ sorted.

poorly

A poorly graded soil is ____ sorted

well

Permeability

The capacity of the soil to allow water to pass through it

High Permeability

Good drainage (typically seen in sandy soils; clay soils have low permeability)

Stiffness:

The resistance of the material to stress induced deformation (Elasticity)

Strength

The maximum shear stress the soil may sustain without experiencing failure

Well Graded Soil = _____ for compaction = _____ sorted

Well Graded soil =

GOOD for compaction

POORLY sorted

Poorly Graded Soil

Mediums, all smalls, but you don't have any larges = bad compaction

Uniformly Graded Soil

All smalls, all mediums, and all larges

Gap Graded Soil

Larges and smalls, large gap between particles

Well sorted soil

all smalls

Groundwater

Defined by any water below the ground surface

Water Table

Elevation at which soil is fully saturated

Hydrostatic Pressure

The pressure that water exerts on a surface when its standing still

Benching typical ratio

1:1

Angle of repose

the steepest angle at which loose material remains stationary without sliding downslope

Shoring

Supporting the sides of an excavation with an external system

2,3,4,5,25 Rule

2: Keep Soils 2 feet back from the excavation, so there is not a chance for the spoils to fall back in

3: Make sure your means of egress (typically a ladder) extends 3 feet past the top of excavation

4: At 4 feet, a ladder or stairs will be required for exit and egress

5: At 5 feet deep, a trench must have a protective system in place (sloping, benching, shoring, trench box)

25: At 25 feet deep, all excavations must have an engineered shoring system

For smaller excavations

a shore box is typically used

For larger excavations

typically soldier beams with planking, steel sheet piling, precast concrete piling, shotcrete, soil mixing, slurry walls, or contiguous piers

tangent wall

If the piers just touch one another

secant wall

If piers partially overlap

Soldier Beams and Lagging

Driven H Piles with wood lagging infilled

Steel Sheet Piling

Vertical sheets of steel are driven into the earth to where they overlap one another

Shotcrete

In areas where the soil is stable enough to support itself temporarily, the excavation can then be supported with pneumatically applied concrete. The hardened concrete protects the excavation, and supports from erosion.

Slurry wall

Before excavation takes place, a steel reinforced, concrete wall is placed to the depth of the excavation. This is a very expensive shoring method and only makes sense if it will be integral with the building foundation.

Used where there is high moisture, impermeable system

3 Types of Bracing

→ Crosslot Bracing

→ Rakers

→ Tiebacks

Crosslot bracing

Cross-lot or internal bracing transfers the lateral earth (and water pressures) between opposing walls through compressive struts

This uses temporary steel wide flange columns that are driven into the earth - the horizontal steel bracing is added to support walers

Waler beams

distribute weight over a wall, ensuring that the pressure is dispersed along the entire length of the structure

Rakers

Are an internal bracing system that transfers forces from the shoring wall to a theoretically more stable zone.

Typically these are supported by a temporary concrete foundation

Tiebacks

Tieback bolsters an excavation support system or retaining wall by anchoring into the soil behind the excavation

Tiebacks are used when there are soils behind the excavation that are stable enough to support the shoring system, are also used when the project site is limited and cannot support rakers or crosslot bracing.

Dewatering

With any excavation, standing water will need to be removed from the surrounding soils to promote safe working conditions and to reduce pressures on underground structures

Types of dewatering

→ Sumps

→ Well Points

→ Cutoff Wall

→ Soil Freezing

Sump Pit

The most economical and easiest method to remove water from an excavation is called a sump, or sump pit

A sump pit is an area where a hole is purposefully dug to a lower elevation where the rest of the site slopes to it, so have a central location for water to be pumped out of

Well points

Are an economical system to lower the existing water table to a predetermined elevation to control the groundwater levels in an excavation. This will create a dry and stable working environment

One of the downsides is that it requires very frequent maintenance, and continual checking filters for efficiency.

Cutoff Wall

- Also known as watertight barrier wall

- usually involves building a physical cut off wall or barrier with very low permeability across the perimeter of the excavation to avoid the intrusion of groundwater into the working area

- This requires the wall to be built down to a subsurface elevation that does not allow water to travel beneath the wall and up into the elevation - into an impermeable layer

This is typically used in extremely wet areas (i.e along a coast line, or up against a river bed) where there is consistent hydrostatic pressure.

Soil Freezing

Similar to well points, with soil freezing, vertical pipes will be drilled into the ground surrounding an excavation. These pipes will then be used to circulate coolant at a low enough temperature to freeze the moisture in the soils. This provides a temporary solution to stop groundwater infiltration

One of the big disadvantages is that it is highly expensive. This process uses a lot of energy, and requires larger quantities of refrigeration

Typically used in below surface activities, shafts, mines, and tunnels where typical dewatering is not possible

3 Major Building Parts

Foundation

Substructure (beneath ground level)

Superstructure (above ground)

Foundations

A foundations responsibility is to transfer loads from the structure to the ground

Shallow Foundations

A type of building foundation that transfers structural load to the earth very near to the surface, rather than to a subsurface later or a range of depths

Types of shallow foundations

Spread footings, wall strip footings, and mat foundations

Spead Footings

Support and distribute the load of a building or structure over a larger area of soil. It is designed to transfer the weight of the structure to the underlying soil in a way that prevents excessive settlement. Usually isolated to a single column

Wall footings

Is a continuous strip of concrete that serves to spread the weight of a load-bearing wall across an area of soil.

Mat foundations

Also called a raft foundation

A continuous slab resting on the soil that extends over the entire footprint of the building, thereby supporting the building and transferring its weight to the ground

This is used when the below soils are not suitable for point load bearing capacities

Floating (Mat) Foundation

A type of mat foundation constructed by excavating soils in such a way that is weight of structure built on the soil is nearly equal to the total weight of the soil excavated from the ground

As a rule of thumb, one story of excavated soil weighs about the same as _____ to ____ stories of superstructure

5 to 8