Building Utilities 2: Mechanical Systems, Vertical Transportation, and Fire Protection

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering vertical transportation, fire protection systems, HVAC concepts, and building automation systems.

Building Management System (BMS)

A computer-based control system installed within buildings to monitor and regulate electrical and mechanical equipment—such as power systems, lighting, and ventilation—to confirm sustainability; also known as a Building Automation System (BAS).

Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS)

A system designed to prevent shoplifting by attaching special tags to merchandise that trigger an alarm at detection pedestals if not deactivated or removed by a clerk upon purchase.

Electronic Boom Barrier (EBB)

A bar or pole pivoted at a fixed point to block or allow vehicular or pedestrian access through a controlled checkpoint; also called a boom gate.

Reciprocating Motion

A repetitive up-and-down or back-and-forth linear motion.

Oscillatory Motion

The repetitive to-and-fro movement of an object from its mean position.

Rotary Motion

The physical movement of an object that is spinning around an axis of its own.

Traction Elevator

An elevator system in which the car is raised and lowered by traction steel ropes or belts running across a motor-driven pulley (sheave) and counterweight assembly.

Hydraulic Elevator

An elevator that moves the cab using a fluid-driven piston mounted inside a cylinder rather than overhead hoisting machinery.

Conventional (Holed) Hydraulic Elevator

A hydraulic elevator configuration in which the cylinders are housed deep inside a drilled hole in the ground, accommodating vertical travel up to $60\,\text{ft}$.

Hole-Less Hydraulic Elevator

A hydraulic elevator that does not require a bored underground casing—making it suited for existing structures—limited to a maximum travel distance of not more than $40\,\text{ft}$.

Machine-Room-Less (MRL) Lift

An elevator system designed without a penthouse machine room by placing the traction machine in the lift pit or on the car, resulting in a $40\%$ energy reduction, vibration-free operation, and space savings.

Variable Voltage, Variable Frequency (VVVF)

A type of advanced motor drive control used to govern elevator car acceleration, speed, and leveling smoothly.

Elevator Counterweights

Cast-iron rectangular blocks stacked in a steel frame and attached to the opposite ends of hoist cables to offset the weight of the elevator car.

Speed Governor and Rail Clamps

Elevator safety assemblies where the governor shuts off power and applies the main machine brake upon sensing overspeed; if velocity continues to climb, it engages mechanical clamps at the car bottom onto the guide rails.

Elevator Buffers

Oil or spring devices located at the bottom of the elevator pit designed to bring an overtraveling car to a partially cushioned stop if it overshoots the lowest landing.

Bed Elevator

A hospital lift designed to transfer patients smoothly without shaking, featuring antibacterial finishes, stainless steel interiors, a rated capacity between $1{,}600\,\text{kg}$ and $2{,}500\,\text{kg}$, and travel speeds from $0.4\,\text{m/s}$ to $3\,\text{m/s}$.

Disabled Lift (Stairlift)

An accessibility lift designed for elderly or wheelchair users, characterized by wider entrances, lower horizontal control panels, and tactile embossed buttons.

Open-Through Cabin

An elevator car configuration equipped with doors situated on opposite sides (front and rear).

Diagonal Cabin

An elevator car layout configured with access doors on adjacent perpendicular faces (front and one side).

Telescopic Panels

Elevator door assemblies made of multiple leaves that slide and nest over one another to one side of the entrance.

Accordion Doors

Folding, scissor-style metal elevator gates typically utilized in older heritage installations.

Vertical Bi-Part Doors

Elevator doors that separate vertically—one leaf moving upward and the other downward—commonly utilized on freight lifts.

Central Doors

Elevator doors consisting of two center-meeting panels that open simultaneously toward opposite lateral sides.

Single Automatic Push Button Control

The simplest passenger-operated automatic elevator control system, handling only one dispatch call per sequence to provide an uninterrupted journey.

Collective Control

An elevator operation mode that registers and collects all upward hall calls on the ascending run and downward hall calls on the descending run, automatically reversing direction at the outermost calls.

Electronic Group Supervisory Dispatching

An automated system controlling an entire bank of elevators that adjusts active car distribution dynamically according to peak passenger demand periods.

Escalator

A power-driven continuous moving staircase built at an angle of inclination of $30^\circ$, traveling at a speed of not more than $38\,\text{m/min}$, and having a width between balustrades between $560\,\text{mm}$ and $1.20\,\text{m}$.

Dumbwaiter

A small freight-hoisting mechanism limited to a platform area of no more than $0.86\,\text{m}^2$, a maximum enclosure height of $1.20\,\text{m}$, and a maximum rated capacity of $225\,\text{kg}$.

Garbage Chute

A vertical shaft assembly that consolidates trash dropped from intake doors on multiple building levels down into a central base terminal room.

Occupancy Load

The maximum number of people permitted by safety code to occupy a given architectural space at any one time.

Wet Standpipe

A building fire protection piping system that is continuously charged with pressurized water for instant connection and use by building occupants or firefighters.

Dry Standpipe

A building fire protection water pipe that remains dry under normal conditions until charged with water via a fire department engine connection.

Siamese Connection

A dual-inlet exterior fitting that allows fire department pumpers to supply supplementary pressurized water directly into the standpipe or sprinkler system.

Check Valve

A plumbing or fireline pipe fitting that restricts water movement to one direction only, preventing backflow into the source.

Freon

A chemical refrigerant gas utilized in standard compression-evaporation refrigeration cooling cycles.

Split-Type Air-Conditioning System

An air-conditioning layout where the heat-rejecting components (compressor and condenser) are located outdoors, while the cooling unit (evaporator) is installed indoors.

Air Handling Unit (AHU)

A central mechanical chamber containing filters, fans, dampers, and cooling/heating coils that provides pre-conditioning of ventilation air using energy sourced from a central chiller or boiler.

Fan Coil Unit (FCU)

A compact local terminal system containing a fan and a heat exchanger coil that conditions and circulates air within a single specific zone.

Air-Cooled Chiller

A refrigeration chiller machine that condenses refrigerant by rejecting absorbed heat directly into the ambient outdoor air using propeller fans.

Water-Cooled Chiller

A refrigeration chiller that utilizes a closed water condenser circuit routed to an external cooling tower to reject cycle heat into the atmosphere.

Duct Aspect Ratio

The dimensional ratio of a rectangular duct's longer side to its shorter side; it must not exceed $5:1$ ($4:1$ or $3:1$ preferred), with near-square ducts yielding minimal frictional loss and optimal efficiency.

Axial Fan

A fan configuration where incoming air enters and exits in a straight parallel path along the axis of rotation.

Centrifugal Fan

A fan that draws air into its center impeller eye and discharges it radially outward at a right angle ($90^\circ$).

Blower Fan

A mechanical fan that draws air through its center and discharges it across a full $360^\circ$ perimeter path.

Humidistat (Hygrostat)

An HVAC control instrument that monitors and regulates ambient relative humidity levels.

Damper

An actuating air control assembly formed of adjustable louver blades placed inside ducts to modulate volume and route airflow.

Flue

An exhaust passage or conduit that carries hot combustion gases from a heater or boiler safely to the building exterior.

Conduction

The transmission of thermal energy between adjacent parts of a body, or between bodies in direct physical contact, without gross displacement of their particles.

Convection

Heat transfer via the physical movement and circulation of liquid or gas currents caused by density variations under gravity.

Radiation

The transfer of thermal energy through space or intermediate transparent media via electromagnetic waves.