Thesis Proposal For Spring Semester 12.12.2014

Revised Thesis Proposal For Spring Semester 01.14.2015

The four spaces that are the focus of the senior project studies and redesigns are:
            The exterior walkway
            The southern lobby + atrium
            The 200-seat lecture hall auditorium
            Then project labs workspace

LIGHTING DEPTH

The lighting design is focused on the overall concept that the students and faculty in Oakland University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science are closely working with the automotive industries in southeastern Michigan and that the work and research they are doing are “paving the road to progress”.  Initial schematic lighting design presentations were given for these four spaces.  With the feedback from these presentations, the designs will be altered while moving onto design development work in the spring 2015 semester.

ELECTRICAL DEPTH

The electrical depth will include a branch circuit redesign, a short circuit analysis, and an energy usage comparison analysis of systems changed. 

MAE

The daylighting will be analyzed in terms of comfort, usability, and integration with the electric lighting systems and changes in the architectural envelope will be suggested.

MECHANICAL AND STRUCTURAL BREADTHS

The breadth topics will delve into the implications on the HVAC and structural systems from changes in the architecture from the daylighting analyses.

With the implementation of skylights in the project labs there will certainly be additional solar loads on the space.  A mechanical analysis will be done with eQUEST, or a similar software, to assess the change in the exterior loads on the spaces.  Depending on the extent of the change, alternate HVAC systems or updated HVAC systems will be implemented for the space.  The changes will be documented in plan and elevation for the new mechanical equipment and a comparison will be made in terms of energy use and cost effects.  The overall cost of the architectural, mechanical and structural change will also be weighed against the daylight and energy use benefits of the change to give a recommendation to the owner.

When the architectural change is made by adding a skylighting system to the project labs, the structural implications on space available and structural load on the building will be studied.  Here, load calculations will need to be performed to assess the extent of the change and steel members will be resized.  The implication of the change will be analyzed based on the overall benefits of the change and the cost to the building owner that this change will incur.  A final recommendation to the owner will be presented and the changes will be documented in plan and steel beam schedule.