The following proposal is intended to provide an overview of the four topics that will be researched for a final thesis report on the MADC project.  The topic areas include the effects of the current economy on the industry, the cost and schedule impact of the foundation system, trade coordination and constructability with the slab design, and implementing a building integrated solar energy system as an additional sustainable feature.

Critical Industry Analysis

With money as tight as it is today, it is necessary to exhaustively evaluate a project’s current construction and financial status.  Since MADC was recently suspended, I believe that research on the economy’s effect on the industry would be quite beneficial to the owner and industry professionals for current and future times.

Analysis II

The current utility distribution design includes the entrance of main feeds underground for electrical conduits and aboveground via trenches for chilled water piping.  These trenches require added excavation, materials, and time to construct.  An alternative slab design that would eliminate the cost, schedule, constructability, and efficiency issues provided with the current design will be analyzed.

Analysis III

Energy conservation and “Going Green” are two highly popular concepts among industry professionals and people everywhere.  The owner, DuPont Fabros Technologies, is constantly looking for ways to develop more efficient data centers and distinguish themselves from competitors, as given by constructing what will be the first LEED Gold data center in the country.  As such, I intend to research the possibility of harvesting solar energy and coupling it with the existing energy source to reduce MADC’s dependency on power from the grid.

This analysis will include both breadths for my research, which occur in the Structural and Electrical fields.  The addition of solar panels on the roof will drastically affect both the structural system, introducing a substantial load on the roof, and the electrical system, implementing a new energy source into the existing electrical power source. (Click on image at right)

In addition to covering the breadth topics for my research, this analysis will cover information pertaining to my Master's of Architectural Engineering graduate classes. In the Fall of 2008, I participated in a sustainability class entitled AE 597D - Sustainable Building Methods. The class discussed several green energies and technologies, one of which was solar energy. As mentioned above, I plan to utlize solar panels on MADC.