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Question # 1 M&E: 4 Year Architecture - ENGINEERING SYSTEM - Part C Exams

The document discusses mechanical and electrical systems in buildings. Mechanical systems can include plumbing, HVAC, and elevators. Electrical systems power lights, outlets, security systems and more. Large buildings have more robust electrical equipment like transformers, switchgear, and bus/feeder lines to safely distribute high voltage power throughout the building. Cores in buildings contain circulation elements like staircases and elevators as well as mechanical services like pipes and ducts. They allow movement and distribution of utilities between floors.

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Muhammad Hammad
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84 views8 pages

Question # 1 M&E: 4 Year Architecture - ENGINEERING SYSTEM - Part C Exams

The document discusses mechanical and electrical systems in buildings. Mechanical systems can include plumbing, HVAC, and elevators. Electrical systems power lights, outlets, security systems and more. Large buildings have more robust electrical equipment like transformers, switchgear, and bus/feeder lines to safely distribute high voltage power throughout the building. Cores in buildings contain circulation elements like staircases and elevators as well as mechanical services like pipes and ducts. They allow movement and distribution of utilities between floors.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Hammad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4th year Architecture – ENGINEERING SYSTEM

-Part C Exams
Muhammad Hammad Altaf - 128

Question # 1
M&E
'M&E' in construction refers to mechanical and electrical systems.

Mechanical systems can include elements of infrastructure, plant and


machinery, tool and components, heating and ventilation and so on.
Electrical systems might include, power supply and distribution,
telecommunications, computing instrumentation, control systems and so
on.

Mechanical system
Any building service using machines. They include plumbing, elevators,
escalators, and heating and air-conditioning systems. The introduction of
mechanization in buildings in the early 20th century brought about
major adjustments; the new equipment demanded floor space, and the
design team began to include electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilating,
and air-conditioning) engineers. Heating and cooling changed
dramatically. Modern buildings, with their large heat gains, turned
central heating into little more than a supplement. Heat removal is a
much more serious burden, especially in warm weather. The roofs of
high-rises are occupied by cooling towers and mechanical penthouses;
entire floors are often dedicated to the containment of blowers,
compressors, water chillers, boilers, pumps, and generators.
Electrical Systems
Your building’s electrical system powers all the components in the
building from lights, and outlets to the security system, computers,
servers and HVAC. To get an idea of the importance of this system,
think about all the items in your building that cease to function during a
power outage. This will give you an idea of the scale of your building’s
electrical system. However, this system also includes safety features,
like circuit breakers, GFI outlets, which are supposed to be installed in
rooms that contain water fixtures, and arc fault interrupters. Older
buildings may need power distribution systems in order to ensure the
building has enough power for all the modern equipment that is now
needed in buildings, and buildings with critical systems or life-saving
systems that cannot be without power may need backup generators to
supply power in case there is an electrical grid outage.
Question # 2

 Electrical Power Systems in Buildings


This article covers electrical distribution systems in buildings at a very
basic level. We will discuss the general principles for how electricity is
moved from the utility lines to a convenience outlet in a room. The
system components vary depending on the size of the building so we
will address systems for small and large buildings.

Electricity from the Power Company


Electric utilities transmit power from the power plant most efficiently at
very high voltages. In the United States, power companies provide
electricity to medium or large buildings at 13,800 volts (13.8kV). For
small commercial buildings or residential customers, power companies
lower the voltage with a transformer on a power pole or mounted on the
ground. From there, the electricity is fed through a meter and into the
building.

Power Distribution in Small Buildings


Small commercial or residential buildings have a very simple power
distribution system. The utility will own the transformer, which will sit
on a pad outside the building or will be attached to a utility pole. The
transformer reduces the voltage from 13.8kV down to 120/240 or
120/208 volts and then passes the electricity to a meter, which is owned
by the utility and keeps a record of power consumption.
After leaving the meter, the power is transmitted into the building at
which point all wiring, panels, and devices are the property of the
building owner. Wires transfer the electricity from the meter to a panel
board, which is generally located in the basement or garage of a house.
In small commercial buildings, the panel may be located in a utility
closet. The panel board will have a main service breaker and a series of
circuit breakers, which control the flow of power to various circuits in
the building. Each branch circuit will serve a device (some appliances
require heavy loads) or a number of devices like convenience outlets or
lights.

Power Distribution in Large Buildings


Large buildings have a much higher electrical load than small buildings;
therefore, the electrical equipment must be larger and more robust.
Large building owners will also purchase electricity at high voltages (in
the US, 13.8kV) because it comes at a cheaper rate. In this case, the
owner will provide and maintain their own step-down transformer,
which lowers the voltage to a more usable level (in the US, 480/277
volts). This transformer can be mounted on a pad outside the building or
in a transformer room inside the building.
The electricity is then transmitted to switchgear. The role of the
switchgear is to distribute electricity safely and efficiently to the various
electrical closets throughout the building. The equipment has numerous
safety features including circuit breakers, which allow power to be
disrupted downstream - this may occur due to a fault or problem, but it
can also be done intentionally to allow technicians to work on specific
branches of the power system.

It should be noted that very large buildings or buildings with complex


electrical systems may have multiple transformers, which may feed
multiple pieces of switchgear. We are keeping this article simple by
sharing the basic concepts.

The electricity will leave the switchgear and travel along a primary
feeder or bus. The bus or feeder is a heavy gauge conductor that is
capable of carrying high amperage current throughout a building safely
and efficiently. The bus or feeder is tapped as needed and a conductor is
run to an electric closet, which serves a zone or floor of a building.

Each electrical closet will have another step-down transformer - in the


US, this will drop the power from 480/277 volts to 120 volts for
convenience outlets. That transformer will feed a branch panel, which
controls a series of branch circuits that cover a portion of the building.
Each branch circuit covers a subset of the electrical needs of the area -
for instance: lighting, convenience outlets to a series of rooms, or
electricity to a piece of equipment.

 Core
In architecture, a core is a vertical space used for circulation and
services. It may also be referred to as a circulation core or service core.
A core may include staircases, elevators, electrical cables, water pipes
and risers.

A core allows people to move between the floors of a building, and


distributes services efficiently to the floors.

Characteristics of core
 Shape of core
 Number of cores
 Location of cores
 Arrangement of cores
 Geometry of building as generator of core form
Elements of core
A core may include staircases, elevators, electrical cables, water pipes
and risers. A core allows people to move between the floors of a
building, and distributes services efficiently to the floors. This
architectural element–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia
by expanding it.
 Electrical & Telephone
 Piping and risers
 Transportation
 Fans room
 Toile
Question # 3
 Off Center
 Advantages
 All window or building perimeter space to be used for
offices
 More flexibility in maximum depth and arrangement of
spaces
 Affords the opportunity of developing small secluded
space in the relatively narrow portion of the floor plan
where the core is close to the exterior walls.
 Disadvantages
 Present some problems of access
 Less flexibility of tenant distribution
 Remote and thus less convenient to the far sides and
corners of the building
 Central
 Advantages
 Allows all window all window space to be utilized as
rental of the building plan will permit offices of verging
depths to receive natural light
 Extremely convenient of access and in some cases may
be equidistant for all side
 Simplifies area division & provides good flexibility of
tenant distribution in the some way
 Horizontal utility runs may also relatively equidistant
from the core
 Combine with a square building plan, bearing exterior
& core walls, this location permits a floor plan free of
columns and thus totally flexible for office layout
 Disadvantages
 The central interior location limits the depth of offices
in the mid-zone of each floor
 It requires an access corridor around its perimeter

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