Essays on Modern Buildings

[City and State]

Introduction

Structures such as large buildings can create its own unique internal environment that can significantly impact the comfort and health of its occupants. After many years of investigating and studying building infrastructures, engineers and designers have increased their understanding and knowledge on the environmental conditions that exists within the building in relation to its physical properties. For the same reason, a solid background in building physics is an integral part of a building’s design, particularly in this modern era wherein green buildings are the rising trend. Most modern buildings integrate building physics prior to construction ...

1.0 Introduction

When the concept of green building emerges, environmentalists and researchers automatically assume the solutions lie on materials and their constituencies in buildings they are part of and the lifetime of the building. Exterior material directly in contact with the environment and natural elements may enhance the sustainability of the building, but may greatly impact the functions of nearby ecosystems. Hence building sustainability and environmental maintenance are not exactly interchangeable, and yet these terms are often utilized mistakenly. The pioneers of environmental constructs are not confirmed, although architectural historians suggest they date back prior to Ancient Roman times. Architects took ...

Introduction

The term ventilation is constantly used by fire fighters and the fire marshals department. In simple terms, ventilation is the process through which toxic gases, smoke and heat is removed from a burning building and consequently replaced with cleaner, cooler and air rich in oxygen. This is part of the rehabilitation process of a burning building. The process has two distinct components. The first component involves the removal of hot air, smoke and toxic gases. The second component of the ventilation process is pumping in cleaner, cooler and air rich in oxygen. While performing this process, it is important to exercise ...

Compare and Contrast the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building

Both The Empire State Building and Chrysler Building were constructed in New York (USA) in an era when American cities such as New York and Chicago competed to have the tallest buildings. The Empire State building was the tallest building in the world at the time of its construction, which started on January 21, 1930 and took 410 days to complete. The building remained the tallest office building in the world for 41 years. Nevertheless, the Empire State building lost this status since 1973, when the World Trade Center opened in Manhattan, progressive developers have constructed taller skyscrapers that ...