Two Of The Latest And Most Important Improvements In Commercial Building Technology

Source : Berkley Lab

Commercial building technology is an aspect of human innovation that is constantly changing at its margins. While certain fundamentals of design and architecturally sound construction remain the same throughout the decades and centuries, numerous new technologies processes and advancements in materials are constantly being added on a regular basis.
While there are obviously more existing technical innovations to building design and construction than could possibly be mentioned in anything less than a book, a few fundamental and truly important advancements bear describing in a bit of detail. Let's go over some of the most important building innovations of the last revolutionary decade of construction.

1. Intelligent Buildings
Undoubtedly one of the most important developments in the construction of modern commercial buildings is the increasing shift in the direction of a central computer management system or at the very least several distributed ones. These powerful computing technologies have advanced right along with the general trends in micro-processing and artificial intelligence that we find in our smart phones, PCs and all sorts of other machine administration systems.
By incorporating such systems in the mechanics of operating and maintaining a large building, architectural designers have been able to create work or living spaces in which things such as heating, cooling, air purification and a whole assorted list of systems such as lighting, security and mechanical function are all run by a computer program or series of them, some very intelligent and sophisticated.
Additionally, many intelligent building management systems have the interesting characteristic of being able to be run remotely, either from online control systems from a remote computer or even right through portable mobile devices such as smart phones or tablets in some smaller cases. In both cases, the common mechanism for accessing these building controls is a cloud computing platforms that allows secured access.
Intelligence in buildings has even advanced so far that it is even being seen in many more modern residential homes
 
Source : En3

Sustainable Green Design Features
Yet another major frontier of modern building innovation is the move towards more energy efficient green technologies that allow many modern commercial buildings to save on energy through more efficient use, or do this and also create their own energy through clever construction extras.
A good example of the first of these developments would be materials innovations that conserve coolness or heat at a much better rate than was previously possible, use electricity saving long lasting lighting or possibly synchronize their electricity use so that the high costs of powering up lighting, heating and cooling systems can be minimized. In some cases, the very design of a commercial construction creates spaces in which the heating, cooling and electrical needs of one area can be applied to another without extending power use.
With regards to the second major innovation, many modern buildings are actually being created with their own power systems right inside them. This can be something as small as intelligent elevator operating systems that actually produce a certain percentage of the electricity need to run the constant up and down movement of the lifts, or this energy producing technology can include far more complex systems that generate a large percentage of a commercial building's power use through solar arrays, geothermal systems (where geographically acceptable) and wind or water power. The underlying principle is one of meshing a building with the geological or climatological characteristics of its surrounding geography to extract clean, renewable energy in some way.
Moving beyond energy savings and power generation, a key fundamental characteristic of many newly built and highly eco-friendly buildings is access to more information than ever. By this we mean that the computer monitoring systems already mentioned earlier above are directed with energy efficiency and green friendliness in mind to give building inhabitants access to dozens or even hundreds of minute details about where electricity is being used, what purpose it serves there and if it can be shut off without affecting anyone's needs.
One good example of this sort of system is that which is now being built into many Federal Government buildings in the U.S by corporations such as IBM through a program run by the General Services Administration. With the IBM system, Federal building users can administer a vast plethora of different energy use metrics through a central visual control panel that itself offers computer monitoring derived recommendations and suggestions for more conservative energy use.
Underlying this particular push is that essential access to information and detailed analysis that has become possible with the meshing of building management and sophisticated computer technology. This important mix, when coupled with the latest in materials science, makes modern buildings into structures of enormous sophistication when compared to their predecessors.


About the Author: Jennifer D’Angelois a small business professional who specializes in digital marketing solutions. When she’s not writing, you can find Jen assisting real estate agents in suburban Chicago. Click here to see more of Jen’s work!

Vertical gardens possible with "Biological Concrete"

No this is NOT ivy covering the walls... this is a newly designed biological concrete, as it is called, being developed at the Structural Technology Group, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, where a team led by Antonio Aguado for making vertical gardens, without the usual problems of roots penetrating the walls and weakening the structure.

Now what sets this concrete apart from normal one is that in it , the Portland Cement normally used is replaced with magnesium phosphate cement (which is normally used for repair work). This is more acidic than normal one, thus providing ideal substrate for growth of mosses, algae, lichens , etc in mediterranean climate. It can be adjusted in terms of porosity and roughness as desired

The panel consists of 3 layers- a waterproof innermost one, a middle water retentive one, and an outer layer which allows entry of water but prevents loss.This means that the panels can be used as vertical gardens without mechanical apparatus or constant maintenance.All this would help in growth of the mosses and algae etc, while preventing growth of higher plants and thus preventing root induced damage to the walls.



The purpose of the panels is mainly aesthetic, but the team also says that the growths on the panels can act as insulating material and a thermal regulator. They also say that the colonies help reduce carbon dioxide, though they don’t say by how much. Unless the colonies are amazingly heavy, it’s probably negligible.

Source :  UPC via Gizmag

Flying saucers, glass roadways, subterranean caverns: three visions of the Grand Central Station of 2112

The 'UFO' viewing platform of SOM's Grand Central Terminal of tomorrow (Image: © 2012 SOM/Crystal)


Three leading architects gathered last week at the third annual summit of The Municipal Art Society to present their visions for the dramatic redevelopment of New York's Grand Central Terminal. Foster + Partners, SOM and WXY each put forward ideas to renew Grand Central's grandeur, while also making it fit for purpose for the the hundreds of thousands of people that will use the station on any given day in the next hundred years. The three schemes offer strikingly different visions for the future of the terminal, though only one includes an enormous flying saucer.
The call for ideas comes at a time when the station is seeing ten times the number of passengers than was the case when it was built. "The result is acute overcrowding," Foster + Partners says, with the effect that "connections to the rail and subway lines beneath the concourse are inadequate; and the arrival and departure experience is poor. Added to that, the surrounding streets are choked with traffic and pedestrians are marginalised. The rapid growth of tall buildings in the vicinity has all but consumed the Terminal."

Foster + Partners' emphasis on public space (Image: Foster + Partners)(Image: Foster + Partners)

Though the approach of Foster + Partners is the most understated (and perhaps therefore the most practical), the company has gone into surprising detail as to methods by which overcrowding at the station can be eased. Among its proposals were widening the 42nd Street entrance to take in the entire width of the facade, the widening and partial pedestrianizing of underground access tunnels and public areas, the pedestrianization of surrounding above ground spaces including the creation of a new civic center outside the west entrance, replete with "trees, sculpture and street cafes."

WXY's tapered skyscraper (Image: WXY)

WXY's focus, according to company Founding Principal Claire Weisz, was to "make the Grand Central neighborhood a place people enjoy being in not just running through." Several of its proposals are on a similar theme to Foster + Partner's, namely, pedestrianizing and creating public spaces near to the terminal itself, though its vision additionally includes the creation of an elevated pedestrian and cycle way with a transparent floor. WXY's proposal did include one other small detail: the construction of an enormous, tapering skyscraper with cantilevered "sky gardens" hanging at choice irregular intervals from its faces like gigantic window boxes.

SOM's grand vision for the Grand Central Terminal of the future (Image: © 2012 SOM)

Most eye-catching of all, though, was the proposal from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which apparently includes the construction of three skyscrapers, two of which stand directly to either side of the station. Suspended between them, SOM proposes a huge circular observation deck with a diameter greater than the width of the existing terminal building. Oh yes, and the observation deck is also an enormous elevator. It moves up and down. Judging from the "flying UFO" nickname that already appears to be emerging for the design, its certainly capturing people's imagination (though anyone aware of what UFO actually stands for will certainly object to the unnecessary use of the preceding adjective).
In fact, the "Halo" observation deck (to propose an alternative nickname) is only one of three interventions proposed by SOM. It too proposes the creation of pedestrianized spaces, "corridors," as SOM describes them, as well as a "condensing of the public realm" with the creation of civic spaces above and below the terminal. A cut-away view provided by SOM reveals cavernous expanses below the station, as well as airy spaces in the lower levels of the surrounding buildings.
The joke, if there is one, is that even the more modest aspects of the proposals are, viewed in isolation, very ambitious (especially if the station were to remain open through construction). Just how much audacity one likes in their urban planning proposals is, ultimately, subjective, and will depend very much on the worldview of the individual. Should the original terminal building remain the star of the show, or serve merely as a gateway to a dramatically expanded civic complex?
Sources: Foster + Partners, WXY, SOM