Posts

Showing posts from October, 2026

Week 10 - Plumbing

Image
Plumbing systems like any other trade is equally important as other trades, it how water flows in and out in the building and also how waste water gets treated and out of the building. also, Fire Protection is part of plumbing but it deals with fire head sprinklers. plumbing systems are required for humans to have and accessible water. In this week's chapter we learned that plumbing systems are essential for a building to function. In a bathroom, it's important to coordinate with architects and interior designers to place plumbing fixtures and bathroom sinks because you need to coordinate where to run piping in a chase (thicker wall). in a sink, the hot water must always be on the left side and the cold water must always be on the right side, there are two different kind of piped that run in a sink. you have the cold water and the hot water as well. piping in drafting standards should be about 9" spaced apart in a 1/8"-1'-0" scale.             ...

Week 9 - Lighting Systems

Image
during this week's chapter I learned about lighting systems and the symbols that come with them, not only that I learned that there just more to picking the most aesthetic lighting fixtures in a building. As a designer we must choose the most sustainable and efficient lighting fixtures. the book mentions a section of "psychology of lighting", in this section it mentions that good lighting has been associated with improved worker performance and daylight within classrooms have helped increase a students test score.                                                                  furthermore, electrical engineers also deal with power systems and fire alarm devices, the book mentions the different types of symbols that electrical engineers show on their floor plans like dimming switches, receptacle...

Week 8 - Mechanical Systems

Image
In week 8 we learn about mechanical systems and the different types of mechanical systems that include hydronic, electric, and wood systems. we also learn about sources of fuel that include coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy.  when dealing with HVAC mechanical engineers have to think about human comfort, which is the state of mind someone feels in a indoor space where heat and cold are surrounding the room. above the ceiling finish there is duct work hiding above it. Duct sizes can range from different sizes depending on the size of the room and also the square footage of an area (ex. 12x12 duct size). it's important for electrical and mechanical to work together and coordinate when designing, we don't want a lighting fixture to interfere with any of the duct work or any of the sprinkler systems.    there are two types of radiators: steam and hot water, in the text they state that steam radiators are commonly found in historic building, in one of my recent surveys...

Week 7 - Ceilings

Image
In this weeks chapter talking about ceilings, I learned there are more to just a ceiling in a room but there. ceiling in a room is one of the most important designs in a project because electrical has to coordinate with all other trades like fire protection, plumbing, and HVAC.  in a electrical lighting plan, you will see a reflected ceiling grid plan with lighting fixtures sizes that include 1x4's, 2x2's, and 2x4's. the lighting fixtures always have to be within the ceiling grid and they are always spaced in increments of 2'. it is important to think about HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection as well, we don't want to put a diffuser or grille on top of a light or we don't to interfere with sprinkler heads as well. The picture below comes from one of my surveys I did recently and we can see the lighting fixture are within the ceiling grid and are spaced out in increments of 2' but we all see a diffusers within the ceiling tile.  one of my favorite type of des...

Week 6 - Flooring

Image
 for this weeks reading/topic I learned about flooring, a lot of people think that flooring is just for aesthetics and making a room look nice. It's actually way more than that, we have to think about the type of material that has to be used, depending of the space, the intent of the design, and see what types of material are more sustainable.  in the presentation I learned that there are three types of floor framing systems: wood, steel, and concrete. wood floor framing systems have two type of framing systems. light framing and heavy timber framing. light framing, uses multiple joists to carry a load, while heavy timber framing uses columns and beams    steel floor framing, has two types of floor framing systems. it can be light gauge which means that there are multiple web like open joists. another system is concrete with metal decking, it relies on columns and beams that carry a metal decking where concrete is poured into. concrete is another flooring system wher...