Building Type & Intelligence (Deutsch & Tufano)

I am working with Sarina Tufano on this term project and our topic is Building Type and Intelligence. We have opted for the research paper version of this assignment and since we are both structural concentration we have taken "type" to mean materials and structural aspects. To do this we are picking to work with a single family home and design it with the newest smart and green techniques available and adequately researched thus far. The house will not only have smart qualities but will incorporate these starting at the structures very core. It is known that scientists keep developing better and more effective versions of the common materials used in construction. These will be used within the small family home to help keep the structure more self sustaining, extend its life cycle estimate and decrease its impact on the environment while also making it more user friendly.

When it comes to smart and green methods, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably even though they are somewhat different. While discussing the smart materials to be used in the structural design of this home, there will be tables/graphs/figures demonstrating which are just to be considered "smart" which are to be considered "green" and which properties might overlap within those two categories. The structure will take advantage of smart/green facade designs, smart steel/concrete, smart sealant techniques and produce much if not all of its own energy so that it may become LEED, Green Globe, or Live Building Challenge certified as well. It will source other materials needed locally, make an effort to reuse materials that were unused at its previous locations, and attempt maintain little to no waste outputs.

While the International Building Code clarifies different categories of building per "type", we are aiming to take the family home to the next level of what is mandatory in its structural design components. To do this much research will be conducted and definitions of what green and smart mean within a building and how it relates to the overall intelligence will be discussed as well. To demonstrate the materials used, models will be created if time allows. Costs will not be assessed since the main objective of this report is the creation of an optimized intelligent and green structure. However, this does not mean that the efforts to use the best and most "intelligent" materials will not pay out over the first few years of the building's existence. In order to make the building type as smart as possible the structure will maintain manageability so that as technologies improve, the building can also improve.

Jianfeng Xiao:
I notice that our topics are very similar. I like how you have emphasized that you are going to use newer buildings in your assessment since we know how fast technologies have been evolving recently. I am curious to see how you distinguish properties as either "smart" or "green" and which properties you might consider to fall under both classifications.

Sarah Hollis:
I find the history of BIM to be a really interesting topic. I think that reading about how its history has made it become what it is now will definitely lend you a hand in predicting what might be to come in the future. I see that you say BIM allows for fluidity but are you worried that if it becomes too renound and user friendly that people in some fields may lose jobs due to being replaced by any of the programs included in a "BIM Environment"? If you do, which do you think they might be?

Chris Thatch:
Intelligent appliances are such an integral part of what can help make a building more user adaptive and intelligent. I really like how you are going to research and see how many smart versions of appliances are available on the market today because I feel as though much of society is not adequately taught when it comes to better environmental practices. Even with the addition of so many improved products on the market now, many people assume that making a more intelligent or green building will cost so much more and isn't worth it. Little do they know that the returns can start in as little as one year! Your topic is such a good representation of this.