Running head: BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

Building Technology
Javed Jaffery
Feb, 16, 2016

Building Technology

BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

Making buildings for housing purposes have been done for a long time
and has come a long way. Humans have always tried to find a better way to
create a shelter to protect them from any danger of their environment such
as weather conditions. Through past centuries, housing was not only an
essential element to protect people, but also started to bring comfort and
improve the quality of life. A lot of effort has been put into improving the
quality of these buildings. In different regions, based on the accessibility to
materials, weather conditions, and even peoples taste and culture, these
improvements took different routes with different paces. However, most of
the building technologies and improvements have been introduced in the
past century and now are become unified in most of places in the world. It is
critical to understand how these technologies got influenced and changed.
These items have been studied by many scientist and building experts. A
closer look at these works will illustrate the building technologies and all
aspect impacted them in past centuries. All these developed systems bring
better feeling for people who live in buildings. Engineers every year develop
their knowledge and try to use best design and high quality material in
contracture. Using high quality material and efficient design in building
cause more enjoyment, happiness, and more safety. However, those are not
only achievement for good designing, energy-efficient is one of the most
accomplishment in new building. In building industry, engineers using new
method of design and new material in construction and call it building
technology. Therefore, it is important to learn about history of building

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technology in the USA,background and development, US market, research

and technology, tall and super-tall building, heating and cooling technology,
green building in the US,the energy crisis, and future prediction.

Background
During history of the United States building materials changed.
Material which were used in buildings were based on technology of that time
and also weather condition were different. The United States from west to
east has different weather condition and it affects building technology.
Therefore, it is important to know about history of building technology in the
USA, and building material.
History of Building Technology in the USA
It is important to understand the technology and material of buildings
from different eras. There has been a lot of studies to categorize this
technologies in buildings. Byers (2006) said, the building technology did not
evolved significantly between 1760s until about 1820s. After the 1820s
there were some improvements in building technology, however the main
methods remained the same. The changes could be mostly seen in the
appearance of the buildings where the Georgian style changed to a simpler
look of Federal style. Building experts use this knowledge to identifythe age

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of the buildings. This also helps understanding building technology and

materials from the appearance of it.
Building Materials
Some building materials and technologies are differentiated from the
building location. Each region, based on the availability of materials and
climate, had different building styles. Brick construction was popular in the
mid-Atlantic and the South. Two examples of the cities in those regions are
Philadelphia and Baltimore. In the Northeast region there were very little
brick construction due to the scarcity of limestone needed in making brick.
In general, brick making is a traditional procedure. This procedure did not
evolve until about 1815 the when burning of anthracite coal and wood in the
kilns replaced the process. This change resulted in less strong brick
production, but could be done a lot faster than traditional procedure. There
were a lot of houses also being built using wood that was cut by up-anddown saws. Between the1820s and 1830s this process was replaced by
Sawmills. This resulted in a huge revolution of building technology and
process. A direct result from this change was a great reduction in the cost of
sawn frames, shingles, and lath for plaster. Sawmills also went through a
revolution. The water-forced sawmills were replaced by steam-driven ones
which eliminated the dependence on seasonal water flow. Another
improvement was the nail heading machines. In general a lot of building
planning machineries were introduced and resulted in reduced demand of
profound skills necessary for sizing and creating building materials. The

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technology improvement was encouraged greatly due to the increasing and

fast demand of more buildings for more people (Byers, 2006). The great
demand resulted in a bigger and faster supply. More inventions in automatic
machineries resulted because of this great demand as well.
Building technology and building material in the USA are based on
climate in each state. In addition,since the middle of the1700s till the1820s
engineers used different designs. Engineers tried to improve their
knowledge every year and as a result they used strong brick production in
constructions.
Backgroundand Development
Fluctuation in any market has happened and the construction market is
not an exception. This market is not stable. Encyclopedia of Global
Industries (2007) said, the construction market has gone through rise and
downs throughout years. In 2000, a big decline in non-residential market
happened after an attractive market reaching its highest in 1998. The
construction market then started picking up again in 2004. The same pattern
was seen in commercial office building construction. The decline in 2000 was
mainly due to the dot-com bubble burst. The big cities such as Washington
DC, San Jose, and Seattle were the pioneers of the dot-com. Therefore, this
decline in office building construction was realized the most. After 2004, this
downward trend was reversed and building construction rose by 11 percent
in January 2005. Residential and commercial office building since 1998 had

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up and down. In office building construction market increased 11% after

2004.
Market
Building market is one of the most important parts of the economy.
This market in each country has different value but in all countries this
market depends on the whole economic situation. USA, as one of the
developed country and Rwanda, as one of undeveloped countrieshave a
huge difference in their market and economy. The U.S. market, Rwanda
economy, and technology issues are included this section.
US Market
The U.S. building market is really vast. Every year a huge amount of
money is transferredin this field even in companies or self-employed people.
Encyclopedia of Global Industries (2007) claimed, in the U.S. there are a
variety of companies that are active in the construction field. The majority of
these actives firms are small businesses with less than 10 employees. There
are some major game players with more than 95,000 employees as well. The
construction field is one of the largest labor intensive fields in the world. In
the U.S. only about seven million dollars were paid as the wages to the
construction employees and close to 2 million dollars to the self-employed
people working in this field. The need in the construction field is increasing
as the industrial buildings are being replaced by residential buildings in the
US. In United States the average hourly wage of all construction workers was

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about US$19.23. In short, construction companies in the US even big or

small have big markets in their hands. Every year around 9 million dollars
are paid to construction workers.
Rwanda Economy and Technology Problem
Rwanda is an example of African country, which used to have a lot of
problems especially in housing and building construction. Rwanda
government have tried to change their unstable situation. After 1994,
Rwanda tried to improve and they have developed remarkably. In a period of
10 years between 1995 to 2005 economy raised up 10% in this country. The
policy of government has been changed. They converted government
building companies to privet companies. Political and economic law has
developed greatly. Mortality and poverty rate dramatically decreased. Also
literacy and immunization rate have moved up essentially. Building the STI,
quantity to achieve, accommodate, and take advantage of current
knowledge are basic Rwandas challenge. Rwanda should improve
dispersion of new technologies and also develop living people style such as
people in small or large cities (Watkins &Verma, 2008). Although Rwanda
economy developed 10% between 1995 and 2005 but, they need to work on
basic country structure. Government in Rwanda need to develop their
technology and persuade people to use new technologies in building
construction to achieve high life standard.

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The US market, and Rwanda economy and technology problem

mention this concept in the USA as develop country lot of people work on
this field. The amount of money in this market is really huge but Rwanda
because of an unstable situation government could not invest in building
technology however, after 2005 because of increased 10% in economy they
tried to change their policy and raised up this market.
Research and Technologies
Engineers have put a lot of efforts in inventing new building
technologies. They are trying to improve the quality of raw material which is
used in a structure. Steel and concrete have been the major building
construction raw materials and they have been proven to work effectively in
building construction. Therefore, this industry has not been motivated to
research and develop other raw materials. Nowadays, there are more
concerns about the strength of some material against the natural disaster
forces and as a result a search for more resistant raw material has started.
One of these natural forces is the force unleashed during an earthquake.
Japan has been pioneering the research about earthquake-proof buildings
and even after many years of research, the ideal material to resist this force
is unknown. Another example of some of these forces are man-made
disasters such as the terrorist attack on the world trade center building in
New York in 2001. Scientists are searching for methods of construction that
can withstand such events stronger (Encyclopedia of Global Industries,

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2007). Steel and concrete are main raw material in structures. Base on
different disasters in the world, engineers try to develop new technologies
for making stronger raw materials.
Tall and Super-Tall Buildings
Tall buildings are elements of new building technology. Engineers
design tall buildings with special purpose. Kayvani (2015) reported, in the
last decades a number of people who are living in cities are raised. Also highrise construction has built quickly specially in developed countries. One of
the most important reasons for tall residential structure is lack of land in
cities. In the past 20 years, there is competition for build high-rise
construction with special spiral shape. During these years, statistics from
the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) shows a number of
high-rise buildings. Based on annual CTBUH information of high-rise
building, in 2014, 97 structures taller than 200m were finished and that is a
record for a year. Sixty percent of those building are located in China. Also
11 super high-rises were built in 2010 (taller than 300m). In 2013 in South
America Torre Costanerawas built. In New York the world trade center is
tallest high-rise (514 m) building which was built in 2014. In brief, in
developed countries high-rise buildings became popular. CTBUH every year
will print a number of high-rise buildings in the world and the world trade
center in New York is the tallest one in the U.S. according to that data.

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High-rise structures have specific design and form. Engineers every

year design taller buildings compare to past years. Translation of the word
tall has changed occasionally basedon CTBUH data.Structures over 200
metersare tall, over 300 metersare super tall, and over than 600 metersare
mega-tall. Designing and building elements like context of structure,
neighborhood and lightness would need more adjustment definitions. For
instance, in New York City there are a number of super-skinny tall structures.
These buildings normally have penthouse (Kaviyani, 2015). Based on
improvement in building technology, engineers are also able to build supertall skinny structure. Supper-tall skinny buildingsarebecoming common in
some cities such as New York.
Heating and Cooling Technology
Sun is one of the main sources of energy. Sun radiation is
effectingthetemperature of the earth. Syed (2007) said sun radiation causes
heat in our body and some of the energy efficient systems use this method
for making heat or cold inside of structures. The most important heating
technologies in buildings are: 1. Radiant panel: Aluminum and copper used in
tubes panel very close to acoustic. These panels are used in schools, office
buildings, and hospitals. 2. Radiant floors: Polyethylene tubs in structure
which are covered with concert. Radiant floors are useful for hotels,
apartment buildings, and large public areas. 3. Chilled celling or walls:

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In this system, the capillary tubes are embedded in plaster on walls

and ceiling. Though commonly referred to as chilled ceilings, these
system can also be used for heating, by circulating hot water. These
systems are also known as capillary tube systems. (As cited in 2012,
p.25)
Radiant heating is a technique which sets water tubes under floors and
it is a suitable system. This system is soft running also it is convenience and
reduce heat bills. Radiant heating starts at 65F like air-heating system but
most users set it between 72-75F. In this situation the boiler temperature
is just 100-120F, but in air heating systems the temperature is about 180200F. It means this system uses less gas and electricity and it
causesdecrease in an owners bills. In brief, for making normal temperature
inside of buildings three new technologies recently wereinvented. Using new
technologies causesmore comfort for owners and also reduces bills.
Generally, each building requires heating and cooling systems. There
are several type of Cooling and heating systemsavailable in buildings. Syed
(2007) mentioned, using radiant cooling has certain profit compared to
regular technology. Variable air volume (VAV) air circulation is one of the
regular systems. Some of the profit of radiant cooling systems are: 1. small
area for ducts which helps to have a high ceilingswith low price. 2. Short
fans and small equipment which lead to low price. 3. Energy efficiency which
result inconstant low energy bills 4. Offering more comfort which feels better

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on skin.In this technology, just certain amount of new air with oxygen can
come into the building for air distribution and then polluted air will be guided
outside. In this function just half of circulation air needs for cooling.
However, in regular systems 80% of the office air going for cooling and 20%
air going for ventilation. With radiant cooling there is a chance for
decreasing the amount of cooling air since it can cool the heat load directly.
As the result of reduced need for providing air, smaller ducts and fans are
required. Another advantage of this system is that cold water can be
provided at 55F compared to 45F cold water required in regular systems.
Therefore, the chillers will work less hard and consume less energy resulting
in the savings. It is the reason for using less energy. In short, three new
technology for create cold temperature in buildings for summer time might
be pervasive. Using new cooling technologies have some advantages such
as energy efficiency.
Green Building in the US
Using new building technology in the US is significant. Engineers try to
use types of new technologies which have more environmental benefits.
Green, Hibbeler, King, &Randrianasolo, (2008) claimed, green buildings are
constructionswhich use energy, water, and other sources in an efficient
ways. However, in this field all items and operations are struck. This part
includes different items such as, well designing, storage area, site selection,
decreasing waste material, using natural light, setting low-flow water fixture,

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and site selection. If a company want to join officially as a green building,

they should register with the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) and follow
special procedure from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) standard for building construction technology. When every single
construction company gets LEED certification, it means that company is
third-party and use maximum environmental standards. This certificate
isprovided by LEED organization in each project and it means the
construction workers and in the future, the owners are environmentally
responsible and have used high standards. Getting LEED certificate for each
building is not easy. This certificate shows in construction built by following
specific rules such as using energy-efficiencyequipment and being
environmental friendly. USGBC provided that building as a green building.
The Commercial Building Envelope
The energy consumption of the buildings are affected by several
factors. Understanding the affect and importance each of factor helps
knowing the building energy usage and the related technologies better.
Johnson and Taber (2007) mentioned, building envelop is one of the most
important factors in the building energy usage and thermal comfort. A highperforming building envelop results in less capacity needs for heating and
cooling a building. A building envelop technology is identified by four factors:
1. Thermal performance 2. Building orientation 3.Permeability (air and
moisture) 4.Day lighting (p.193, 2007).

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Comparing these factors from, different technologies and product will help to
make the best choice in a building construction. The price can always play a
big role in making this decision as well.
The Energy Crisis
Building technology has been affected by energy costs as well. The
cost of operation of a building is hugely affected but the cost of energy. The
energy is used for heating, cooling, and building systems. Johnson and Taber
(2007) stated in the late 1960s the architects came up with new designs
which did not consider energy usage. Due to the low cost of energy, the
buildings were designed to have high consumption with greater designs.
Some of the most energy-intensive buildings were built in that era. It was
after 1973 when the energy crisis happened due to the Arab oil embargo,
when the attention to energy conservation started. Since the buildings were
huge energy consumers, the conservation efforts were brought to buildings
by lower thermostat settings, reducing ventilation, and reducing lighting
levels. Unfortunately, a lot of building operators associated these changes
with poor indoor environmental conditions. After 1973 the energy crisis
happened and engineers changed their design system. Engineers used
thermostats for inside temperature management efficiency. Also, they
changed some parts related to ventilation and lighting.
Future Prediction
The first step for inventing new technologies is predicting a future.
One of the things humans like to predict is forecast. There are lot of same

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things in weather prediction and new building technologies. McDermott

(2008) stated weather prediction is one of the common predictions. Today
weather prediction become a part of daily lives. This major nowadays is part
of our life.
Meteorology has undergone significant disciplinary changes in the past
100 years. Early-twentieth-century meteorologist would be amazed by
todays practice of their science. Once an art that happened on an
individual forecasters lifetime of local experience, meteorology has
become a sophisticated, theoretical atmospheric science. (As cited in
2008, p.2)
The important question about the future is, how much difference is between
today and the future? After that next question is, what is the best responds
for future changes? These questions help engineers to understand and
predict what they need in future. Dr. Nilsen said The future will be primarily
a derivative of what we have today (p.8, 2008). They have to know about
possibility for future. In addition, they have to recognize future conditions
and also the present engineers have to understand the present situation
because it guides them to know future demand.
In conclusion, forbetter understanding of building technologies and
issues , it is important to know about history of building technology in the
USA,background and development, US market, research and technology,
heating and cooling technology, green building in the US,the energy crisis,

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future prediction. Although building technology in the US has started in

middle of 1700s to develop, it is still improving. People who lived in different
states used different technologies according to the weather and building
technology never be the same even in one country. In the history of building
technology,engineers used different material to make comfortable building.
They developed quality of materials to build safer, stronger buildings. The
U.S. building market is one of the most important part of economy. It means
this market can increase when economy grow up and also can stop when
economy in the USA goes down. There are some undeveloped countries
which peopleare still using old technologies in constructors. However,
nowadays governments understand research and increasing budget in this
field can bring more benefit for them. For instance, one of the significant
items in building technology is cooling and heating systems. Using new
methods of heating and cooling has several benefit for owners. They can
reduce utilities bills and also save energy. New building design brings on
opportunity to owners to use more natural light and also build more energyefficient construction. This type of construction iscalled green-building.
Another essential part of building technology which has been more common
in last two decades is high-rise buildings. In some part of cities based on
availability of the land engineers designed and built high-rises over 600
meters which was called mega-tall buildings. Building technology is
developed every year but there is a critical question about future. Engineers
try to predict future and they try to design building according future

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necessity. Understanding present situation and research about issues guide

them to invent new techniques and method for future buildings. Engineers
are hopeful new building technology bring comfort sense for owners and at
the same time reduce environmental issues.

Annotated Bibliography

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Byers, D. R. (2006). Civil engineering and building technology. In P. Finkelman

(Ed.), Encyclopedia of the New American Nation (Vol. 1, pp. 276-277).
Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner's Sons. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX3446700140&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=
e107862c4d69209d647aa39e53a0843e
This article is about civil engineering and how building technology
helps people to have more comfort. This part help me to complete
building material. I use this information to describe old material in the
buildings.
Construction, Nonresidential Building. (2007). In Encyclopedia of Global
Industries (4th ed.). Detroit, MI: Gale. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX2895800029&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=
9c2231330b25f39c1df0430d59fb1313
This article lists nonresidential building construction and describe this
market in the US. I use this article to cover information about this
industry in the US and how much money is in this market.
Chapter 1: overview and summary of results. (2008). In A. Watkins & A.
Verma, Africa Human Development Series. Building Science,
Technology and Innovation Capacity in Rwanda (p. 1). Washington, DC:
World Bank. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE

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%7CA223658656&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ce
3a3ff8d6f1b592db20b21cd4559d06
This book discuss about Rwanda developing in different ways such as
economy and building technology. I cover part of my research paper
which talk about Rwanda and explained how much economic situation
effect on construction market.
Green, M., Hibbeler, A., King, B., &Randrianasolo, A. (2008). Interior
Renovation Company. In L. M. Pearce (Ed.), Business Plans Handbook
(Vol. 14, pp. 59-74). Detroit, MI: Gale. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX3078800017&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=
47cc9f2bcf019c98360cd8962fdaae1a
This article mention about new building designing and tell efficient
design is essential these days. I used this source for Green movement
part. I listed some necessary items for green design from this article.
Johnson, J. A., & Taber, W. S., Jr. (2010). Building Design, Commercial. In J.
Zumerchik (Ed.), Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy (Vol. 1, pp. 191197). New York: Macmillan Reference. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CCX3407300046&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=
94012575dd9d756759c01404bfcca925

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This article explains energy crisis and explain different items such as
heating, cooling, and lighting in building. I listed energy crisis in last 4
decades and use this article to show new building technology help to
reduce using energy.
Kayvani, K. (2015). Tall buildings - past and present trends. Civil Engineering:
Magazine of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, 23(6),
42-44,46-49. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1706970183?
accountid=25320
This article is about tall buildings in past and future. This article
mentions revolution in high-rise buildings. I use this source for part of
new building technology and describe lack of land guides engineers to
build high-rise constructions.
McDermott, C. P. (2009, October). The future of the construction industry and
the implications for construction project management and education.
Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Dissertations Publishing.
This article is about future construction and steps of project
management. I used this article to cover predict future part. I used it
to explain engineers how predict future building technologies.

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Syed, A. (2012). Sustainable Design: Advanced Building Technologies for

Sustainability. Somerset, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from
http://www.ebrary.com
This book reports new technologies in building to save more energy.
Also this book explains energy-efficient design. I used this book to
mention new heating and cooling technologies and how much using
them cause to reduce bills in buildings.