Friday, April 11, 2008

curtain walling

Curtain wall is a term used to describe a building envelope which does not carry any dead load from the building other than its own dead load. These loads are transferred to the main building structure through connections at floors or columns of the building. A curtain wall is designed to resist air and water infiltration, wind forces acting on the building, seismic forces, and its own dead load forces.
Curtain walls are typically designed with extruded aluminium members, although the first curtain walls were made of steel. The aluminium frame is typically infilled with glass, which provides an architecturally pleasing building, as well as benefits such as daylighting. However, parameters related to solar gain control, such as thermal comfort and visual comfort are more difficult to control when using highly-glazed curtain walls. Other common infills include: stone veneer, metal panels, louvers, and operable windows or vents.
Curtain walls differ from storefront systems in that they are designed to span multiple floors, and take into consideration design requirements such as: thermal expansion and contraction; building sway and movement; water diversion; and thermal efficiency for cost-effective heating, cooling, and lighting in the building.

facing


Facing, (also known as blocking or conditioning), is a common tool in the retail industry to create the look of a perfectly stocked store (even when it is not) by pulling all of the products on a display or shelf to the front, as well as downstacking all the canned and stacked items. It is also done to keep the store appearing neat and organized.
The workers who face commonly have jobs doing other things in the store such as customer service, stocking shelves, daytime cleaning, bagging and carryouts(in grocery stores), etc. In some stores, however, facing is done only by the stockers. Facing is generally done near closing time when there are fewer customers and also while the store is completely closed. In busier stores it may be done constantly.
In department stores it may be referred to as recovery, as in the store is recovering from the rush of customers that affect the model appearance the store wants to portray. Merchandise may be put in the wrong area or leave a mess on the floor that needs to be picked up which is part of the recovery process.
Facings also refer to the amount of shelf space a particular product is given. Lots of facing generally increases sales of a particular product, therefore manufacturers will pay more money to get more facings for their products. This inevitably leads to situations where the largest manufacturers end up with the most amount of facings because they are able to pay the most. Clading must have a background. there afe many types of facing such as stone, metal, glass and brick.

cladding


In building construction, cladding may refer to the application of one material over another to provide a weather-proof layer intended to control the infiltration of weather elements. Cladding does not necessarily have to provide a water-proof condition but is instead a control element. This control element may only serve to safely direct water or wind in order to control run-off and prevent infiltration into the building structure. Cladding applied to windows is often referred to as window capping and is a very specialized field. material that are normally used are stone,brick and glass.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

building envelope


A building envelope is the separation between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. It serves as the outer shell to protect the indoor environment as well as to facilitate its climate control. Building envelope design is a specialized area of architectural and engineering practice that draws from all areas of building science and indoor climate control.
Building envelope design includes four major performance objectives:
-Structural integrity
-Moisture control
-Temperature control
-Control of air pressure boundaries



Control of air includes air movement through the components of the building envelope (interstitial) itself, as well as into and out of the interior space, which affects building insulation greatly.
The physical components of the envelope include the foundation, roof, wall, doors and windows. The dimensions, performance and compatibility of materials, fabrication process and details, their connections and interactions are the main factors that determine the effectiveness and durability of the building enclosure system.
Common measures of the effectiveness of a building envelope include physical protection from weather and climate (comfort), indoor air quality (hygiene and public health), durability and energy efficiency. In order to achieve these objectives, all building enclosure systems must include a solid structure, a drainage plane, an air barrier, a thermal barrier, and may include a vapor barrier. Moisture control is essential in cold climates.