There are many advantages for which you can opt for a custom home instead of an existing home when searching to buy a home. There are no major differences in terms of prices between a custom home and a standard home. However, you need to know that not every...
With the need for green structures increasing by the day, there are several green materials to consider to achieve such buildings. However, do these materials offer the full benefits of a green building? It would interest you to know that, as much as green materials differ in quality and...
In most seismic zones like California, earthquakes are a major concern. With experts predicting an increase in magnitude with every passing year, is your home ready? The best and only advisable way to answer this question is to consult a structural engineering firm or more specifically, a structural engineer...
There have been so many questions on low rise and high-rise buildings, as to which is more likely to fail in the event of an earthquake, with most people thinking low rise buildings more likely to survive. However, a building’s ability to survive an earthquake cannot be judged solely by...
Insulated concrete forms or ICFs are lasting forms of concrete created by pouring concrete between two layers of insulation. Currently, the use of insulated concrete forms for residential and commercial wall construction has become prevalent. This is because of the strength and energy efficiency of ICFs. Connecting panels with...
The Construction industry is experiencing consistent pressure to change profoundly its conventional method to oversee construction projects, as the market needs a construction system that can deliver projects with higher quality, lower cost, and in a shorter time span. But sorry to say that the conventional construction projects are...
The System of Columns and Beams have been used in so many ancient civilizations such as Ancient Egypt (3100BC) and the Roman Empire (30 BC) Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nowadays, Slab-beam-column System is used widely in all superstructures with modern technology, and materials for the construction process. Generally, the load of...
With the emergence of Building Information Modeling, it is hard to remember an era where CAD 3D was the holy grail of construction design and planning. BIM has taken the construction industry by storm, providing a more efficient medium for planning and carrying out a project. If you intentionally...
The global need for sustainable construction increases as a result of the increase in environmental conditions and greenhouse emissions. However, sustainable construction is not only about designing an environmentally friendly building; it involves improving the way people live and build through a modern approach in the building sector. What...
Conventional framing options for most residential buildings in the United States are lumber framing. However, Light gauge steel (LGS), is slowly coming to light as an option for framing residential buildings. Some of its noticeable properties are; Strength Durability Inflammable Flexible in design Performs well in natural disasters Notwithstanding,...
For a structural Engineer, the main purpose of structural design and analysis is to design safe structures, capable of withstanding all possible loads (applied and lateral loads) throughout its lifespan. It is common knowledge that structural failure, which can lead to losses of lives and property, can occur in...
For a structural engineer, designing a structure entails, ensuring that the structure resists all possible forces. Some of the forces a structure needs to resist include: The mass of the contents of the structure including the structure itself and other nonstructural materials; (dead load.) Transient forces from the occupancy...
You may be losing a lot of money if you don’t understand what passive house design means. We tend to use the words passive house just as much as the word “green” when it comes to home design. Here is what you need to know about what “passive house”...
Structural engineering or structural design is a process that you go through to complete a construction project. There are three main phases, which include the planning phase, design, and construction phase. Planning Phase During the planning phase, the factors that go into a structure such as concrete buildings or...
There is a continual transformation going on in modern office spaces. From the traditional point of view, these spaces included a specific number of private offices surrounding the perimeter of the space, with specific forms occupying the centre. Nowadays, it is obvious that companies are choosing an open office...
Choosing the right construction methods to build a home can be challenging due to the variety of options. Stick-built homes that are created entirely from wood, traditional earthen-block construction and light gauge steel-framing are just a few options that you can choose from. Every new home owner has different...
In the United States, the conventional construction technique for residential buildings (single-family homes) is that of light-wood framing. Additionally, dimensional wood lumber has economical and environmental properties such as: It is readily available It can be packaged neatly because of its unit dimension. It can be easily transported to...
HVAC services ensure proper ventilation, heating, and air conditioning. It is public knowledge, the unpredictability of weather all over the world. Therefore, quality HVAC services are necessary for indoor comfort. Restaurants should provide comfort for their customers always, regardless of the weather condition. That said, No one would want...
Wood frame construction: Although steel has been the most widely used building material since the mid-twentieth century, wood has been utilized to assemble structures for quite a long time. In any case, recently, we’ve seen to some degree a wood frame building renaissance, particularly in a society where cost...
Structural steel is a high strength construction material, which can be made into different forms. However, the strength of the steel does not change with its shape. In structural engineering, it is common practice to produce beams, of different shapes, from structural steel. Steel I Beams are beams with...