Monday, October 12, 2009

Review Materials


1. It is where the current plans of cities where based including literature, arts...
a. Byzantine
b. Greek
c. Roman

2. Optical Correction made in Column...
a. entasis

3. Identify the door (with beam above)...
a. trabeated

4. Identify the Lot (almost corner with culdesac at the other side)...
a. Through Lot
b. Corner Lot

5. What percentage if all plans of the architect where used on the same second project...
a. 90
b. 80

6. Identify the system, where two adjacent color and opposite ...
a. Triad
b. Split Complimentary
c. Complimentary

7. Identify the arrow it represents ... (building plan with arrow lines)
a. Terminating in space
b. Pass through space
c. Pass near the space

8. Where should the shorter side of the basketball court be oriented ....
a. North-South
b. East-west

9. Who is reponsible to shorten the time and lessen the cost...
a. Project Manager
b. Architect

10. Who is the the owner of plans, construction documents ....
a. Architect

11. Who should not sign architectural plans...
a. engineer
b. Architect

12. Who should secure the building permit...
a. Client
b. architect

13. After a change of of use (renovation) of the building, what should be secured...
a. fire inspection certificate

14. Before a building can be used, what should be secured ...
a. building permit
b. Occupancy permit

15. What is being planned by the HLURB.....
a. Comprehensive land use plan

16. After the plan being pass through the sanggunian, who will implement....
a. NHA
b. DPWH

17. What is used in order to determine the function/traffic....
a. Grid
b. Floor pattern

18. If all the people converge in one place in the city, it is called....
a. Monocentric
b. central Business district
c. Polycentric

19. What happens if the majority of the population proceed to the city...
a. unavailability of low cost housing
b. loss of jobs

20. identify the bond
a. Flemish
b. Running bond
c. English bond
d. English garden bond
_____|__|______|__|_____
___|______|__|______|__|
_____|__|______|__|_____
___|______|__|______|__|
_____|__|______|__|_____
___|______|__|______|__|

21. Identify the road (angled from the vertical road)
a. Service road
b. Culdesac
c. Interior road

22. Identify the figure..
a. Foldable partition

=====\ /\ /
\/ \/

23. What is the method of compensation
a. 5% upon signing of contract, 50% ...
b. 10 percent upon signing of contract, 50%...
c. 5%, 40% ....

24. In vernacular architecture, it is where the cups, utensils are kept...
a. cusina
b. banguerahan

25. The origin of bahay na kubo comes from...
a. Balai which means house, Kubo which means cube.

26. What is the frieze in modern day houses,
a. beam
b. gutter

27. It is also (designed) (called) as beam
a. Corbel
b. Wall Footing

28. Identify the arch (looks like a trefoil)
a. ogee
b. lancet


29. The early (christian) period can be characterized with .....
a. simple pediment with dome on top


30. when a (hot air) enters a room, what happens...
a. hor air Air rises

31. What is not covered by fire regulation.....
a. Unrestricted fire zone

32. A line is ...
a. A shadow
b. A point that has direction and ...

33. the intersection of the (center) of the (arch/vaults) is called ..
a. boss

34. Intentify that part of the vault ....
a. (rib cage)

35. Style characterized by horizontal lines and window tracery ...
a. mannerism

36. A spanish architect who designed the Sagrada Familia...
a. Antonio Gaudi

37. What (character/method) did Frank Gerry used in his (approach/design)...
a. (Deviating) from (typical/regular) showing the external functions...

38. Identify the figure (4 large circular column in plan with smaller columns in between coupled/group together) ...
a. Combined/grid/clustered

39. Identify the column (almost semi circular in plan flushed to the wall)
a. Engaged column

40. (Something about) arch (can span greater distance than lintel)
a. made of small stones


41. The (arrangement) of (forms/ volume)
a. Composition
b. massing

42. The character where the design is continous (that can be found on the other parts of the structure)
a. Rhythmn
b. Unity

43. Using (downlight/pinlight) indirect lighting in (a store)
a. Gives dramatic effect

44. Style that characterised by (vertical/parallel) and tracery on (windows)
a. (early christian)

45. What is (the purpose of) a fortress...
a. to protect the (owner) from enemy attact
b. (military installation)

46. A plan drawn by a draftsman under the supervision of a registered and licensed architect, (who owns the said documents) (responsible)
a. Architect of record

47. Under the National Building Code IRR, what is the length of signange that can project to a street assuming it is arcaded ...
a. 0.90 m
b. 1.00 m
c. not more than 1.20 m

48. In what (services/phase) does the scope of (helping/arranging) for the clients (to bid out for the contractor)....
a. Contruct documents phase (mind the spelling, it is "CONTRUCT")
b. Construction phase

49. If an architect assumes the function of going to the project site (monitoring)
what (services) ....

a. Full time project supervision
b. Project supervision

50. Indentify the spacing (1 1/2) of the column
a. distyle
b. pycnostyle

51. What is the most (ideal) for a residential resort to develop especially if it is facing a lake
Figure... (the drawing of the slope is more exaggerated than the written figure)
a. 2 percent slope
b. 5 percent slope
c. 10 percent slope
d. 15 percent slope or more

52. Same figure (slope) what is the most expensive for the plumbing to be develop...
a. 2 percent slope
b. 5 percent slope
c. 10 percent slope
d. 15 percent slope or more

53. The study in relation to ... volume
a. Antropomtery
b. ergonomics

54. What type of window where most air can pass .....
a. casement
b. awning

55. (something about) Renovation
a. changes with respect to the original plan...

56. Where can be the pyramid of Cheops be found ...
a. Egypt

57. It is an Indian gateway
a. Torii
b. pailou
c. Torana

58. It is the basis of architectural (sytle)
a. Culture

59. The (termination) between wall and ceiling. Identify the figure...
a. Cyma reversa
b. Cyma recta
c. (cove)

60. What is the minimum habitable area ....
a. 6.0 sq.m.

61. When the spaniards came, they noticed that the house where easily destoyed during typhoon, What type of house was introduced by them...
a. Bahay na bato
b. Bungalow

62. A semi circular area on the end side of the church
a. apse

63. (Something about estimate)
a. (quantity surveyor)

64. Where does Planning services fall...
a. Regular services
b. (Special) Allied Services

65. Identify the figure (a complex building plan)
a. Space within a space
a. (Cross space)

66.


67. (Mostly found) (common) in China and Japan
a. Pagoda

68. Plans, (Perspective), "MODELS", they are...
a. instruments of practice

69. Who keeps the logbook
a. owner
b. Architect

70. type of building (arcade) open (space) on
a. one side
b. two sides
c. all sides

71. What (method) in plannig so all concerned are given....
a. Heirarchy
b. (Organization chart)

72. As an architect, you where commisioned to do the (masterplan) ...
a. Direct all department heads ...
b. Study all existing laws that (has relation) ...

73. Elements found on both side (centerline) ...
a. Symmetrical

74. what was used in the design... Identify the figure (A facade of 2-3 story with door and a human outline drawing) ...
a. Human scale

75. it (moves) people from (one place to ) another.. direction ...
a. path

76. Which (area) type make wind more unpredictable ..
a. grass area
b. Built up structures
c. valley

77. Where can be found during the roman empire (country) (church) ...
a. (East Roman)
b. (West roman)

78. The basis of modern day (door)
a. post and lintel

79. What is (NOT) ussually employed by the owner in commissioning a small residential project ...
a. referall
b. (direct)
c. competition


80. In what instances where several architect submit a design proposal at the same time...
a. design competition

81. what is R3
a. Medium density housing
b. High density housing
c. (general) density houding

82. What influences contemporay architecture
a. building materials
b. existing law
c. culture
d. all of the above

83. Indentify the figure (planning) used ...
a. radial
b. (Grid)
c. (centralized)

84. (who provides for the CPE - continuing professional education)
a. IAPOA
b. PRC

85. What is the purpose of bill of materials
a. Bidding
b. (loan)
c. construction guide

86.(Which is not a structural plan) does not show ...
a. foundation plan
b. schedules of beam
c. floor framing plan
d. roof framing plan

87. (what is needed for the application of building permit) ..
a. TCT - transfer certificate of Title

88. (Who is responsible for the) implementation of RA 9266
a. Building official

89. Situational .. An architect billed his client with the total of 3,500,000 including there already the 12 percent VAT. ( part of that, aside VAT goes to overheads, expenses, fees, profit.)
How much without the VAT
a. 3,125,000

90. how much is the profit
a. 1M plus plus

91. How much is the tax
owed to the government

a. 375,000

1. For efficiency (identify in the plan) what should be near each other
a. AHU,FCU
b. AHU, Chiller
c. FCU, Chiller

2. Idenfity (Foundation plant in sectional view resting on a concrete)
The foundation is resting on
a. gravel
b. 50 mm concrete mat

3. Identify (riser diagram, indicating a ckt, and light fixtures.)
a. (38) light units

4. What item needs to have its own CKT.
a. ACU

5. In eletric elevator, is the cable that provides electrical power to the car
a. governor rope
b. traveling cable

6. for (maintenance)
stainless steel rail
a. Mirror finish
b. Hairline finish
c. (Satin finish)

7. What could not be achieved by an escalator, walkalator that is possible in a travelator
a. Move trolleys from one level to the next level

8. Identify (steel frames with angle brace - the brace being pointed)
a. Bolted and welded

9. Identify what type of airconditioning was used.
a. Centralized
b. Chilled beam

10. What location is the (Chiller)
a. 2nd floor
b. 3rd floor
c. ground floor

11. where is the (air) in the chocolate room coming from
a. managers room
b. fan thru the toilet

12. usually installed in kitchen (toilets) to expel odors
a. mechanical vent

13. Used/preferred as type of materials on exit on highly ....

a. steel
b. reinforced concrete

14. What happens when someone tries to break a (laminated glass)
a. it will break and turn to smaller pieces
b. it will buckle
c. nothing

15. for (privacy) where one can see the outside and hidden from the outside
a. tinted glass

16. If it breaks, it will turn to smaller pieces without sharpe edges..\
a. tempered glass

17. a residential condiminium is facing a busy street, what solution to lessen the noise if cost is NOT a factor
a. install noise control damper
b. double glazing on windows

18. what floor should be placed in a gym of a fast food maker company
a. (granite)

19. an (industrial) look showroom is having problems with acoustics
a. install (acoustic) ceiling

20. where usually a storm sewer are placed
a. under the sidewalk on short road and under the road on wider road
b. near the curb ...

21. where usally the telephone line are placed
a. under the sidewalk on short road and under the road on wider road
b. near the curb ...

22. How to attached a wood on a concrete panel
a. Dowel

23. how to attached (something like a post)
a. anchor bolt

24. a (150) wall was used, then a 150 x 200 column was designed, why this cannot be used
a. it will buckle
b. interface between the wall and column will crack

25. Identify (metal roof with screw- pointing on screw)
a. self tapping screw

26. What is used to fasten .... (almost similar question)
a. self tapping screw

27. What is the commercial length of long span roofing
a. 18 m
b. 10 m
c. none

28. What is the advantage of using Long span roofing
a. Less joint, less maintenance

29. What is Not a commercial wattage for a flourescent light
a. 100w
b. 20w
c. 40w
d. 36w

30. According to the Accessibility law, what is the mounting height for grab bar
a. 600mm
b. 700mm
c. 900mm

31. Truss is designed with usually a bottom chord...why..
a. Truss normaly cannot span wide distance

32. A small residential project with an area of ... sq. .m. on the second floor will be poured with concrete .. what is the best ...
a. Manual mix
b. Ready mix concrete
c. 2 bagger mixer

33. A ready mix concrete should be test at ...
a. site
b. plant

34. A (hydrologic) soil test should be made ...
a. before excavation
b. after excavation

35. To keep a wall from moving forward, that is (touching) (beside) a soil
a. Loosen up soil to allow water to drain

36. What is the treatment for cracks on wall....
a. Injection of (bonding chemical)

37. Treatment for a soil that was over excavated
a. return the soil, compact and excavate again
b. place metal (something) (gravel)

38.A floor will be laid with new (tiles) on an uneven surface level .. what to do...
a. aplly with leveling grout..

39. What is being used to measure the property line?
a. T square
b. triangle
c. (compass)
d. steel tape

40. What is the least cost to get the right angle
a. brand new plywood
b. 3-4-5 multiple
c. hire a geodetic engineer (surveyor)

41. Identify the drawing (switch in the toilet)
a. Single switch

42. To prevent accident, what (not) to use on pavement .. (or more prone to accident)
a. tiles
b. asphalt


43. In plumbing, if valve is to regulate the flow of water, what is the counterpart in electrical...
a. switch

44. According to the National Plumbing code what is the (minimum) slope...
a. 1/2" : 1m
b. 1/4" : 12 inches

45. Structural .. when torsion is applied .. what happens..
a. twist

46. Concrete breaks without warning, steel takes time, under these design parmeters ... consideration ..
a. Concrete and steel should be design to fall simultaneously
b. Steel should be design to fall first

47. what is Curing..
a. fast drying of concrete
b. retaining of water through hydration

48. another question about concrete...
a. curing

49. Who is responsible for the relocation of points..
a. architect
b. geodetic engineer

50. most common frame materials used in warehouse
a. concrete
b. steel
c. aluminum

51. a form of security
a. CCTV
b. cable tv
c. PBX

52. according to the National Plumbing Code, pipe... support..
a. 3.0 m

53. Indentify ... plumbing (valve in plan)
a. valve near the (source)

54. Identify ... plumbing..
a. No hot water line

55. (Mechanical plan) To control (or identify in the plan) located in the entrance...
a. Air curtain

56. advantage of steel ....
a. takes less manpower


57. Disadvantage of cast in place over pre fab
a. takes time to finish

58. another advantage of steel ...
a. steel has more strength

59. What should be used if a wall will be in contact with the earth/soil
a. Retaining wall
b. (shear wall)

60. about costruction...
a. formwork

61. disadvantage of this material, (esp. typhoon debris)..
a. masonry

62. Old building..PABX..
a. Wiring problem

63. why is acrylic .. versatile...
a. can be used on wood, concrete and steel

64. Disadvantage of (Cementitous) water proofing
a. cannot tolerate more cracks

65. Used to cut intricate patterns
a. Hot wire
b. jigsaw

66. NPC, minumum trap size for shower drain
a. 2"
b. 1 1/2"

67. Uniform light on a wide area
a. flood light
b. Spot light

68. Why is the lenght of the frame of sliding windows (limited to) (1.6m)
a. frame will bent

69. Door folding, what hinge
a. invisible hinge

70. what shoud be avoided in auditorium design, since it tends to (focus) sound
a. irregular
b. rectangular

71. You were commissioned for a music room design... for the floor...
a. wood

72. it has (almost the same) properties of concrete
a. plaster
b. wood

73. (Ultraviolet) sun... pipes...
a. PB
b. IRON

74. Live load
a. human

75. Where is a gutter attached
a. fascia board

76. it serve as Door stopper
a. Basciada

77. window that receives most (air)
a. casement

78. is a mixture of (silica) (lime)
a. cement

79. It the water that flows out of the system is contaminated, what could be the reasons...
a. there is a hole is the piping system
b. a combined line for the (other fixtures)

80. an IT company, building, what should be the consideration...
a. modular furniture, configurable

81. structural question
a. expansion joint

82. powdering of paints... solution
a. do not paint if it is very humid
b. always clean the brush

83. something about joinery
a. butt joint

84. how to lessen the (traffic)
a. tall trees
b. ground grass cover
c. (3) feet wall fence

85. type of hinge used ...
a. concealed hinge

86. material/method for rat proofing
a. plastic
b. steel
c. concrete
d. (poison) lason

87. on plumbing. if....
a. grease trap

88. consideration in the location of septic tank
a. location of water supply

89. about (roofing),
a. c-purlins

90. 45 degree, ...
a. v groove

91. narra, how best preserve, texture, look ...
a. paint
b. varnish
c. laquer

92. complex project ...
a. pert-cpm .. pert.. critical path method

93. advantage of (pvc) roof ....
a. flexible esp. on curve surface

94. noisy floor ....
a. install carpet

95. pvc pipe, how is joined ..
a. fusion
b. solvent cement
c. (teflon tape)

96. indentify .. figure (foundation resting on a conc.)
a. (50mm) concrete

97. very low luminance, consumes too much energy, banned on goverment buildings ..
a. flourescent
b. incandescent bulb

98. how is the (connection) of gutters attached (joined)
a. alumminum rivets

99. what is the properties of .. sound... .
a. (refraction)

100. a client, see below the floor, what glass...
a. tempered glass
b. safety glass
c. glass block
c. laminated glass

101. a sample of (ac) dc current ...
a. generator

102. if 5 bulbs are connected to a series, what happens when you take out one of the bulbs
a. all lights out
b. nothing

103. what is needed if you need to get power from generator (aside from meralco)
a. double throw

104. identify (electrical) the ckt. (AC) unit
a. ckt. (19)

105. which should be (not) used for a pipechase
a. chb
b. drywall
c. shearwall

106. astm .... metal ..
a. (steel bar)

107. structural ... after the concrete...
a. post tensioning

108. how do you determine the adjacent property line (start) (where) on the other side of the road ..
a. middle of the road
a. edge of the other side of the road

109. Identtify figure (angle support, from metal post, angled, supporting a truss/roof overhang)

110. about wall, (not) to use ... (outside) inside
a. 100mm
b. 150 mm

111. affects light in a (room)
a. material texture
b. color
c. (window)

112. there are so many ways to install a window, prior to that, certain (allowance) which window is (not|) included...
a. casement
b. louvre

113. what type of ceiling not to use in high traffic kitchen
a. stainless

114. where should (soil pipe) be placed ....
a. pipechase

115. countours, elevation mark ....
a. topographic map

116. for (cement) (plaster) to hold ...
a. make plaster thin a possible
b. add more (cement)

117. identify (plumbing layout)
a. kitchen sink

118. that slopes, degree (roof)
a. (rafter)

119. what wall should be used if (soil pipe) will run through it
a. drywall
b. 150 chb

120. structural .. concrete (failure)\
a. voids..
121. indenfity size of beam (drawing .. grid)
a. (300 x 400)

122. identify from schedule (drawing ..L/3) face of the column bottom bars.
a. (1600) mm

123. length of beam from shedule
(grid/)

a. (0000) mm

124. length of beam from shedule
(B something)

a. (0000) mm

125. L/5 length of bottom bar
a.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

PLANNING 3 REPORTS

UPLOAD THE LINKS TO YOUR REPORTS IN THE "POST A COMMENT" BOX. (Click on the above title first)


V-1

V-2
Industrial Planning
Commercial Center

V-3

Thursday, January 29, 2009

New Blogspot Address

I am transferring to a new blogspot address combining all my other blogspots http://pupclass.blogspot.com,
http://modern-arki.blogspot.com, and
http://greenarki.blogspot.com.

My new blogspot would be
http://architectureoverload.blogspot.com.

Sorry for the inconvenience and hoping you visit my new site.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Thesis Blog

I am opening a window for students of architecture to have their thesis works viewed and appreciated by others. I am inviting thesis students to send me their thesis project for publishing here. Please email me the following:
Your Name
School
Thesis Year
Thesis Executive Summary
Pictures of your presentation boards and drawings

Be proud of your work! Share it with others!

Ten Most Unique Church

1. Harajuku: Japanese Futuristic ChurchThis futuristic protestant church is located in Tokyo and it was first unveiled by the design firm of Ciel Rouge Creation in 2005. The ceiling is specially made to reverberate natural sound for 2 seconds to provide a unique listening experience for worshipers and tourists.


2. Saint Basil's Cathedral: The Red Square 's Colorful Church

The St. Basil's Cathedral is located on the Red Square in Moscow , Russia . A Russian Orthodox church, the Cathedral sports a series of colorful bulbous domes that taper to a point, aptly named onion domes, that are part of Moscow's Kremlin skyline.

The cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ, a Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named.


3. Hallgrímskirkja: Iceland 's Most Amazing Church

The Hallgrímskirkja (literally, the church of Hallgrímur ) is a Lutheran parish church located in Reykjavík , Iceland . At 74.5 metres (244 ft), it is the fourth tallest architectural structure in Iceland . The church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 to 1674), author of the Passion Hymns. State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design of the church was commissioned in 1937; it took 38 years to build it.

4. Temppeliaukio Kirkko: The Rock Church

Temppeliaukio Kirkko ( Rock Church ) is a thrilling work of modern architecture in Helsinki . Completed in 1952, it is built entirely underground and has a ceiling made of copper wire. It was designed by architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and completed in 1969. They chose a rocky outcrop rising about 40 feet above street level, and blasted out the walls from the inside. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Helsinki and frequently full of visitors.

5. Cathedral of Brasília: The Modern Church of architect Oscar Niemeyer

The Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida in the capital of Brazil is an expression of the architect Oscar Niemeyer. This concrete-framed hyperboloid structure, seems with its glass roof to be reaching up, open, to heaven. On 31 May 1970, the Cathedral's structure was finished, and only the 70 m diameter of the circular area were visible. Niemeyer's project of Cathedral of Brasília is based in the hyperboloid of revolution which sections are asymmetric. The hyperboloid structure itself is a result of 16 identical assembled concrete columns. These columns, having hyperbolic section and weighing 90 t, represent two hands moving upwards to heaven. The Cathedral was dedicated on 31 May 1970 .

6. Borgund Church: Best Preserved Stave Church

The Borgund Stave Church in Lærdal is the best preserved of Norway 's 28 extant stave churches. This wooden church, probably built in the end of the 12th century, has not changed structure or had a major reconstruction since the date it was built. The church is also featured as a Wonder for the Viking civilization in the video game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.


7. Las Lajas Cathedral: A Gothic Church Worthy of a Fairy TaleThe Las Lajas Cathedral is located in southern Colombia and built in 1916 inside the canyon of the Guaitara River . According to the legend, this was the place where an indian woman named María Mueses de Quiñones was carrying her deaf-mute daughter Rosa on her back near Las Lajas ("The Rocks"). Weary of the climb, the María sat down on a rock when Rosa spoke (for the first time) about an apparition in a cave.

Later on, a mysterious painting of the Virgin Mary carrying a baby was discovered on the wall of the cave. Supposedly, studies of the painting showed no proof of paint or pigments on the rock - instead, when a core sample was taken, it was found that the colors were impregnated in the rock itself to a depth of several feet. Whether true or not, the legend spurred the building of this amazing church.

8. St. Joseph Church: Known for its Thirteen Gold Domed RoofSt. Joseph The Betrothed is an Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Chicago . Built in 1956, it is most known for its ultra-modern thirteen gold domed roof symbolizing the twelve apostles and Jesus Christ as the largest center dome. The interior of the church is completely adorned with byzantine style icons (frescoes). Unfortunately the iconographer was deported back to his homeland before he was able to write the names of all the saints as prescribed by iconographic traditions.


9. Ružica Church: Where Chandeliers are made of Bullet Shells

Located over the Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade, Serbia, the Ružica Church is La small chapel decorated with... with trench art! Its chandeliers are entirely made of spent bullet casing, swords, and cannon parts..

The space the church now occupies was used by the Turks as gunpowder storage for over 100 years and it had to be largely rebuilt in 1920 after WWI. Though damaged by bombings there was an upshot to the terrible carnage of The Great War. While fighting alongside England and the US , Serbian soldiers on the Thessaloniki front took the time to put together these amazing chandeliers. It is one of the world's finest examples of trench art.


10.Chapel of St-Gildas: Built into the base of a bare rocky cliff

The Chapel of St-Gildas sits upon the bank of the Canal du Blavet in Brittany, France . Built like a stone barn into the base of a bare rocky cliff, this was once a holy place of the Druids. Gildas appears to have travelled widely throughout the Celtic world of Corwall, Wales , Ireland and Scotland . He arrived in Brittany in about AD 540 and is said to have preached Christianity to the people from a rough pulpit, now contained within the chapel.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Heritage Conservation Society Lecture on Church Heritage Conservation

The Heritage Conservation Society invites everyone to attend "SAVING GRACE: Case Studies on the Architectural Conservation of Heritage Churches Here and Abroad" on Saturday, 31 January 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Army & Navy Club Building (now Museo ng Maynila) in Rizal Park.

Speakers will include:

Ms. Tina Paterno, Senior Conservator from New York City
- the Smithfield Church, built in 1925, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
- the Cathedral of the Incarnation, built in 1876, in Garden City, New York;

Archt. Arnulfo Dado, of the National Museum
- San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila, completed in 1607 and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,
- the Parish Church of San Raymundo de Peñafort, Rizal (Malaueg), Cagayan, built in 1607 and declared a National Cultural Treasure by the NCCA;

Archt. Angel Lazaro, of Angel Lazaro & Associates
- Parish Church of San Andres, in Masinloc, Zambales, built in 1607 and declared a National Cultural Treasure by the NCCA.

Lunch will be served. Minimum donation is P 200 for non-members, P 100 for HCS members, and P 50 for undergraduate students. For more information, please contact the HCS at 521-2239 or hcs_secretariat@ yahoo.com.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

URBAN HEAT ISLAND FORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF URBAN SUSTAINABILITY (Part 5)

Conclusion and Recommendations


While more definitive studies are continuing, it is clear from the data that the built environment, and corresponding lack of vegetation, is several degrees warmer than nearby natural environments. The increasing effects in tropical mega-cities have created increasing concern for the sustainability of the urban system.


Studies in the urban heat environment have gone a long way. Most of the earlier researches though were focused from the meteorological point of view. The motivation was to see the implications of heat island on weather phenomenon. Another group of researchers tried to study heat environment from an architectural point of view, where their intentions were to provide the ambient temperature and comfort condition inside buildings. The former was of concern of regional scale and the latter was of building scale but none approach it from the scale of a city. However, with the advent of remote sensing and aeronautics research using techniques developed for space technologies, a sudden interest is observed.

Recent studies that have used these technologies have focused on the understanding of land use patterns to heat production and its effect on the lowest layers in the atmosphere. The concern is on how the characteristics of the urban landscape drive this urban heat island effect and how urbanization and growth shape the dynamics of the effect. Parks and greenbelts reduce temperatures while the Central Business district (CBD), commercial areas, and even suburban housing tracts are areas of warmer temperatures. Every house, building, and road changes the microclimate around it, contributing to the urban heat islands of our cities. The urban heat island effect will exist as long as urban areas exist. However, the growth of heat islands can be slowed, and its effects reduced.


The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the urban heat environment, their implications to urban sustainability, and to identify measures to alleviate it. There are many possible measures that exist to make cities more sustainable and habitable and urban planners and policy makers should think this phenomenon seriously before the situation gets worse further. In some affluent cities such as Tokyo, Los Angeles and Atlanta, the problem has been identified as quite serious and major researches are being initiated. Present and future mega-cities like Metro Manila should learn the lessons from these cities and appropriate urban policies should be put into action.


References:

Akbari, H. 1998. “Cool Roofs Save Energy” ASHRAE proceedings, January.

Luvall, Dr. Jeffrey C and Dr. Dale Quattrochi. "Whats hot in Huntsville and what's not: A NASA thermal remote sensing project" 14 Feb 1996
http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/land/heatisl/heatisl.htm

Heat Island Group "Air Quality" 27 Apr 2004
http://eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/AirQuality

NASA "NASA Satellite Confirms Urban Heat Islands Increase Rainfall Around Cities" 18 Jun 2002
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020613urbanrain.html

“Urban Climate Modifications”

http://www-personal.umich.edu/-rohemma/resint.htm

Wolman, Abel, (1965). quoted by, White, R. & J. Whitney, (1992). "Cities and the Environment: An Overview". In, Stren, R., R. White & J. Whitney, (eds.), Sustainable Cities: Urbanization & the Environment in International Perspective, Boulder, CO.: Westview Press. pp. 8-51.

Rohinton Emmanuel.“Summertime Urban Heat Island Mitigation: Propositions based on an Investigation of Intra-Urban Air Temperature Variations” Architectural Science Review

http://www-personal.umich.edu/-rohemma/resint.htm

Stone, Brian Jr. and Michael O. Rodgers. 2001. Urban Form and Thermal Efficiency: How the Design of Cities Influences the Urban Heat Island Effect pdf format. Journal of the American Planning Association 67(2), 186-198.

Cardelino CA, Chameides WL. 1990. Natural hydrocarbons, urbanization, and urban ozone. Journal of Geophysical Research 95 (D9):13971-13979.

Stone, Brian Jr. Urban heat and Air Pollution: An Emerging Role for Planners in the Climate Change Debate. Journal of the American Planning Association , forthcoming.

Stone, Brian Jr. 2004. Paving Over Paradise: How Land Use Regulations Promote Residential Imperviousness pdf format. Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning 69, 101-113.

Stone, Brian Jr. 2003. Air Quality by Design: Harnessing the Clean Air Act to Manage Metropolitan Growth pdf format. Journal of Planning Education and Research 23, 177-190.

Gorsevski, Virginia; Taha, Haider; Quattrochi, Dale; and Luvall, Jeff. “Air Pollution Prevention Through Urban Heat Island Mitigation: An Update on the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project”. EPA

Estes, Maurice Jr.; Gorsevski, Virginia; Russell, Camille; Quattrochi, Dale; and Luvall, Jeffrey. ”The Urban Heat Island Phenomenon and Potential Mitigation Strategies”. 1999 EPA National Planning Conference.

“Here Comes Urban Heat” Science @NASA

http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/912/urban

Rosenberg, Matt. “Urban Heat Islands: It sure is Hot in the City!”.

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa121500a.htm

“State of Environmental Situation”

http://ncr.denr.gov.ph/introduction/envisituation.html

URBAN HEAT ISLAND FORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF URBAN SUSTAINABILITY (Part 4)

Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: The Role of Urban Planning


Till today, urban developers and policy makers are not serious on the implications of the worsening heat environment. The costs as discussed above, are tremendous which would force this effect to be taken seriously into up-coming days. On one hand, there are certain things that might be difficult to change such as urban thermal mass, weather patterns and surface roughness. Elimination of these effects would require complete and drastic new way of thinking in the way cities are built and operate. But on the other hand, there are plenty of corrective measures that can be taken within the existing urban set-up such as increasing vegetation cover, albedo modification, efficient energy consumption and management of heat discharge sources which are possible by supportive urban planning and policy measures.

Increasing vegetative cover

Tree plantation is the most obvious and the easiest way to improve heat environment in existing urban set-ups. Trees help in a number of ways; they provide direct shade to the buildings from solar radiation so that less radiation will reach to the building walls, windows and roof to be absorbed. They also create shades in the soil and concrete pavements to act as heat sink for the buildings and asphalt roads. Increase in water vapor due to evapotranspiration by plant leaves is significant in taking the heat away. Trees also act as pollutants, carbon and noise sink. It helps to mitigate greenhouse effects by consuming carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis process. It is estimated that a street lined with trees can reduce dust particles of about 7,000 particles per liter of air. However, care must be used in choosing the type of trees since some trees give off organic compounds (hydrocarbons) into the atmosphere and contribute to ozone in forming smog.


Planting programs can help reduce urban temperatures and make cities greener. Within ten to fifteen years – the time it takes a tree to grow to a useful size – trees placed in strategic locations can reduce heating and cooling costs by an average of 10-20%. Over their lifetimes, trees can be much less expensive than air conditioners and the energy needed to run them.

Well-distributed green parks and water bodies around the urban city act as recreational and aesthetic beauty. Urban planners are concerned with parks and water bodies but their motivation is for aesthetic beauty rather than betterment of heat environment. In the existing urban set-up, metropolitan authorities could encourage green belts around the roadside and plantations. This strategy depend on the local climate condition whether the place of concern is hot-dry or hot-humid in nature. In the hot-dry regions, the evaporation from the soil is minimal, urban parks and water bodies increase water evaporation from both the plants and the soil, consequently the effect on local climate could be significant and desirable. On the contrary, hot-humid regions have low specific evaporation and reduction in the wind speed near the ground is undesirable from the comfort viewpoint (Givoni, 1997).


Albedo modification

Albedo is defined as the ability of the surface to reflect solar radiation. It is different from reflectivity in the sense that reflectivity might only account for visual bands whereas albedo accounts for all the incoming radiation to the surface. It is basically hemispherical reflection of radiation integrated over the solar spectrum (0.3 – 2.5 mm) and includes specular and diffuse reflection (Bretz et al, 1998). Asphalt roads, concrete pavements and corrugated roofs have low values of albedo which form the major part of the dense mega-cities. Low albedo surfaces absorb significant proportion of the solar radiation and contribute in worsening urban heat environment. The mitigation strategy therefore is to improve over-all albedo of the urban surfaces.


Improving the urban albedo, such as for buildings and other surfaces have additional advantages. Apart from facilitating urban surfaces to reflect most of the solar radiation, it also contributes in cooling the buildings so that air-conditioning demand is greatly reduced. Studies have shown that the cooling energy savings from the high-albedo roofs and walls in the buildings are very significant. Any heat island mitigation strategy would be required to identify the opportunities that exist in improving the urban surface albedo. The surface albedo property can be greatly enhanced either by mixing it with some third material that can greatly increase its albedo or replacing the traditional construction material completely. The “cool construction materials” can be used to improve solar reflectance without significant cost additions. The choice of light and white colored surfaces is possible, however, a distinction between the light colored surface and high albedo surface should be well understood since light colored surface only means high reflectivity in the visible band.


The effect of albedo modification by one or combination of various methods at the scale of a city and their implication to the overall temperature is not very much studied. In general, the motivation for such albedo improvement has been observed from the air-conditioning viewpoint at building scale rather than reduction of overall thermal situation at the city scale. Building owners, builders and architects have choice to select color of the rooftops, type of construction materials and other measures. Urban planners and policy makers can change the attitude of the stakeholders by improving building codes with thermal considerations, energy management and appropriate urban planning.

Efficient energy consumption and management of heat discharge sources

Since mega-cities are characterized by high energy consumption, ample opportunities exist to manage energy and the heat discharge sources. As stated earlier, air-conditioning is the major stationary heat discharge sources arising from buildings. Air-conditioning units discharge heat to the urban atmosphere continuously due to the energy consumption inside the buildings in various forms (mainly gas and electricity) and absorbed solar radiation through the building surfaces. Three types of management is important here. First, is to enhance energy efficiencies of the end use appliances and the way of supplying energy. Second, is the energy efficient building design from architecture standpoint. And third, is the location of heat discharge sources. High-rise buildings allow the flexibility of placing the air-conditioning units (or plants) at the height significantly above the ground surfaces and the prevailing wind at the height can effectively swipe away the heat without letting it to concentrate in the urban canopy. Although there could be concern on the costs that would conflict with the optimization of piping, a balance optimum is possible. A mixture of high-rise and medium rise buildings in the dense urban area also enhance the over-all urban ventilation by creating turbulence in wind canopy, the ventilation in such case might be better than the urban area with low density but with buildings of similar heights.


The effect of improving appliance efficiencies in buildings on urban heat environment might be very small without changing the way the energies are supplied into the buildings. A central air-conditioning system is energy and cost-wise more efficient than the smaller units in each rooms or at each floors in the multi-storey structures. District cooling is favorable in the dense urban structure. In individual detached homes, small measures such as shading of air-conditioning units can produce effective results.


Transportation is the major heat discharge source that is mobile and difficult to simulate. It is encouraging that the automobile fuel efficiency is improving but at the same time, concentration of vehicles and traffic congestion is also increasing in the mega-cities and the net effect of which is unfavorable from urban warming standpoint. An exact extent of automobile’s implication on urban heat environment is largely unknown. However, traffic management and reduction in the vehicle idle time in core city areas is expected to greatly relieve the heat island phenomenon.

The anthropogenic heat discharges in the big cities are significant. Major cities in the US are reported to have summer anthropogenic heating in the range of 20-40 W/m2 in comparison to the solar radiation of 700-1000 W/m2 for clear or partly cloudy day at noon (Taha, 1997).


In Los Angeles, the increased power costs the ratepayers about $100,000 per hour, about $100 million per year. It is estimated that about 1-1.5 gigawatts of power are used to compensate the impact of the heat island. Reducing the energy cost would also help in reducing the air pollution problem. By 2015, when the full implementation of reflective surfaces and vegetation comes in full-scale, the state will save about $4 billion per year in reduced cooling energy demand.


In order to combat urban heat island, the air quality has to be improved reducing the level of toxic gases, more trees to be planted, save energy and thus reduce pollution, and thereby save cost of energy and money, and improve the overall livability. Air quality management systems should include abatement and other measures to improve air quality, and to maintain air quality within a defined range. Enacting urban planning legislation to increase the amount of vegetation could see a reduction in temperatures. Another method is to reduce the amount of heat absorbed by civil structures by using construction materials that have high albedo and not prone to heat absorption.

The urban metabolism concept (Wolman, 1965) indicates that environmental quality improvement in urban areas rests on the careful use and removal of energy and matter. In the urban design sense, environment conscious urban designers can use at least three tools for the realization of the goals of energy efficiency, transport reduction and air quality improvement. These are thru zoning laws, building laws, and landscape control. Some attempts at utilizing these tools for the purposes of energy and transportation reduction have already been made (cf. Emmanuel, 1995). Although these attempts are from the temperate climate cities, they offer possible models for hot-humid cities.


In the enhancement of the urban physical environment, quality should be the major goal of climate-conscious design. In order to achieve the design goals of energy efficiency, transportation reduction and air quality improvement, in the tropics, design strategies could take one of the following forms:

Building form guidelines

Activity pattern controls

Control of relationship to natural features

Building Form

Court-yard forms

Orientation

Activity Relationships for Comfortable Moving & Transport Reduction

Shopping Streets

Gathering Places

Provisions for Evening Life (Evenings are tropics' winter).

Pedestrian Paths and Nodes

Network for Cars

Relationship to Natural Features - Landscape Controls

Relationship to Waterbodies

Collection of Rainwater

Topographical Relationships

URBAN HEAT ISLAND FORMATION IN THE CONTEXT OF URBAN SUSTAINABILITY (Part 3)

Measurement of Heat Island

Several techniques are applied to measure heat islands. The importance of these techniques depends upon the nature of requirements. Micro-scale heat island measurements are done by the temperature sensors and some instrumentation which are fairly accurate and well-established. However, in the viewpoint of large-scale measurements such as a mega-city, these are not useful. Site observation with the help of sensors in a mobile source such as a car is one of the important tools to measure heat island effect but is labor intensive and the result difficult to validate due to varying weather conditions each time the observation is done.

Recently, remote sensing technology with the help of satellite images is commonly being used to get information on heat islands. Remote sensing techniques can be used to obtain the thermal images of the place in concern and provide information on land use. Loss of green surfaces, information on surface reflectivity of solar radiation and buildings can be obtained with the help of satellite images. The comparison between past and present date can show the trend of heat island along with land use information which are very important in identifying the degree of severity of heat island phenomenon in a particular place.

There are inherent problems though of remote sensing technology in the planning process. It can provide thermal images but there is difficulty in segregating the types of thermal sources such as from mobile sources or stationary sources. It provides snapshot of situation without any knowledge of the mechanisms that is going on in the urban system. The land use, building and transportation information could be obtained from remote sensing techniques but it is not possible to see their contribution and sensitiveness on the heat island phenomenon.

The information obtained from remote sensing need to be coupled with numerical climatic models in order to analyze the effect of various planning alternatives of land use and heat discharge to improve the urban heat environment. These models are able to study the physical climatic phenomenon in the urban system. In this sense, remote sensing data along with Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful tool in providing information to the numerical models which can study, simulate various planning alternatives and can predict the implications on heat environment. Numerical models are the powerful tools to understand the mechanisms of heat island. These models can be validated with site data measurements or from remote sensing techniques.

The following image is an aerial thermal image of a mall and surroundings located in Huntsville, Alabama. The image, courtesy of NASA, was taken approximately five hours after sunset. The dark shades correspond to cooler temperatures. The mall parking lot (lower left quadrant of the photo) has a temperature of 24.0 degrees Celsius, while a forest, located in the upper right quadrant has a temperature of 17.1 degrees Celsius.


Although satellite data are very useful for analysis of the urban heat island effect at a coarse level, they do not lend themselves to developing a better understanding of which surfaces across the city contribute to or drive the development of the urban heat island effect. Analysis of thermal energy responses for specific or discrete surfaces typical of the urban landscape (e.g. asphalt, building rooftops, vegetation) requires measurements at a very fine spatial scale (i.e., <15m)>

The explosion of new knowledge on the theoretical aspects of urban climate change is not well matched by practical applications. In particular, urban designers and planners are yet to utilize the current knowledge to develop architectural and urban design strategies for the mitigation of the negative effects of urban heat island. This is in part due to some weaknesses in current methods. For example, some of the problems associated with remote sensing techniques hinder the detection of air temperature heat island that directly affects human comfort as opposed to surface temperature heat island. These problems include, difficulties in "seeing" the vertical active surfaces, the not so well defined coupling of surface and air temperatures in urban areas and inhomogeniety of urban surfaces leading to a patch work of emissivity and albedo. The problem with urban-rural difference method in general is that it assumes weather over time remains constant. Furthermore, the intra-urban differences are ignored. It is pointed out that it is the intra-urban climatic difference that is of value for urban planners and designers interested in mitigating the negative effects of UHIs. In other methods, it is assumed that rural climate is somehow "natural" to the area. However, in the context of rapid global urbanization, there are very few rural areas remaining with their "natural" climates intact.

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