bamboo

Bamboo is an extremely versatile building material that can be easily manipulated yet maintain its strength and uniformity. Like we learned in lecture, bamboo comes out of the ground at full diameter thus as it grows, it only becomes denser.

In parts of Asia, where it is a readily available natural resource, bamboo is often used in construction as scaffolding. Unlike metal scaffolds, bamboo scaffolding is not restricted to certain dimensions. At joints/connections, pieces are simply tied together with disposable plastics ties.

Compared to metal scaffolding, bamboo scaffolding is a good example of simple, sustainable construction and geographical building technique.

The Touriel Building, Berkeley

2004 University Avenue, Berkley CA

The Touriel Building is part of Panoramic Management's suite of large new and shiny apartment buildings in Berkeley. Unfortunately, the building's wooden paneling details on the facade did not stay new and shiny looking for very long. After only 6 years (finished in 2004) the building facade looks much older than it really is. The uneven and premature degradation of the wood distracts me every time I pass this building, which is often because it is on my way to school and work.

2004 2010

As we learned in class, wood can last a very long time if it is protected. The front facade features windows that have wood paneling around them and are slanted (for views?). Half of the wood paneling on the north side of the building (facing University Avenue) is not protected by the inadequate overhangs at the top of the building. This is especially apparent in the endgrain, which is particularly unsheltered.

On the West side of the building (facing Milvia Street) the wood is not protected at all, and the finish has worn away incrementally more with each successive floor.

In short, this could be a very nicely detailed building if more attention was paid to the small yet significant detailing of larger overhangs and more protection of wood and its end grain from the elements.

Advanced Framing used on a Passive House in Point Reyes

For the Cal LEED class, a classmate and I visited a Passive House under construction in Point Reyes. Passive House is a standard started in Europe to create extremely energy efficient buildings through high levels of insulation and extremely tight air sealing of the envelope.

In addition to the energy savings associated with the Passive House standard the builder utilizes Advanced Framing. Advanced framing saves 25% on wood compared with conventional framing by doing away with redundant framing members. In advanced framing rafters must be located directly above studs which are placed 24" apart as opposed to 16" in standard framing and does away with a double top plate. The Jack Studs used to support headers are done away with.

Advanced framing allows more insulation to be placed in walls. Advanced framing is in the code books but buildings using it must be assed by an engineer.

A metal gate on Shattuck

On Shattuck Ave. between Virginia and Lincoln St. are a bunch of shops with glass displays lined up next to each other, hoping to catch the eyes of passersby. However, in between two restaurants was this gated door that didn't look like a typical metal gate door you would find at Home Depot.

It looks like it was originally a regular metal gate with vertical bars running from the top to the bottom and then a steel or aluminum sheet was cut into strips and woven through the bars to prevent people from seeing what's going on behind the door... hm. Or maybe it was just added to keep the wind and rain out. Either way, I found the weaving a cool alternative as opposed to using a flat, solid metal door.

Don Edwards National Refuge Education Center

This is a connection I always thought was pretty interesting, especially after our lecture on foundations.

Here are some images of low impact precast concrete footings used for the deck and some of the boardwalks at the Don Edwards National Refuge Education Center in Alviso, CA. As the name suggests they are precast footings, designed for minimal excavation and impact. They consist of a cast concrete foot with steel piles driven diagonally into the ground through the concrete unit. The most interesting thing I find about this is that the footings follow the grading of the land and does not seem to require extensive excavation and leveling of land.

Not only one of the greenest buildings in the area: the David Brower Center

Post-tensioned concrete walls for seismic resistance

http://www.tippingmar.com/projects/project_details/19

(go ahead on the arrows 1-9, especially n. 4/9 and 7/9)

CASE STUDY:

http://www.tippingmar.com/uploads/documents/publication/PTwalls_PTI_Journal.pdf

This mixed-use complex located in the heart of downtown Berkeley provides a unique environment that promotes and embodies an agenda of environmental health, justice, and advocacy. The David Brower Center, named for the Sierra Club’s first executive director, incorporates work and gathering space: offices for various nonprofit organizations, a theater, a restaurant, and event facilities. The adjacent Oxford Plaza offers a hundred units of market-rate and affordable housing set above retail, further enriching the center’s community. Although well served by transit, the complex includes some below-grade parking.

Fittingly, the Brower Center will be a model of integrated sustainable design expected to receive LEED Platinum certification. Sustainable features include natural ventilation, incorporation of sophisticated, natural day-lighting strategies, photovoltaic panels, and rainwater collection. High-slag concrete was used to replace cement by seventy percent in the foundations and fifty percent in the superstructure. The use of slag, an industrial byproduct, will reduce the embodied energy and carbon footprint of the building on the order of forty percent. This is the first Bay Area project to use high-slag concrete on such a large scale.

The Brower Center’s lateral structural system reflects the Tipping Mar philosophy of integrating sustainable design and high-performance engineering. The system uses post-tensioning cables in flexural walls and frames to create a highly damage-resistant structure. While conventional reinforced-concrete structures are expected to yield and displace permanently under large seismic events, the post-tensioning cables used in the lateral system act as springs, allowing the building to flex, then pull back to its original alignment. This re-centering behavior should allow the Brower Center to remain usable after a seismic event, whereas a more typical structure would require costly repair.

Both the high-slag concrete and the self-healing structure are being proposed for LEED innovation credits.

More information on the system:

http://www.tippingmar.com/uploads/documents/publication/PTwalls_Concrete_Intl.pdf

http://www.tippingmar.com/uploads/documents/publication/PTwalls_PTI_Journal.pdf

BRB found in Chinatown, Seattle, WA

This BRB is placed so awkwardly that it runs through the glass display.

Also, Seattle is in an earthquake zone.