THE NEW MEDICAL OFFICE
BUILDING
Pennsylvania
YESHA PANDYA CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Depth Analysis
The New Medical Office Building is a medical office facility under construction in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The design intent is to create a four story healthcare project to extend the network of care to the local community. Each floor consists of a different tenant specializing in different healthcare fields.
Analysis 1 | Building Façade Prefabrication or Preassembly
The exterior skin on this project consists of 16% of masonry on a backup stud system. The exterior skin is being installed through traditional means and methods. This analysis will focus on altering the construction means and methods to accelerate the installation of the skin and get the building watertight sooner. By utilizing prefabrication or preassembly techniques, this analysis will determine if a less traditional method could provide added value or benefits to the project.
Analysis 2 | Alternate Reheat System
The reheat system on this project is a 100% electric. There is a potential to switch the current system to a gas system. This will cost more in labor and materials, but it will cut the monthly electric bills for the tenants. The schedule might not be affected if the sequencing is performed efficiently. This analysis will also compare which system is more environmental friendly.
Analysis 3 | Virtual Mockups
This project has experienced several change orders due to late design changes. The change orders reflected the distinct wishes of the owner, who understood the value these changes would provide to the operation of their facility. However, this analysis will look at potential technologies and specialty tools for creating virtual mockups that could help assist in discovering the design changes earlier.
Analysis 4 | Biomimicry: Exterior Façade
The façade of this building consists of brick, windows, storefront, EIFS, and cast stone. The exterior is made up of 16% masonry. Through this research, the hope is to gain a better understanding of those components and examine the nature, its models, systems, and processes for the purpose of gaining inspiration in order to solve man-made problems. The main goal is to transform the façade skin into passive solar building design.
Breadth Analysis
Analysis I- Structural Breadth
A structural breadth will be performed to analyze the anchoring system that will be used to connect the prefabricated brick panels from the first analysis to the existing structure. A single exterior bay, from roof to footing, will be investigated to analyze the effects of the proposed panel system on the building existing concrete slabs and columns. The calculated loads will be used to select an adequate anchoring system in association with the chosen proposed panel manufacturer. If the resulting loads are unable to be supported by the selected anchoring system, a new panel layout or redesign may be suggested.
Analysis II- Mechanical Breadth
A mechanical breadth will be perfomed to analyze the payback period between the 100% electric system and gas system. By transitioning to a gas system, the payback period is expected to be shorter than of an electric reheat system. The performance of gas system will be compared to that of electric system to investigate which would be the most beneficial to the tenants. The gas system is also expected to cut the monthly electric bill for the tenants.