The University of Washington (UW) owns more than 500 buildings with more than 20 million square footage of the gross area. The UW has in-house architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals that overview the construction projects as owner representatives. For instance, Capital Planning and Budget and Engineering Services are two of the UW entities that are involved in the new construction projects. Assume you are a part of the UW team who is responsible for performing a preliminary study of a new off-campus building. This project will have classrooms, offices, conference rooms, and study areas devoted to one of the newly established UW departments. Answer the questions below based on the provided information.
Q1. What is this project’s occupancy group http://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SDCI/Codes/SeattleBuildingCode/2015SBCChapter3.pdf.?
Q2. What information can you extract from the zoning ordinances https://www.seattle.gov/sdci/codes/codes-we-enforce-(a-z)/zoning. for your preliminary study? Give two examples.
Q3. Let’s assume you estimated that a five-story building with 35,000 square feet per floor should be considered for this project. Check the building code (refer to Fig 1.3 – Table 503 in your textbook) to find the construction types that work for this project. Which type would you select? Explain your rationale.
Q4. How does adding a fully automatic sprinkler system for suppression of fire would affect the allowable building stories and the area per floor?
Q5. Check the building code (refer to Fig. 1.4 – Table 601 in your textbook) to specify the fire-resistance rating requirement for the primary structural frame and exterior bearing walls.
Q6. Provide examples of project scopes that need to comply with these codes: (a) Energy codes, (b) Health codes, (c) Fire codes, (d) Mechanical codes. Provide one example for each.
Q7. One of the goals of this project is sustainability. Since the project falls under the new construction group, you need to check the requirements for LEED-NC version 4 (refer to Fig 1.2 in your textbook). What are the four possible LEED levels? Which one requires the lowest points?
Q8. Check the eight categories for LEED-NC. Select one category that you believe can achieve most of the possible points for this project (refer to Fig 1.2 in your textbook). Does this category have any prerequisites? What are they? How many points can you achieve if you address all the optional credits in this category?
Q9. This project has a limited budget and a tight schedule. What project delivery method(s) would you suggest for this project to the UW team to consider? Explain.
Q10. What else would you consider in your preliminary study based on the topics discussed in lesson 1?
