Building Engineering

Infrastructure Protection
A fully integrated protection scheme is necessary to efficiently implement an Infrastructure Resilience Plan to assure operational survival following a catastrophic event. Building on the first principles of security integration and fortifications practice, illustrated with case studies through history, the students explore site security surveys, different tools, mitigation methods and models in common use and the assumptions and technology behind them in order to make informed decisions on how to approach and solve an infrastructure protection problem for the full range of event types. This is then practised in partnership with industry, analysing real security integration issues for real clients, to whom the students will present their protection schemes. More info

Geotechnical Engineering II
Building on CME321, more complex aspects of geotechnical analysis and design are considered. Topics include: mineralogy; soil identification and classification; laboratory- and field-based soil index tests; correlations of index test results to engineering properties; vertical stress distribution; soil-foundation interaction; volume change and consolidation of clay and settlement. Shear strength of soil and slope stability analysis are also discussed. Laboratories are held for soil identification and classification, and confined triaxial compression tests of clay and sand.

View full course description in the Engineering Undergrad Academic Calendar.

Reinforced Concrete II
This course covers the behaviour and ultimate strength of reinforced concrete structures. Members subjected to flexure, axial load, shear and torsion are treated. Detailing of reinforcement, the design of floor systems and the design of shear walls are covered. An introduction to the seismic design of reinforced concrete structures is made. Emphasis is given to the relationship between recent research results and current building codes. A brief treatment of the behaviour and design of masonry walls is included.

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Concrete Technology
Material aspects of concrete production will be dealt with in the context of various performance criteria with emphasis on durability. The process of material selection, proportioning, mixing, transporting, placing and curing concrete will be the framework within which topics such as: the use of admixtures, choice of cements, environmental influences, methods of consolidation and testing techniques will be studied.

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Urban Activity, Air Pollution and Health
This is an interdisciplinary course where the challenge of air pollution is introduced with a focus on urban areas. The interdependencies between transportation, air quality, and health are demonstrated. The city and the behaviour of its inhabitants constitute the context for the following course topics: overview of air pollutants in urban areas, urban air quality monitoring networks, mobile source emissions, air pollution and meteorology, atmospheric dispersion, chemical processes specific to cities, personal mobility and exposure to traffic-related air pollution, epidemiology of air pollution.
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Sustainable Buildings
Building systems including the thermal envelope, heating and cooling systems, as well as water and lighting systems are examined with a view to reducing the net energy consumed within the building. Life-cycle economic and assessment methods are applied to the evaluation of various design options including considerations of embodied energy and carbon sequestration. Green building strategies including natural ventilation, passive solar, photovoltaics, solar water heaters, green roofs and geothermal energy piles are introduced. Following the application of these methods, students are introduced to efficient designs including LEED designs that lessen the impact of buildings on the environment. Exemplary building designs will be presented and analyzed.

Prerequisite: CIV375H1/CIV575H1 or equivalent.

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Design of Building Enclosures
A brief summary of the science involved in controlling heat, moisture and air movement in buildings is presented at the outset of the course. With this background, methods of designing enclosures for cold, mixed, and hot climates are examined. Design principles related to the design of walls, windows and roofs are presented and applied. In particular, topics related to the control of rain penetration, air movement, and interstitial condensation are studied in detail. Emphasis is placed on developing designs based on fundamentals which can be verified with computer modelling solutions.


Prerequisite: CIV375/CIV575 or equivalent.
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Advanced Topics in Building Design
Introduction to various structural systems; analysis of coupled shear walls using various techniques such as Laminar method, Finite difference formulation, Equivalent Frame method; stagewise incremental analysis of walls including plastification of laminae; design of walls and coupling beams; shear wall-frame interaction; behaviour of framed tubes; shear lag in tubes; approximate methods of analysis for frame tubes and multi-storey frames. Individual projects involving specialized topics will form an integral part of the course.

Concrete Technology and Non-Destructive Testing Principles
This course is focused on theory, principle, practical application, standardization, benefits, and limitations of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods applied to steel reinforced concrete. Techniques to be covered include: condition assessment, surface hardness, penetration resistance, pullout, break-off test, maturity method, pull-off permeability, resonant frequency, UPV, magnetic/electrical, radioactive/nuclear, short pulse radar, acoustic emission, infrared thermography. A review of the role of statistics in experiments, testing and design of experiments in addition to application of significance testing, linear regression analysis and assessment of adequacy of regression models in context with non-destructive techniques will be covered. This course will also include the study of practical case studies and hands on usage of selected NDT testing equipment.

Infrastructure Renewal
This course deals with the assessment maintenance and repair of concrete structures. Topics covered include: inspection and monitoring of concrete structures (including instrumentation and non-destructive testing); identification of material failure mechanisms; residual service life prediction; life cycle cost analysis; and methods of repair and rehabilitation. Case studies of problems in structures due to reinforcement corrosion, alkali-aggregate reaction and free-thaw cycling will be investigated in detail. Recent advances in inspection and repair techniques will be critically evaluated.
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Microscopy Applied to Building and Geomaterials
This laboratory course covers visible light, electron, and x-ray microscopic methods for the characterization of concrete and geo-materials, including methods of sample preparation. Topics include fluorescent dye impregnation to characterize cracks/grain boundaries/pores, chemical staining procedures, image and quantitative chemical analysis using free software packages (ImageJ, MultiSpec, and DTSA-II). After taking this course students will be able to take a geologic or concrete sample through the entire process of stabilization, preparation (cutting, grinding, polishing) and examination by microscopic methods.

Construction Contract Documents
This course examines various construction contract documents used by government and private bodies. Legal principles and relevant cases are discussed with a view to providing students with an understanding of the legal framework surrounding the documents. Contractual problems including the nature, causes, and quantification of construction claims are also examined. Emphasis is placed on how to avoid construction contract problems, as well as how disputes may be efficiently resolved once they arise. Issues of payment security, bankruptcy, liens and professional liability are also studied.

Special Studies in Civil Engineering - Building Information Modelling
Rationale:

Advanced practices in construction project management are enabled by several fundamental shifts. The course will explore the interplay between two of the most significant shifts. First, smart hardware (from virtual reality to robotics and IoT), which are transforming site technology and construction methods. Second, and probably more importantly, advanced data analytics and the use of machine learning are revolutionizing work processes and decision making.

The effective adoption and use of these advanced systems hinge on the use of equally advanced informatics systems. With BIM becoming a stable technology, we now have a more sizable and reliable data corpus. This is encouraging researchers and the industry to embrace advances in artificial intelligence such as data analytics and machine learning systems.

The interplay between these two domains is what enables the automation of work tasks and the deployment of business intelligence tools. Students will explore the state-of-the-art tools in both domains. They will study the fundamental assumptions, emerging technologies, and data models that enable the effective implementation of smart hardware and data analytics in construction. The students will examine the means to design and manage virtual construction systems in an effective way.

Ultimately, the course is designed to enable students to question normative thinking practices that have dominated research and technology in the construction industry. They will interactively develop their own synthesis of the fundamental paradigm shifts in knowledge modeling that enables the development and effective use of virtualization and analytics systems in design and construction.
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Special studies courses are offered when a Professor is available to instruct on a new or unusual topic. Each topic offered constitutes one normal half-course. Special studies course codes may be taken more than once provided that the topic is different each time.

Special Studies in Civil Engineering - Introduction to Construction Claims
Special studies courses are offered when a Professor is available to instruct on a new or unusual topic. Each topic offered constitutes one normal half-course. Special studies course codes may be taken more than once provided that the topic is different each time.

Urban Sustainability and Ecological Technology
Ecological technology, in a limited sense, encompasses those technologies that incorporate ecosystems to replace mechanical or non-living components in a machine or a piece of infrastructure. These technologies might include green roofs, green walls and living machines. As cities grow and as densities increase, green space often decreases, leading to a number of consequences, some expected and some unexpected. Can ecological technologies replace the green spaces, in terms of area and function, within a city? Can these technologies be used as adaptation strategies to climate change? Are there unexpected consequences that would reduce sustainability? Expanding the definition of ecological technology to include design according to ecological principles, whether the design is for a particular machine, a building, a community or even a city expands the discussion to include economics, geography, sociology, psychology, engineering, architecture and urban planning.
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HVAC Fundamentals
Introduction to the fundamentals of HVAC system operation and the relationship between these systems, building occupants and the building envelope. Fundamentals of psychrometrics, heat transfer and refrigeration; determination of heating and cooling loads driven by occupant requirements and the building envelope; heating and cooling equipment types and HVAC system configurations; controls and maintenance issues that influence performance; evaluation of various HVAC systems with respect to energy and indoor environmental quality performance. More Info