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Dela Merced, Melita Sandra E.

2011-01634
The Work of the Design Professional: Choosing Building Systems in relation to the
Four Components of Materials Science
Buildings start as abstractions. This means that the construction of a building starts
with an idea or desire to accommodate different sets of people, occupation,
materials, equipment, etc. Once this idea is made, engaging the services of the
building design professionals follows. But who are these professionals? First in the
team is the architect which is responsible for organizing the ideas of the owner of
the building. Once the ideas are organized, the architect then forms a team of
engineering specialists to work out and concretize the ideas. This concretization
process involves the development of the foundations, structural support, and
different essential services. Finer details of the plan are then developed and
transformed into drawings and specifications of the building. Once finalized, the
plans are then sent to the local government building authorities for approval.
Approval for building permit is in accordance to zoning ordinances and building
codes. Once the building permit is released to the team, a general contractor may
be selected to oversee the construction process and hire subcontractors. The
subcontractors are then responsible in carrying out the different aspects of the
construction process. During the construction process a building inspector, together
with the architect and engineers, observe if construction is carried out as planned.
However, there are still different limitations and constraints that the design
professionals consider in choosing a building system and constructing a building.
Two of the most common constraints are the zoning ordinances and building codes.
These two are considered even before the construction process is carried out.
Zoning ordinances include different aspects such as governing the type of activities
that may take place on a given piece of land, amount of land to be covered by
buildings, distances of building from residential establishments, and many more.
Building codes are then used to classify the type of the building and the type of
construction.
During the construction process of a building, a building system is to be chosen by
the building design professionals. Once the specifications are approved, the next
thing that these professionals consider is the sustainability of the building. Most of
the time, sustainability is dependent on economic grounds which result to the
professionals utilizing labor and materials that are cost effective. In choosing
materials to be used in the building system, technologies of construction are used.
These technologies are related to the four components of materials science. First of
these technologies is the identification of the materials to be used. For the
characterization of materials in materials science, the structure component is
considered. Once a material is chosen, its production is considered in construction
just as the processing of materials is a component in materials science. Both
materials science and construction technology then consider the properties of the
selected materials in relation to their structure and processing or production. Once
the optimal properties for the construction of a building is attained, professionals
then consider how these materials will be crafted into buildings. This last
component of the technologies of construction is similar to the performance
component in materials science wherein the structure, processing and properties all

Dela Merced, Melita Sandra E.


2011-01634
come together in order for the material to be used for the purpose it was selected
for.
In reading Chapter 1: Making Buildings of the Fundamentals of Building Construction
I learned that the construction of a building follow the components of materials
science. As a matter of fact I realized that building construction is a branch of
materials engineering since it follows the aspects of materials science and applies it
in real life situations.

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