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Feasibility Report on Water Recycling and the Housing Crisis
Get PDFThe western United States is experiencing increasing population, a housing shortage, and a drought. These challenges demand creative and unprecedented changes to development. Water recycling is slowly emerging as a viable solution for developers, home owners, and cities as a way to continue much-needed housing development while mitigating unnecessary water depletion. With all change, policy, feasibility, and awareness can be the largest influencers. Drought-ridden western-American states require additional and revised regulatory requirements to promote recycled water in new development. Currently, water reuse is largely used for agricultural and industrial purposes. To motivate and encourage housing development, water recycling needs to be incorporated into single family and multi-family uses with an increase in non-potable, residential recycled water use and potable residential recycled water use. Water boards and commissions, on their own, lack the means to implement proposed strategies. The land development process—including planning commissions, permit requirements, and zoning regulations—lack the creativity and urgency to implement water recycling into residential developments. Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado water planning and land use planning departments need unification on the topic of water recycling to overcome two of the largest crises that developing and existing communities are experiencing: a lack of water and a lack of housing. Research drivers include the need to address, “additional or revised regulatory requirements and their application to recycled water end uses.” (Water reuse. org) The following report examines the feasibility of an increase in water reuse for residential water recycling in California. Several communities in the United States West have begun to use water recycling in this way (e.g., San Diego, Ventura County, Orange County, and Folsom) but its widespread use and revised regulation can help the U.S. West solve two critical issues: the housing crisis and water shortages due to prolonged droughts
Stabilization of Palm Wood using Water-based Impregnation
Get PDFImpregnation is a technique for stabilizing wood that involves saturating the material in a liquid and allowing it to cure before use. Stabilization methods such as this are employed for a variety of reasons; chiefly, the low dimensional stability of wood and palm means that they are subject to several failure modes that arise from changing environmental conditions, such as cracking, warping, and bending. Samples of Borassus flabellifer, black palm, provided by DuraPalm were impregnated with solvent-based and water-based stabilizers, and untreated wood samples used as a control group. Kop-Coat WoodYouth® Plus was used as a solvent-based stabilizer, and impregnation treatment using it was performed by Kop-Coat. BVV Wood Stabilizer and TurnTex Cactus Juice were used as water-based stabilizers, and these impregnation treatments performed by the Oregon State University Department of Forestry. Treated samples were allowed to condition for 72 hours in an environmental chamber held at 20.5 °C and 21% relative humidity using a saturated solution of lithium chloride and water as a hygroscopic agent. Sample weight gains showed that the palm samples responded well to impregnation treatment, but 72 hours was not enough time for conditioning to produce any significant change in part dimensions or surface degradation
Optimizing Heavy Civil Internships Based on Student Interest
Get PDFMany Cal Poly Construction Management students are expected to have at least one internship prior to graduating. With that being said, the construction industry has many sectors of work that one may enter. Internships are a good way for students to determine what kind of work they would like to go into whether it is commercial, heavy civil, residential, etc. The purpose of this research paper is to analyze what can be done to optimize a heavy civil internship based off student interest and experiences. Research was conducted via survey that was sent out to all Cal Poly Construction Management and Heavy Civil Minor students which includes both Construction Management and Civil Engineering students. Only responses from students who have participated in at least one heavy civil internship were used for this research. This paper aims to provide insight on what students find most important during their summer internship experiences and what could have been improved to provide a better experience. Industry partners mainly pertaining to the heavy civil industry can refer to the results to see key aspects of what students find important during summer internships to further promote their learning in the heavy civil industry
Skip the Grid: Installation of Solar Powered Refrigeration in the Navajo Nation
Get PDFThe Skip the Grid project was a project completed with the joint efforts of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and many other company sponsors including Solv Energy, Dometic, Goal Zero and Heart of America a nonprofit. Skip the Grid’s project goal and outcomes was to improve the quality of life and provide clean sustainable off grid energy to families within the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation is located in the Four Corners region of the United States with approximately a third of its residents without the means or circumstances to be tied into grid level power. During the Covid-19 epidemic, life without grid level power was worsened as many of the children had to participate in distance learning, often without the tools or resources in order to be successful. The partners of the Skip the Grid project worked with community leaders of the Red Mesa school district to identify families that were the most impacted, to provide them solar power and the necessary school supplies. When completed the Skip the Grid team had in all supplied eleven families a solar powered system that provided power, refrigeration, and light
Proposed Traffic Calming Measures along S La Tijera Boulevard
Get PDFThis document presents the context and design process for multiple traffic calming measures along S La Tijera Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA. The following chapters outline an assessment of the site and surrounding area, analyzation of case studies that are similar to the proposed project, the vision of the project, and the design of the proposal
Brush Clearing Trimming Device: Drivetrain
Get PDFWe, the “DT Inc.” team, have been tasked with the redesign of the drivetrain of an electric brush clearing tool created for trail and roadside use. We started the design process by doing research on the currently available products and determining their strengths and shortcomings. We also tested the prototype given to us by our sponsor, and listened to our sponsor about what he liked about his design and what he wanted changed. We resolved from this research that the most important improvements that we needed to make were to improve the traction, reduce the speed and increase the torque, and allow the trimmer to be pulled backward without resistance from the motors. To this end, we decided to design the device with larger tires for more traction, a greater gear reduction, and a clutch system to disconnect the motor from the gearbox. We also decided to add a button to allow both wheels of the drivetrain to be driven with one hand, allowing the user’s other hand to be used to articulate the trimmers. We conducted analysis on the motor to determine whether or not it would provide the torque we wanted, and we also analyzed the gear ratios to achieve a running speed of 3.5 miles per hour under full throttle, a brisk walking pace for our user. The system was designed to be simple to manufacture and assemble. After building the drivetrain and overcoming manufacturing issues, we were able to take the brush clearing device onto an actual trail to verify the functionality of the drivetrain on the harsh terrains. Though the drivetrain system works as it stands, there is much to be desired in terms of ease of manufacturing, clear compatibility of components, and ease of operation for the user. With the recommendations we gave for the device, and further improving the device continuously moving forward, we see this device being extremely effective in filling the gap in trail-oriented brush clearing devices on the market
Rod Bend Approximator for Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery
Get PDFThis Final Report will go over the project deliverables and future steps in the making of a rod bending approximator tool by the Cal Poly Senior Design team for the client SeaSpine. The latest designs and research done regarding minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is covered including the impediments with the current methods. SeaSpine presented the need to our team for an approximating tool within the MIS procedure. Our team began project planning through task generation and schedule development. Once the product definition was fully understood, competition was evaluated and engineering specifications were created for the project. A conceptual design was modeled through Solidworks and compared to requirements. Once the design was selected upon, our final design was refined upon and the first prototype was machined and feasibility testing was done. Some key customer requirements for this apparatus was to be lightweight, one user-friendly, and to span multiple spinal fusion levels. The resulting prototype was under 8 ounces, however, to span across multiple levels would require reducing or changing the material. This also impacts usability, as the apparatus needs to be suitable for one user
Prescriptive and Performance-Based Analysis of Colorado Liberal Arts College
Get PDFThis project consists of a prescriptive and performance-based analysis of an existing two-story college building. The building is located in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colorado Liberal Arts College is used for general education courses with the focus on creative fields such as dance, graphic design, and art. The building consists of classrooms, offices, an art gallery, dance studio, and a bookstore.
A prescriptive based design was completed using the code requirements laid out in the International Building Code (IBC) 2015 Edition and applicable National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes. The prescriptive based analysis consisted of analyzing life safety and egress, fire alarm and notification, water-based suppression systems, and structural fire protection. The life safety and egress portions consisted of occupant load calculations, egress capacity, exit number and separation, travel distance, common path travel distance, dead end corridors, and exit sign design. All floors besides the south building second floor had sufficient egress capacity to account for all occupants. The second floor of the south building only has two unenclosed stairways that lead to exit discharges on the first floor and has an occupant load that exceeds the egress capacity by 54 occupants. There are three classrooms that only have one exit and exceeds the occupant number that would require these spaces to have more than one exit. One of these classrooms also has an improper door swing required for that space. Egress separation, travel distance, dead end corridors, exit sign location and common path of travel requirements are met per prescriptive requirements laid out by the International Building Code, 2015 Edition.
The buildings fire alarm and notification systems are installed in accordance with NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, 2019 Edition. The primary and secondary power supply meet the capacity requirements for the fire alarm devices, repeater panels, and control panel installed in this building. The voltage drop for the notification appliances do not exceed the capacity of the control panel or the repeater panels. The building is equipped with notification devices implemented and spaced in accordance with NFPA 72. There are duct detectors installed in HVAC ducts and photo electric smoke detectors installed in mechanical rooms, in front of elevators, and in front of fire alarm panels, however, most initiation is covered by sprinklers installed throughout the building.
The water-based fire suppression system in this building is installed in accordance with NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, 2019 Edition. The building is split up into two zones, Zone 1 being the north building and Zone 2 being the south building. The breezeway connecting the north and south buildings is covered by Zone 2. The risers for the north and south buildings are in the basement located in the north building and is covered by the Zone 1 system. There are two hazard classifications in this building, light hazard, and ordinary hazard group 1. The most hydraulically demanding areas are in the north building. Both demands of a light hazard and an ordinary hazard group 1 design area were analyzed and fall under the supply curve which was reduced by 10% for a safety factor.
The building meets the requirements for a non-separated building in which the A-3 occupancy would have the most restrictive requirements. This most restrictive occupancy group governs the building height, area, and interior finishes in which the building meets the code requirements. The construction classification of type IIB ensures that structural members are noncombustible but not needing a fire resistance rating, which is in accordance with the International Building Code, 2015 edition. The only areas required to be fire rated are the elevator shafts and associated mechanical rooms. The fire dampers in these rooms did not meet the prescriptive requirements laid out in IBC 2015. The occupancy type, building construction type, sprinkler protection, and the number and type of openings on the exterior walls govern the fire separation distance in which this building is code compliant.
The goals of the performance-based design are outlined in NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, 2018 Edition. The goal is to protect the occupants not intimate with the initial fire development and to improve the survivability of occupants intimate with the initial fire development for the entire time it takes to evacuate the building. This is accomplished in this report by an ASET vs. RSET analysis. The Available Safe Egress Time (ASET) is established by performance criteria outlined in the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Handbook and NFPA 101. The performance criteria used for this analysis are visibility, temperature, toxicity, and smoke layer height to ensure occupants aren’t exposed to smoke or other toxic products from a fire. Three design fires were established, one in the north building and two in the south building. Design fire 1 is a classroom located on the first floor of the south building. Design fire 2 is a kitchen located on the second floor of the south building. Design fire 3 is an IT room located on the first floor of the north building. The design fires were established by standards laid out in NFPA 101 to simulate a typical fire for the occupancy which also considers occupant activities, number and location of occupants, room size, fuel properties, ignition sources, ventilation conditions, and where the initial fuel source is located. Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and mathematical correlations were used to calculate when performance criteria were met, which establishes the ASET value. Establishing a Required Safe Egress Time (RSET) consists of detection time, notification time, pre-movement time, and movement time. The computer egress modeling software, Pathfinder, and an occupant egress hydraulic calculation outlined in the SFPE Handbook were used to establish the movement time which factored into the overall RSET equation. All fire scenarios considered both sprinkler activation and non-sprinkler activation which was done to provide data for a case where sprinkler system failure occurs.
In conclusion, the RSET exceeds the ASET in all design fire scenarios. The RSET exceeds the ASET by 315 seconds for design fire 1 when there is sprinkler activation and non-sprinkler activation. For design fire 2, the RSET exceeds the ASET by 68 seconds when there is sprinkler activation and 88 seconds when there is no sprinkler activation. Adjacent rooms to the room of fire origin were also analyzed in design fire 2 in which the RSET exceeds the ASET by 18 seconds. The RSET exceeds the ASET by 517 seconds for design fire 3 when there is sprinkler activation and non-sprinkler activation. Recommendations to remedy this would be to decrease the detection time by the installation of manual pull stations which would allow occupants to initiate evacuation when they see the fire instead of relying solely on sprinklers or initiation devices. Another recommendation would be to enclose and rate the stairwells to reduce smoke exposure to occupants traveling from the second floor to the first floor while exiting the building. A third method would be to decrease the pre-evacuation time by increasing staff and instructor training to initiate and assist with an evacuation as soon as notification is received
