Executive Summary

The following report is a detailed record of the work and analysis performed for AE senior thesis AE897G. This thesis contains redesigned lighting schemes for four spaces, an electrical depth, and an integrated study combining a MAE daylighting depth, mechanical breadth, and a construction management breadth. The main purpose of senior thesis is to show an understanding of topics taught in the various AE disciples, as well as an advanced knowledge of the students chosen option.

The four spaces that were subject to a lighting redesign were the outdoor entryways, atrium, bookstore, and flex theater. The details of each solution can be found in the lighting section of the report.

To reflect the new lighting designs, branch circuits were changed and eliminated accordingly. A panelboard resizing study was also performed on eight panelboards. More appropriate demand factors were applied to each panelboard to see if it was able to be downsized. In the end, five of the eight were able to be downsized, leading to a cost savings of $18,000 with materials and labor included.

The integrated study first looked at daylighting within the atrium space. An initial illuminance study was performed and 16 potential daylighting solutions were narrowed down to 4 for a more in-depth study. These four went through an annual daylighting study, as well as an annual mechanical study to assess the daylighting and mechanical performance of each option. A cost analysis was then done to provide the final metric for each design. Based on the metrics of the three disciples, one solution was found to be the optimal case. This would add $100,000 to the project, but this cost is offset by the $300 a year savings in energy loads and provide a more comfortable space year round.