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Architectural engineering



 
 
Architectural engineering, also known as Building Engineering, is the application of engineering
Engineering

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying Technology and science knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and process that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria....
 principles and technology
Technology

Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its Natural environment....
 to building
Building

In architecture, construction, engineering and Real estate developer the word building may refer to one of the following:# Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or...
 design
Design

Design is used both as a noun and a verb. The term is often tied to the various applied arts and engineering . As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and planning for a product, structure, system, or component with intention....
 and construction
Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
. Definitions of an architectural engineer may refer to:

ctural engineering involves the analysis and design of physical objects such as buildings, bridges, equipment supports, towers and walls.






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Architectural engineering, also known as Building Engineering, is the application of engineering
Engineering

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying Technology and science knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and process that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria....
 principles and technology
Technology

Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its Natural environment....
 to building
Building

In architecture, construction, engineering and Real estate developer the word building may refer to one of the following:# Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or...
 design
Design

Design is used both as a noun and a verb. The term is often tied to the various applied arts and engineering . As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and planning for a product, structure, system, or component with intention....
 and construction
Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
. Definitions of an architectural engineer may refer to:
  • An engineer in the structural
    Structural engineering

    Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist structural loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
    , mechanical
    Mechanical engineering

    Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of physics#branches of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of machine....
    , electrical
    Electrical engineering

    Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism....
    , construction or other engineering fields of building design and construction.
  • A licensed engineering professional
    Professional Engineer

    Professional Engineer is the term for registered or licensed engineers in some countries who are permitted to offer their professional services directly to the public....
     in parts of the United States
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
    , where architectural engineering may include complete building design.
  • In informal contexts, and formally in some places, a professional
    Professional

    A professional is a person who has completed a doctoral or law program or equivalent .A professional is someone who has a professional degree - a number one on the Hollingshead scale....
     synonymous with or similar to an architect
    Architect

    An architect is trained and licenced in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e....
    . In some languages, "architect" is literally translated as "architectural engineer".


Engineering for buildings


Structural

Structural engineering involves the analysis and design of physical objects such as buildings, bridges, equipment supports, towers and walls. Those concentrating on buildings are responsible for the structural performance of a large part of the built environment and are, sometimes, informally referred to as "building engineers". Structural engineers require expertise in strength of materials
Strength of materials

In materials science, the strength of a material refers to the material's ability to withstand an applied stress without failure. Yield strength refers to the point on the engineering stress-strain curve beyond which the material begins deformation that cannot be reversed upon removal of the loading....
 and in the seismic design of structures covered by earthquake engineering
Earthquake engineering

Earthquake engineering is the study of the behavior of buildings and structures subject to seismic loading. It is a subset of both structural engineering and civil engineering....
. Architectural Engineers sometimes practice structural as one aspect of their designs; the structural discipline when practiced as a specialty works closely with architects and other engineering specialists.

Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP)

Some Architectural Engineers perform MEP for their own building designs; in most cases, however, mechanical and electrical engineers are specialists, commonly referred to as "MEP" (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) when engaged in the building design fields. Also known as "Building services engineering
Building services engineering

Building services engineering is the engineering of the internal environment and environmental impact of a building. It essentially brings buildings and structures to life....
" in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. Mechanical engineers design and oversee the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
HVAC

HVAC is an initialism or acronym that stands for "heating, Ventilation , and air conditioning". HVAC is sometimes referred to as climate control and is particularly important in the design of medium to large industrial and office buildings such as skyscrapers and in marine environments such as aquariums, where humidity and tem...
, plumbing
Plumbing

Plumbing is the skilled trade of working with pipe , Tubing and plumbing fixtures for drinking water systems and the drainage of waste. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping systems, plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters....
, and rain gutter
Rain gutter

A rain gutter is a narrow channel, or trough, forming the component of a roof system which collects and diverts rainwater shed by the roof.The main purpose of a rain gutter is to protect a building's Foundation by channeling water away from its base....
 systems. Plumbing designers often include design specifications for simple active fire protection
Active fire protection

Active fire protection is an integral part of fire protection. AFP is characterised by items and/or systems, which require a certain amount of motion and response in order to work, contrary to passive fire protection....
 systems, but for more complicated projects, fire protection engineers
Fire protection engineering

Fire protection engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to protect people and their environments from the destructive effects of fire and smoke....
 are often separately retained. Electrical engineers are responsible for the building's power distribution, telecommunication
Telecommunication

Telecommunication is the assisted Transmission of Signal over a distance for the purpose of communication. In earlier times, this may have involved the use of smoke signals, Drum , Semaphore line, flag signals or heliograph....
, fire alarm, signalization, lightning protection
Lightning protection

#REDIRECT Lightning protection system...
 and control system
Control system

A control system is a device or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or systems.There are two common classes of control systems, with many variations and combinations: logic gate, and feedback or linear controls....
s, as well as lighting systems
Architectural lighting design

Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture and architectural engineering that concerns itself primarily with the illumination of architecture, including academic/institutional, corporate, hospitality, monumental structures, residential, retail/entertainment and site/facade lighting projects....
.

The Architectural engineer (PE) in the United States

In many jurisdictions of the United States, the architectural engineer is a licensed
Professional Engineer

Professional Engineer is the term for registered or licensed engineers in some countries who are permitted to offer their professional services directly to the public....
 engineering professional , usually a graduate of an architectural engineering university program preparing students to perform whole-building design in competition with architect-engineer teams; or for practice in one of structural, mechanical or electrical fields of building design, but with an appreciation of integrated architectural requirements.

Formal architectural engineering education, following the engineering model of earlier disciplines, developed in the late 1800s, and became widespread in the United States by the mid 1900s. With the establishment of a specific "architectural engineering" NCEES Professional Engineer
Professional Engineer

Professional Engineer is the term for registered or licensed engineers in some countries who are permitted to offer their professional services directly to the public....
ing registration examination in the 1990s, and first offering in April 2003, architectural engineering became recognized as a distinct engineering discipline in the United States. Architectural engineers are not entitled to practice architecture unless they are also licensed as architects.

The Architect as Architectural Engineer

In some countries architecture engineer, as a profession
Profession

"A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain"....
 providing architectural services
Architect

An architect is trained and licenced in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e....
, is sometimes referred to as "architectural engineering". In others, such as in Japan, the terms "architecture" and "building engineering" are used synonymously. The practice of architecture includes the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction.

In some languages, such as Korean
Korean language

Korean is the official language of North Korea and South Korea. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China....
 and Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
, "architect" is literally translated as "architectural engineer". In some countries, an "architectural engineer" (such as the ingegnere edile in Italy) is entitled to practice architecture
Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
 and is often referred to as an architect. These individuals are often also structural engineers. In other countries, such as Germany and Austria, architecture graduates receive an engineering degree (Dipl.-Ing. - Diplom-Ingenieur).

Education

The architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering branches each have well established educational requirements
Engineer's degree

An engineer's degree is a Graduate school academic degree intermediate in rank between a master's degree and a doctorate in the United States. In Europe, it can be an approximately five-year degree roughly equivalent to a master's degree....
 that are usually fulfilled by completion of a university program.

Architectural Engineering as a single integrated field of study

What differentiates Architectural Engineering as a separate and single, integrated field of study, compared to other engineering disciplines, is its multi-disciplined engineering approach. Through training in and appreciation of architecture, the field seeks integration of building systems within its overall building design. Architectural Engineering includes the design of building systems including Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
HVAC

HVAC is an initialism or acronym that stands for "heating, Ventilation , and air conditioning". HVAC is sometimes referred to as climate control and is particularly important in the design of medium to large industrial and office buildings such as skyscrapers and in marine environments such as aquariums, where humidity and tem...
, plumbing, fire protection
Fire protection

Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of mitigating systems....
, electrical, lighting
Lighting

File:Gare de l'Est Paris 2007 033.jpgLighting is the deliberate application of light to achieve some aesthetic or practical effect. Lighting includes use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from daylight....
, transportation, and structural systems. In some university programs, students are required to concentrate on one of the systems; in others, they can receive a generalist Architectural or Building Engineering degree. The University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a research university, located in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Ranked within the World's top 100 Universities, it is one of the original Red brick universities and a member of the Russell Group....
, United Kingdom offers a Dual degree course in both Architecture and Structural Engineering.

See also

  • Building officials
    Building officials

    Building officials of developed countries are generally referred to as administering building control systems that are mostly defined in statute....
  • International Building Code
    International Building Code

    The International Building Code is a model building code developed by the International Code Council . It has been adopted throughout most of the United States....