Mechanical system, Any building service using machines. They include plumbing, elevators, escalators, and heating and air-conditioning systems. The introduction of mechanization in buildings in the early 20th century brought about major adjustments; the new equipment demanded floor space, and the design team began to include electrical and HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning) engineers. Heating and cooling changed dramatically. Modern buildings, with their large heat gains, turned central heating into little more than a supplement. Heat removal is a much more serious burden, especially in warm weather. The roofs of high-rises are occupied by cooling towers and mechanical penthouses; entire floors are often dedicated to the containment of blowers, compressors, water chillers, boilers, pumps, and generators.
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Plumbing, system of pipes and fixtures installed in a building for the distribution and use of potable (drinkable) water and the removal of waterborne wastes. It is usually distinguished from water and sewage systems that serve a group of buildings or a city. One of the problems of every civilization in…
Elevator, car that moves in a vertical shaft to carry passengers or freight between the levels of a multistory building. Most modern elevators are propelled by electric motors, with the aid of a counterweight, through a system of cables and sheaves (pulleys). By opening the way to…
Escalator, moving staircase used as transportation between floors or levels in subways, buildings, and other mass pedestrian areas. An inclined belt, invented by Jesse W. Reno of the United States in 1891, provided transportation for passengers riding on cleats attached to the belt, which was inclined…
Heating, process and system of raising the temperature of an enclosed space for the primary purpose of ensuring the comfort of the occupants. By regulating the ambient temperature, heating also serves to maintain a building’s structural, mechanical, and electrical systems.…
Air-conditioning, the control of temperature, humidity, purity, and motion of air in an enclosed space, independent of outside conditions. An early method of cooling air as practiced in India was to hang wet grass mats over windows where they cooled incoming air by…