Glazing Made Simple:  A Decision Support System Tool Using MS Excel VBA

Asaad Mohamed; Emily Reynolds; Chetan S. Sankar; P.K. Raju; Nanda Kumar B.S.

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: International Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: International
Page Count: 19
Page Numbers: 25.670.1 - 25.670.19
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21427
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21427
Download Count: 819

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Paper Authors

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Asaad Mohamed Auburn University

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Asaad Mohamed has a diverse experience and holds several advances degrees in engineering and management. He is currently finishing up a master's in information systems management from Auburn University.

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Emily Reynolds Auburn University

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Chetan S. Sankar Auburn University

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Chetan S. Sankar is the College of Business Advisory Council Professor of management information systems at Auburn University. He has received more than three million dollars from ten National Science Foundation grants to develop exceptional instructional materials that bring real-world issues into classrooms. He has won awards for research and teaching excellence from the Society for Information Management, NEEDS, Decision Sciences Institute, American Society for Engineering Education, American Society for Mechanical Engineering, International Network for Engineering Education & Research, Computer World, Campus Technology, and the Project Management Institute. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education and the Managing Editor of the Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research.

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P.K. Raju Auburn University

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Nanda Kumar B.S.

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Nanda Kumar B.S. is Assistant Construction Manager, Center of Excellence & Futuristic Development, Larsen & Toubro, Chennai, India.

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Abstract

Glazing Made Simple: A Decision Support System Tool Using MS Excel VBAIn architecture, glazing is the most sought-after technique when it comes to facade, whether it iscommercial, governmental or even residential buildings. A welcome change from the mostly dullbrick and mortar structures, these glass facades have brought in a near revolution in constructionand architecture in recent times due to their aesthetic appeal and higher natural light allowance.Glass manufacturers have capitalized on this trend –with the help of modern technologies – byoffering wide ranges of glasses with different arrays of colors, thermal allowances, and otherphysical properties.Larsen & Toubro (L&T) –being the largest construction company in India – realizes theimportance of being able to offer the best glazing systems to its huge national and internationalcustomers.As part of a NSF International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project a team ofgraduate and undergraduate students at a major U.S. university worked with L&T’s designengineers at the Center for Excellence and Futuristic Design (CEFD) in conducting all thenecessary calculations to determine the cooling loads for each of the glass-frame-shadingcombinations. The goal was to tabulate all the necessary calculations into an Excel spread sheetand then develop a simple interface –using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) – for L&T’sarchitects. The program accesses a hidden database that allows the architects to simply selecttheir desired values for the glass type sub-criteria, frame type, and shading type, and then make adecision about which combination is ideal for their particular design. The decision is based notjust on aesthetics, but energy performance as well as some financial metrics such as additionalinvestment and payback period. This results in a simplified decision-making tool withinstantaneous consequence comparisons.Through developing this interface, the project team learned the following: • The culture and dynamics of working at an international company. • Interacting and working with students from Indian Universities. • Different aspects and properties of glass and their impact on the heating/cooling loading of a building. • How to use data mining techniques to turn large data sets into a simple user interface.

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Mohamed, A., & Reynolds, E., & Sankar, C. S., & Raju, P., & B.S., N. K. (2012, June), Glazing Made Simple: A Decision Support System Tool Using MS Excel VBA Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21427

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                                    Glazing Made Simple:               A Decision Support System Tool Using MS Excel VBAIn architecture, glazing is the most sought-after technique when it comes to facade, whether it iscommercial, governmental or even residential buildings. A welcome change from the mostly dullbrick and mortar structures, these glass facades have brought in a near revolution in constructionand architecture in recent times due to their aesthetic appeal and higher natural light allowance.Glass manufacturers have capitalized on this trend –with the help of modern technologies – byoffering wide ranges of glasses with different arrays of colors, thermal allowances, and otherphysical properties.Larsen &amp; Toubro (L&amp;T) –being the largest construction company in India – realizes theimportance of being able to offer the best glazing systems to its huge national and internationalcustomers.As part of a NSF International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project a team ofgraduate and undergraduate students at a major U.S. university worked with L&amp;T’s designengineers at the Center for Excellence and Futuristic Design (CEFD) in conducting all thenecessary calculations to determine the cooling loads for each of the glass-frame-shadingcombinations. The goal was to tabulate all the necessary calculations into an Excel spread sheetand then develop a simple interface –using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) – for L&amp;T’sarchitects. The program accesses a hidden database that allows the architects to simply selecttheir desired values for the glass type sub-criteria, frame type, and shading type, and then make adecision about which combination is ideal for their particular design. The decision is based notjust on aesthetics, but energy performance as well as some financial metrics such as additionalinvestment and payback period. This results in a simplified decision-making tool withinstantaneous consequence comparisons.Through developing this interface, the project team learned the following:        • The culture and dynamics of working at an international company.        • Interacting and working with students from Indian Universities.        • Different aspects and properties of glass and their impact on the heating/cooling          loading of a building.        • How to use data mining techniques to turn large data sets into a simple user interface.
AU  - Asaad Mohamed
AU  - Emily Reynolds
AU  - Chetan S. Sankar
AU  - P.K. Raju
AU  - Nanda Kumar B.S.
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Glazing Made Simple:  A Decision Support System Tool Using MS Excel VBA
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21427
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21427
ER  -