By Samson Tam Building Technology • • • 0 Comments

Visual Information Technology in Surveying and Engineering Industries – Part 2

The coronavirus pandemic has affected most of the people around the world. After one year of affection, people started to change their work habits and business model in order to suit this unexpected situation. Work from home(WFH) become the most common arrangement for millions, increasing numbers of people had been saying goodbye to their office. Thanks to communication technologies like skype, Facetime, Slack, Zoom, Google Hangouts and etc; people can still connect and communicate with each other. However, for surveying and engineering industry, inspection or measurement are still necessary work on site. Today we are going to look through how technology may help our architects, engineers, surveyors and all stakeholders to inspect and work throughout the visual information.

Brief History of 360 Panorama

Virtual reality, aerial panorama and 360 panorama are great technologies to use for providing information to all stakeholders. In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Nièpce invented photography; he took the first photo in the world for more realistic visual information.

 

Credit: https://www.bygonely.com/bg_item/photography-1793-by-joseph-nicephore-niepce/

After the photography was invented, the first panoramic photo camera has invented since 1843. Here is the vintage panoramic photo taken by George Barnard in 1864 which can show clearly and more information throughout the photo.

 

 

Credit: https://www.loc.gov/resource/pan.6a00039

Evolution of Action Camera

Thanks for the technology so far, action camera can take panoramic photo in one single shot. The first GoPro camera was launched commercially in 2004.

 

 

Credit: https://media.techeblog.com/images/first-gopro-camera.jpg

With GoPro evolution, action camera is a suitable camera in all extreme condition which is the best tool for inspection. However, for either filmmaking or inspection; more visual information which help the editors or inspectors easier to get the information. Therefore, people use the action camera for 360 films or 360 photos

 

Evolution of GoPro Action Camera

Credit: https://cheesycam.com/first-problems-with-gopro-hero4-4k-camera-dangerous-battery/gopro-evolution-original-hero-hero2-hero3-hero3-plus-hero4-4k/

GoPro Omni 360

Credit: https://vrscout.com/news/gopro-360-omni-camera-rig-on-sale/

 

From Action Camera to 360 Camera

As the spherical 360 panoramas taken from the GoPro device above still need to use the software to align and edit. It is such a time consuming work flow and not easy for normal people. Luckily, Ricoh has latched their first 360 camera which is the world’s first commercially available spherical camera. This camera become the best tool for inspection which is easy to use and edit in order to get the information.

 

 

Credit: https://theta360.com/en/

Ricoh Theta Sample Photo

 

GBE used both Mi sphere and Insta 360 One X as our inspection tools for visual inspection which the 360 camera helps all stakeholder easy to review the footage and capture the information throughout the image. Here is our first YouTube clip for using 360 camera in our inspection project which give a brief idea of how 360 camera can provide information.

MI Sphere Camera

Credit: https://qwertyarticles.com/2018/06/30/the-world-seen-from-360-degrees-a-mi-sphere-camera-review/

 

Insta 360 One X

Credit: https://www.insta360.com/hk/product/insta360-onex

Visual Information from 360 Camera

By using the software provided by 360 camera manufacturer, the stakeholder can easily capture and collect information from the footage which can easily work remotely and share information to collaborate with others in every project. Here are the sample of the GBE project for you guys to have some idea how the picture can be capture through the software.

 

Here are other sample photos captured from Insta 360 One X

 

In next chapter, we will go through the 3D virtual space by using the latest technology and 360 camera in our industry for visual information.

By John Lam Asset Enhancement • Building Law • Design 0 Comments

Turning Non-domestic space to Domestic usage for Public Rental Housing

To boost the housing supply is the urgent needs in today HK. Although many resources such as transitional housing and new town development are allocated , GBE has been working on two interesting cases which are to convert the “non-domestic space” to domestic usage. We love to sharing our experience to all reader.

Technical Hurdle for conversion 

There are many technical consideration to the conversion. To list some, the issues cover the “GFA” , “site coverage”, natural lighting and ventilation, open space, Fire safety are all in the radar . On top of this , some tricky issues such as concrete cover ; width of re-entry for open space; barrier free access ; provision of gas aperture , Kitchen, sanitary fitment and the clear headroom for the domestic space are all counting on.

Overcome the hurdle

It is technically complex to resolve all the issues in one scheme. We have to prioritise the amount of effort to resolve each problem. Honestly , some of the technical hurdle may be too costly to resolve or even not possible to overcome

  • GFA and site coverage is the most tricky

Among all the hurdles, the GFA and site coverage are the most pertinent and profound factor. We have had a blog talking about the GFA conversion. Honestly , in the case of conversion, we usually have to rebuild the entire GFA calculation and site coverage from scarp. It boils down to the classification of site, open space and roof cover area. It is highly tedious but technical process.

  • Lighting and ventilation / fire safety 

Many peers usually have the impression that these are resolvable and always undermine the inherent difficulties. Let us share you one point, the importance of the RHS and prescribed windows are always in the play. Since the RHS is dictated much by site surrounding and site boundary, it eventually restricts the design of light/ventilation very much

The same hurdles happens to the fire safety. Some of the professional may overlook the essence of the concrete cover and believe the fire proofing materials be helpful. Unfortunately , the clear headroom of the space is always very limited and the resulted headroom after the new fire protection layer added may lead to inadequacy, it sounds ridiculous but it did happen.

  • Sanitary Fitment and Kitchen 

These are not usually posing difficult , but the problem raised from the gas aperture for the bathroom, the RHS for kitchen and the drainage provision for the sanitary fitment. The gas aperture’s design demands a lot of the space consideration while the kitchen needs the RHS. When all these factors come together, the layout of the apartment becomes quite challenging

Looking forward to the future

While a lot of resources have been allocated to MiC , Transitional housing and New town development , we can see there are some abandoned or under-utilised space in urban area , which can be converted into the habitation purpose. We have attempted successfully such conversion in some old districts in Hong Kong. We hope we can bring more similar cases for sharing in future

 

By Candy Yip Design • Real Estate • • • • 0 Comments

Click here to know more about building defects!

There is always an indispensable relationship between buildings defects, structural stability, and public health. In general, non-structural cracks, structural cracks, concrete spalling, defective external wall finishes and water seepage, etc can be the common types of building defects, which can be easily found in buildings in which do not receive proper maintenance and repair.

Photo showing concrete spalling from the ceiling

Photo showing cracks inside staircase

Photo showing concrete spalling

Photo showing external wall tiles was found missing

Today, as a surveyor graduate trainee, I want to share some causes for the development of building defects. There can be a combination of factors in causing the above-mentioned defects. All property will face some sort of defects during its life span. As a surveyor graduate trainee, we shouldn’t solely focus on the physical look of building defects, we need to observe the surrounding environment and the actual usage in concluding the cause of the particular building defects.

Design, material, construction, usage, and maintenance are the common angles in diagnosis the causes of defects. Taking concrete spalling as one of the examples, given the design stage, when the building is located near the sea, the chloride attack raised from the sea may corrode the steel bar. With the corrosion of the rebar, the volume of rebar inside the concrete will expand 8 times. Crack and concrete spalling may be found.   At the same time, concerning the construction stage, the high water-cement ratio may bring void for the concrete surface due to the increase in permeability, which has the potential possibility to enhance the corrosion of rebar (you can refer to the blog from GBE dated on 28 June 2020). From the above reasons, we understand that the building defects may not be caused by a single reason only. It is the responsibility of the professional to conduct a detailed building inspection before jumping to a conclusion.

Photo showing the stage of rebar corrosion (retrieved from structural engineering blog)

Water Seepage is also a common building defect in aged buildings. The sources of water may come from rain, groundwater, element, condensation, plumbing, drainage, and user activities. When we observe some symptoms like water stains, water dripping, rusty stains, peeling of paint during the inspection, suspected water seepage maybe happened. Before diagnosing the source of water seepage, a preliminary desk study is required (if you wanna know about the details of desk study in how to tackle the annoying issue comes from water dripping in the living area, you mustn’t miss the blog from GBE dated on 4 Jan 2021). We may need to collect some background information like the location of dampness, the frequency of occurrence, the extent of the dampness, repair record, any complaints on the water seepage in identifying the source of such dampness. Visual Inspection and some testing tools like moisture mete can be applied in determining the source of seepage. In some cases, where we suspected the water seepage was caused by the defective waterproofing membrane from the upper unit or roof, a water ponding test may be adopted. At the same time, when we suspected the water dampness was raised by the leakage of the plumbing pipe, a meter test can be adopted in deterring the actual source of such seepage.

Photo showing a suspected case of water seepage

In order to maintain a safe and healthy environment for occupants, routine inspection, repair works, and maintenance works are suggested to carry out in every building.

By John Lam Uncategorized 0 Comments

Misery water seepage sources – Annoying water dripping in the middle of living area

Again , again and again, the water seepage investigation demands a highly complex analysis to both in-situ environment and desk study. The case presented here has been left unresolved over 2 years before GBE was called on board and finally took the issue to the end.

 

The annoying water dripping in middle of living area.

The building is a 4 storey house. It is generally deemed a luxury town house in Hong Kong. A water damp appeared on the ceiling of ground level where is the living area for family gathering. The damp worsened onward and started water dripping everytime the heavy rainfall happened. The seepage spot is about 8m away from the external wall. It became very misery where the water came.

Don’t undermine the importance of desk study 

Having reviewed the layout plan, structural plan, decoration record photos and some maintenance history, we have considered a few possible sources which might be attributed to the water seepage. Following with the desk study, we took the site inspection firstly to verify the information obtained from desk study, to survey any other information which were not found in desk study. This really demanded a lot of professional call because those items outside the desk study were also very tricky.

Patient is important – Elimination Method with “Right” Testing

With reference to many literature , the way to identify the water seepage sources is “Elimination”. We have to establish the few possible sources and apply the “Right” testing to verify the assumption. This needs some experience together with the professional judgement. Sometimes , the site condition can render some cues for this judgement. In this case , we have done the survey to window , external wall, roof and some interior fitting out. The condition of window suggested its good and fair condition while the rain outlet at the roof and the skirting at the roof have found not properly done. We thus started the pooling test to the roof.

Judgement Call for the possible seepage path

With the aid of fluorescent liquid, the pool of liquid is prepared and stayed for 48 hours. Followed to this , we then applied the UV torch for tracing the “possible path” . Again, the “possible path” demanded a lot of imagination , but we found the cues in the record photos. We found that the conduit were laid in the recessed chase formed on the floor level. It could be pathway for water running.

.

 

 

We found the seepage and fix it