ADDIS ABABAUNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

MASTER’S THESIS PROPOSAL

Name: Abel Bekele and Misgun Samuel

ID Number: GSR/3304/02 and GSR/3325/02

Faculty: Technology

Department: Civil Engineering

Major: Structural Engineering

Advisor: Dr. Habtamu Hailu

Title of the Project: Alternative design and construction

techniques for maximizing net floor area.

Date August 27, 2010

Table of Contents
Abstract 1
1. Introduction 2
2. Statement of the problem 3
3. Objective 3
4. Literature Review 3
5. Hypothesis 4
6. Methods and Procedures 4
7. Work plan 4
8. Budget 5
References 6
Abstract

In urban cities of developing countries land value is becoming very important in terms of
cost and asset. The crowding of buildings and shortage of land in our capital Addis Ababa for
example is a clear illustration of this fact. Allocating ones land effectively and efficiently to
achieve the intended functions of a certain building is very important in such places. In high-
rise multi story buildings small unusable dimension from each floor will accumulate and add
up to huge space in turn leading to less income generation. In this paper the effect of
various design/construction methods and construction materials in order to maximize net
floor area is investigated. Achieving this purpose will have a significant value in terms of
economy especially if we consider long term benefits.

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 1. Introduction

Nowadays land value becomes very important in terms of cost and asset, especially in
growing urban areas like our capital Addis Ababa. Hence it becomes very important to
allocate ones land effectively and efficiently to achieve the intended functions of a certain
building. This especially becomes very important when the building in consideration
becomes a high rise building, in which the accumulation of a few centimeters on each floor
will have a significant cost in terms of space and money. This paper tries to address how
much significant this space accumulation in a multistory building is and also tries assess the
effect of various design and construction methods in order to maximize net floor area.

Floor area of a building is the interior area of a building calculated in square meters or
square feet. The gross floor area is the total floor area of all floors of a building calculated
with the external dimensions of the building including structures, partitions, corridors and
stairs. The net floor area is the sum of all areas between the vertical buildings components
such as walls, partitions, etc. i.e. gross floor area reduced by the area for structural
components.

In urban areas, where land is expensive; increasing the net floor area of a high-rise building
has to be given a priority because space taken by structural elements is very significant.
Especially in areas located along major roads and city centers, finding a small plot of land
will be considered a great chance. Engineers have to device methods that are safe,
economical and practical in designing and constructing these high-rise building by
minimizing structural element dimensions, using high strength materials and different types
and arrangement of structural elements.

Various structural and non-structural elements will have their own impact on the net area of
a building. Large columns, deep and wide beams, deep slabs, thick walls and improperly
placed non-structural elements will share a significant amount of space in a building. A very
little work has been done on this topic, in which many of them discuss net floor area in
relation to specific elements such as columns and slabs. This paper, however tries to assess
techniques of maximizing net floor area in multistory buildings and comment on alternative
methods which try to achieve this goal in relation to various structural and non-structural
elements in general.

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 2. Statement of the problem
Adequate provision for free space in high-rise buildings is craving.

3. Objective

 To investigate alternative design and construction techniques for maximizing net

floor area.

4. Literature Review
The concept of maximum net floor area was found in different literatures in relation to
various building elements. In relation to composite structures of steel and concrete like
composite columns and composite slabs, Johnson 2004, discusses using composite
structures of steel and concrete will save a significant amount of space in multistory
buildings as compared to using reinforced concrete structures only.

The worldwide use of reinforced concrete construction stems from the wide availability of
reinforcing steel as well as the concrete ingredients. Unlike steel, concrete production does
not require expensive manufacturing mills. Despite of this advantage when we are going to
construct high rise buildings the size of columns and beams obtained from analysis and
design will become intolerable due to its large space consumption (Ahmet 2004).

The expensive use of reinforced concrete construction, especially in developing countries, is

due to its relatively low cost compared to other materials such as structural steel. The cost
of construction changes with the region and strongly depends on the local practice. Even if it
seems cheep the cost of space that we sacrifice for the structural elements in high rise
buildings becomes very high, especially if long term benefit is evaluated.

If a specific objective criterion can be expressed mathematically, then optimization

techniques may be employed to obtain a maximum or minimum for the objective function.
Optimization procedures and techniques comprise an entire subject such as weight and
cost. The criterion of minimum weight is emphasized throughout, under the general
assumption that minimum material represents minimum cost. Other subjective criteria must
be kept in mind, even though the integration of behavioral principles with design of
structural steel elements utilized simple objective criteria, such as weight or space saving
(Salmon 2004).

Currently it was able to develop concrete with high compressive strength, up to 40 MPa and
higher, which greatly helps in finding small structural element dimensions from design.
Especially to build high-rise buildings by reducing column sized and increasing available
space, high strength concrete plays a significant role (NRMCA 2001). In recent years , the
application of high-strength concrete have increased and high strength concrete has been
possible as a result resent development in material technology and a demand for it, in
relation to its space saving (ACI 363R-92).

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 Using tensioned structural elements also has important role in increasing net floor area. An
improved way of designing high-rise residential towers is allowing for the use of longer post-
tensioned slab spans, and resulting in coveted column-free floor space from the core to the
exterior glass line (David 1999).

5. Hypothesis
It is possible to achieve a maximum net floor area significantly by studying alternative design
and construction methods.

6. Methods and Procedures

Because of the recent cost increase of land, finding construction areas for multistory
buildings become difficult. Literatures dealing with net floor area are found in dispersed
manner in relation to specific building components. In order to gather and discuss various
methods for maximization of net floor area we will refer different books dealing with
different building elements and their effect in relation to space. The book by Johnson on
“Composite Structures of Steel and Concrete” for example discusses space saving
advantages of steel-concrete composite structures. Books on pre and post-tensioned
members also have important ideas how tensioning affects strength and in turn volume of
structural elements.

These mentioned ideas found in different books will be selected and analyzed to find an
integrated, effective and significant space saving in buildings which is achieved by using all
possible methods on design and construction. Also computer models will be employed to
study these different design techniques.

7. Work plan

Week (August to June) divided by week, W = week

Activities August September October
W1 W2 W3 W4 W1 W2 W3 W4 W1 W2 W3 W4
Planning and
Proposal
Writing
Literature
Review
Modeling and
Analysis
Report Writing
Table 1Work Plan

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8. Budget

Activities Reasons Total Price ( in birr)

Stationeries Experiment result documentation 1000.00
Transport Allowance for transportation 500.00
Personal Researcher and other participants 2000.00
Total 3500.00
Table 2 Budget detail

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References
Ahmet Y. (2004), “Reinforced Concrete Frame Construction,” Middle East Technical
University,Turkey.

American Concrete Institute.(1997), “State-of-the-Art Report on High-Strength Concrete,”

Journal of Structural Engineering Report No.ACI 363R-92, USA.

Charles G. Salmon, John E. Johnson and Faris A. Malhas. (2009), “Steel Structures Design and
Behavior,” 5th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, London.

Johnson R.P. (2004), “Composite Structures of Steel and Concrete,” 3rd ed. Blackwell
Publishing, United Kingdom.

National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (2001), “Concrete in Practice,” Technical

Information Paper of NRMCA,USA.