ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

Perhaps the greatest improvements in building construction have been in heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and sound control. In most large buildings complete, year-round air conditioning is now standard. Some areas in a building may need to be cooled even in winter, depending on the distance from exterior walls and the heat generated by lighting, electrical equipment, or human occupancy. The level and qual­ity of lighting have improved greatly. Largely as a consequence of these changes, the cost of the mechanical and electrical systems in buildings has increased at a greater rate than other individual building costs; such costs currently account for a quarter to a third of total construction expenditure. Increasingly since the late 1970s all these sys­tems are automatically operated and controlled by computers that are programmed to maximize efficiency and minimize waste and energy consumption.

The growing use of power, telephone, and facsimile transmission equipment and of closed circuit television, intercommunication, and security and alarm systems has increased the amount of wiring that must be installed in buildings. Main cables run vertically in open shafts, with branches at each floor running through conduits lo­cated either in the hung ceiling space or embedded in the floor slab itself.

The electrical power required in buildings has increased with the number and complexity of environmental systems in operation. Because a power outage cannot be tolerated, emergency power generators are installed in an increasing number of buildings. Some buildings, particularly in remote locations, are equipped with their own primary electrical generating systems. Diesel and gas-turbine generators are used. The heat generated by these engines, instead of being wasted, is sometimes utilized for other purposes within the building.

Elevators, especially high-speed, automatically controlled, cable-operated ele­vators, are the major form of vertical transportation in high-rise structures. Low-rise buildings and the lower floors of commercial buildings may also have escalators. For fire protection, it is necessary to provide at least two means of egress from every major space in a building. Therefore, in addition to elevators and escalators, all buildings, even the tallest, have two enclosed and protected stairways for their entire height.

Buildings must have a pipe-in water supply for a variety of purposes: drinking, washing, cooking, waste disposal, internal fire fighting (either through stand-pipes and hoses or through automatic sprinklers), and service to air-conditioning system or boilers.

Disposal of wet and dry wastes in buildings is accomplished by a variety of devices, such as incinerators, shredder, and garbage compactors. There are also devices that assist waste-pickup and disposal systems. The usual method of carrying away waterborne waste is through piping connected to the sewer system outside the building. New technology is aimed at recycling water to reduce waste and pollution.  

Ex .2 Suggest English equivalents to the Russian ones : улучшение, отопление, кондиционирование, освещение, охлаждать, наружная стенка, электрооборудование, занятость, уровень, последствие, изменение, стоимость, насчитывать, расход, действовать, контролировать, увеличить, энергопотребление, передача, потери, кабельное телевидение, безопасность, кабель, устанавливать, трубопровод, располагаться, подвесной потолок, вставлять, плита перекрытия, перерыв в подаче электроэнергии, терпеть, отдаленные районы, оборудовать, газотурбогенератор, дизель – генератор, генерировать, производить, лифт с канатным управлением, высокие сооружения, высота, защищать, водоснабжение, удаление мусора, шланг, ороситель, мусоросжигатель, измельчитель, мусорный компактор, устройство, канализация, рециркуляция воды, выход.