Design Project Checkin: Plumbing Systems

Journal Entry For
Module 10 - Plumbing Systems

My Plumbing Model is here: LINK

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There are restrooms for men and women on each floor of the south and north wings of the building (based on project north). Even though having a greywater system was not one of my goals for my project at the preliminary design stage, I decided to incorporate a greywater system into my building for this module.

In each of the men’s restrooms, there are three lavatories, two toilets, and three urinals; in each of the women’s restrooms, there are five toilets and three lavatories. The layout and dimension of the plumbing fixtures in the bathroom are based on the example bathroom layout shown in Module 5, Example 5.3.A.3. There is a mechanical room in between the men’s and women’s restrooms at each wing on each floor and is where the main riser pipes will locate. The plumbing fixtures are wall-mounted, so I placed additional walls to place these fixtures and hide all the pipes behind the walls. I did not know where to find the bathroom stalls, so I just placed walls to divide the stalls.

Plumbing Fixtures that I used:

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Overall Bathroom Locations Plan View:

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Typical Bathroom Plan View:

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Plumbing Layout 3D Overview:

I used filters to distinguish the greywater collection and supply pipelines from the rest. The color codes are shown below: Red: Domestic Hot Water Supply, 1” Dia. Blue: Domestic Cold Water Supply, 1” Dia. Magenta: Greywater Collection, 4” Dia. Orange: Greywater Supply, 1.5” Dia. Green: Sanitary Water, 4” Dia.

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View of the bathroom piping layout for the south wing:

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View of the bathroom piping layout for the north wing:

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Plumbing Layout Elevation Views:

Please note that I hid the walls to display the pipes better, but the pipes are hidden behind the walls to which the plumbing fixtures are attached. The pipe branches are modeled below the HVAC ducts and structural beams, and they are not blocking any doors. I ensured the pipes did not conflict with the structural framing elements and the mechanical ducts. The HVAC duct on the first floor might look like it conflicts with the supply and sanitary pipelines, but it is not in reality.

South Plumbing Layout for urinals and toilets:

Green pipelines indicate the sanitary system, and the orange pipelines indicate the greywater supply system.

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South Plumbing Layout for Lavatories:

Red pipelines indicate the domestic hot water supply system; blue pipelines indicate the domestic cold water supply system; and the magenta pipelines indicate the greywater collection system.

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North Plumbing Layout for urinals and toilets:

Green pipelines indicate the sanitary system, and the orange pipelines indicate the greywater supply system.

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North Plumbing Layout for Lavatories:

Red pipelines indicate the domestic hot water supply system; blue pipelines indicate the domestic cold water supply system; and the magenta pipelines indicate the greywater collection system.

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Merged View:

First Floor Bathrooms First-Person View: I hid the walls to show the pipelines and plumbing fixtures better.

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Typical Bathroom Layout Plan view:

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South Wing – Toilets and Urinals:

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South Wing – Lavatories:

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North Wing – Toilets and Urinals:

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South Wing – Lavatories:

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Special Plumbing System Challenges:

Overall, the plumbing system modeling is much easier than the HVAC system. I decided to adopt the greywater system to my building. The greywater system modelling was also easy because the lavatories were all located on the opposite side of the toilets and urinals. There were two challenges that I encountered when I modeled the plumbing system. First, I could use the auto-connect tools to connect the plumbing fixtures to the pipes for the toilets directly, and the auto-connected pipes were all well-hidden behind the walls. However, I had to manually re-route the pipes for the urinals and the lavatories to hide them behind the walls for practicality and aesthetics. I want to avoid exposing the pipes underneath the plumbing fixtures to make them easier and have fewer obstacles for people in inconvenient situations (wheelchairs) to approach and use. The second challenge I encountered during the modeling process was that when I mirrored the pipe layouts from the south side of the building to the north side, I always needed to manually adjust the connections between pipes and the plumbing fixtures to make them connect correctly. Despite these two challenges, the plumbing system modeling overall is straightforward. I am happy that I incorporated the greywater system into my project, which I did not expect at the beginning of my project planning. Because of the time limitations and the limited information provided by the recorded lectures, I do not know how the main riser pipes will connect to the water tank (?) and the sewer system (?). If I have more time, I can figure that out.