ABBEYnet

Searching the Internet

Every website has an address e.g.: http://www.fifa.com this is also called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
When you arrive at a website an address similar to that shown should appear in the address bar at the top of your screen.
The address for this site should be similar to http://homepage.eircom.net/~abbeynet/search_net
If you know the address of the site that you are looking for just tpye it into the address bar and this will save you time searching.

Saving WebPages and Web Addresses

Towards the very top of your screen you should see a button marked 'Favourite' or 'Bookmark'. You can store the sites you wish to return to in there. Click on the Favourite/Bookmark button to see the site in there.

To add a site to your this folder:
· Open the site that you wish to save
· Right click somewhere on the web page (not on a picture!) and select 'Add to favourite'. Alternatively 'Click 'on the Favourite/Bookmark button and click on the 'Add' button.
· You can change the name to something familiar and enter it in a specific folder such as 'JC Project' or 'LC Project' by selecting the 'Create in' or 'New Folder' button. Then click 'OK'
· To find your site again, open the Favourite/Bookmark folder, any subfolder and click on the page you want.

You must be on the Internet to open a site from your Favourites/Bookmark Folder, alternatively, you can save a web page directly onto your computer, as if it was a document that you were typing.
When you are at a web page that you want to save;
Go to the 'File' button, select 'Save As', find where you want to save the site (Floppy, C:, etc), give it a suitable name and click 'Save'

To save a picture/ graphic from a web page, Right Click on the picture, select 'Save Picture As..', and again put it in the desired folder. You can open this again later though finding it on 'My Computer' and copy and paste etc. it into your portfolio.

Searching for Information on the Internet

There is millions of website devoted to thousands of different topics. It would, therefore, be impossible to find any information without using a 'Search Engine'.
The most common are:

http://www.altavista.com

http://www.excite.com

http://www.alltheweb.com

http://www.google.com

http://www.lycos.com

http://www.webcrawler.com

http://www.askjeeves.com

http://www.dogpile.com

http://www.yahoo.com

 

These arrange and search of information in different ways and so you may get different information by using different search engines.
Type Key Words about your topic in to the search box and click 'Search'
If you type several words, the search engine will find sites that contain any of the words, for example, entering: timber conversion, will find sites about timber and also about conversion (e.g. religious conversion, manufacturing, etc.).
Here are some hints for searching effectively:

· Combine words together, put a plus before each Key word e.g.; +timber +conversion or surround the words with quotation marks e.g.; "timber conversion". The latter will find sites that contain both timber and conversion somewhere in the site whereas with the latter, the words 'timber conversion' must appear beside each other.
· Gradually increase the number of Keywords e.g. add +hardwood +natural
· You can use the - sign instead of the + and it will exclude words e.g. +timber +defects -woodworm will find information on defects in timber excluding woodworm.
· You can also combine syntax e.g.: +"building regulations' +Ireland
· When you type in Capital letters then it will find those words when in capitals.
· Many sites allow you to limit your search for certain types of information e.g.: music (mp3), images, videos etc. Type in the Keywords as normal and click on 'images'.

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS RECORD THE URL OF THE SITE WHERE YOU GET YOUR INFORMATION FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO.

The following sites may be of benifit or intrest to you:

National Standards Authority of Ireland http://www.ncai.ie

Irish Construction http://www.irishconstruction.com

Building Information Centre http://www.bild.ie

Irish Planning Institute http://irishplanninginsitute.ie

Wicklow County Council http://www.wicklow.ie

Cement Roadstone http://www.crh.ie

Quinn-Group (lightweight Concrete) http://www.quinn-group.com

Department of the Environment http://www.environment.gov.ie

Architectural Dublin http://www.archeire.com/archdublin/index.

An Taisce http://www.antaisce.org/

Department of Education Exam Section http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?maincat=10900&category=10900&feature=post_primary&language=EN

Irish Architecture Online http://www.archeire.com/

• Temperature of the building fabric

Air holds water in the form of water vapour that is generally invisible.
The warmer the air is, the more water vapour it can hold. If warm, moist air is cooled it can carry less water in the vapour form and some of this changes to water form that is visible (fog, mist). [e.g. there is more steam generated when one runs a shower in a cold bathroom than a warm one].
Condensation forms on cold surfaces, usually windows and tiles, or if there is a cold bridge in the construction. If the temperature of the building fabric is kept high then condensation can be reduced.

Ventilation

Dampness caused by condensation can be remedied by considering heat and ventilation.
A ventilation system should provide

• An adequate supply of fresh air for the comfort of the occupants
• Rapid extraction or dilution of pollutants and moisture likely to produce condensation for example in the kitchen and bathroom

Ventilation can be achieved by providing:

• Permanent opening e.g. wall ventilator, air brick
• Open-able Windows
• Mechanical Ventilator e.g. extractor fan

Ventilation includes background ventilation (a wall vent providing one air change per hour approx.) and rapid ventilation in a bathroom for example where a large amount of steam is generated and a window can be opened momentarily.

In situations where high levels are air change are required (3 -4 air changes per hour) the new air may need to be heated to maintain a comfortable temperature. This means more fuel is used and is expensive, some homeowners then reduce the amount of ventilation and therefore risk dampness.

Heating

Heating is equally important in controlling dampness. It should be remembered that warm air can hold more moisture that cold air and condensation forms on cold rather than warm surfaces.

Construction for Condensation

Even when all precautions are taken it is still common for condensation to occur, most likely places being bathrooms, kitchen and on any window. Occasional condensation is not a problem if it is anticipated and reparation made for it. The use of impermeable materials such as glazed ceramic wall and floor tiles in these areas prevents condensation from penetrating the building structure and causing damp.

Interstitial Condensation

Interstitial Condensation occurs within the structure or fabric of the building
Normally building materials are warm on the inside and get progressively colder as they approach the outside surface. Therefore while condensation may not occur visibly on the inside surface of the wall it may occur at some point inside the wall fabric (the vapour condenses at the dew point temperature inside the wall)
A vapour barrier has a high resistance to water vapour penetration. Some examples are gloss paints, special silicone paints, polythene sheet and foil backed plasterboards.
Interstitial Condensation can damage steelwork and can make insulation materials less effective.

Dew Point

The Dew Point is the temperature at which a fixed sample of air becomes saturated (condenses)
If moist air is cooled, at the dew point the air becomes saturated with water vapour.
When this saturated air comes in contact with a surface that is at or below this temperature then a thin film of liquid will form. This is known as dew or condensation.
Unit is °C or K

Relative Humidity

The Relative Humidity (RH) of a sample of air compares the actual amount of moisture in the air with maximum amount of moisture the air can hold at the that temperature.
The correct definition of Relative Humidity is:

Unit: Percent R.H. at a specified temperature. It is also common practice to describe humidity in terms of percentage saturation.

Cavity Insulation

In order to maintain a constant temperature within a building it is necessary to restrict heat loss, keeping heat inside a building for as long as possible to conserve energy and reduces heating costs.
Aerated lightweight concrete, aero-board, expanded polystyrene, fiberglass may be used in the cavity to prevent heat loss
Loose fill materials, expanded polystyrene granules, reflective materials e.g. aluminum foil may also be used in some situations.

Cold Bridge

Where materials of high thermal conductivity pass completely through a wall, floor or roof without insulation e.g. solid block wall, lintel.
Condensation and mould growth may occur.

Vapour Barrier

A layer of building material that has a high resistance to the passage of water vapour.
Needs to be installed when there is danger of interstitial condensation.
Must block water vapour before it meets an environment below the dew point temperature.
Must be installed on warm side of insulation layer.
Examples include: foils, liquid films, bituminous solutions, rubberized or siliconised paints, gloss paints.

Damp Proofing Old Buildings

One method involves sawing a slot in a mortar bed joint and inserting a damp-proof membrane. The membrane is normally in about 1m lengths and can be slate, bitumen-felt, copper, lead or polyethylene.
Another method is called electro-osmotic damp proofing. Damp rises in the wall from the soil by capillary action, the damp wall is negatively charged with respect to the soil. 25mm holes drilled from the outside with strip electrodes of high conductivity copper mortared into the drillings and looped into copper strips set into bed joints at damp-course level along the wall face. This layout removes the surface tension and thereby prevents the moisture rising.