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Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Systems in Construction Management: A Literature Review of Existing MEP Textbooks

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Conference

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Seattle, Washington

Publication Date

June 14, 2015

Start Date

June 14, 2015

End Date

June 17, 2015

ISBN

978-0-692-50180-1

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Topics in Construction Education

Tagged Division

Construction

Page Count

10

Page Numbers

26.1143.1 - 26.1143.10

DOI

10.18260/p.24480

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/24480

Download Count

18800

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Paper Authors

biography

Rogelio Palomera-Arias University of Texas, San Antonio

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Dr. Rogelio Palomera-Arias educational and professional background is multidisciplinary and multilingual in nature. He obtained his Ph. D. in architecture with a concentration in building technology, and an M.S. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge MA.

Dr. Palomera-Arias joined the faculty at Construction Science Department at UTSA in the Fall 2013. The main teaching responsibilities in the department are the courses in Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Building Systems in Construction, as well as the Structural Design for construction management courses.

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Rui Liu University of Texas, San Antonio

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Abstract

Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Systems in Construction Management: A Literature Review of Existing MEP Textbooks.Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and related systems (MEP systems) in building are identified asa source of a continuously increasing portion of building construction costs and their operationand maintenance expenditures, as well as heavy contributors of the energy consumption inbuildings. This has led to a general recognition of the importance of MEP systems in today’sconstruction industry. Consequently, the various organizations for higher education in the fieldsof construction have recognized and require MEP content to be covered in the curricula ofconstruction science, management, and technology programs. Such coverage includes theselection and/or generation of appropriate literature supporting the teaching of MEP systems inconstruction. In particular textbooks, which are some of the most organized literature forms, usedfor teaching purposes.This paper reviews the most common textbooks used in courses covering Mechanical, Electricaland Plumbing systems in construction science and management programs accredited by theAmerican Council for Construction Education (ACCE) in US institutions. The review provides acomparison of the textbook’s topics and subject areas covered, and their relation to the MEP andspecialty contractor skills and knowledge required by construction management graduates inorder to perform their jobs, whether in a general contractor or a specialty contractor firm. Theeasiness of use and availability of auxiliary material is also considered. The paper also highlightsthe achievements, as well as the shortcomings of the reviewed MEP textbooks in supporting thelearning objectives of traditional construction management courses such as print reading,estimating, scheduling and other related subjects.

Palomera-Arias, R., & Liu, R. (2015, June), Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Systems in Construction Management: A Literature Review of Existing MEP Textbooks Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24480

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2015 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015