Engineering Facilities of Buildings and Populated Areas

the set of technical devices that ensures comfortable conditions for the everyday life and work of the inhabitants.

Engineering facilities for buildings include systems for ventilation, water supply (hot and cold), sewage, heating, aircondition-ing, gas supply, artificial lighting, electrical equipment, and indoor transportation (passenger and freight elevators); equipment for garbage removal, cleaning, and extinguishing fires; and installation of telephone and radio systems.

Up to 40 percent of the total cost of construction of a modern urban building goes for engineering facilities. The operation of the engineering facilities of such buildings requires qualified service personnel and accounts for more than 50 percent of total annual operating expenditures. Remote and automatic monitoring and control of the operation of the primary types of engineering facilities by means of traffic-control points that connect a complex of buildings, usually within a development, are used to improve the operation of engineering facilities and reduce the number of service personnel required.

Engineering facilities for populated areas include the structures, utility lines, and other installations that make possible the operation of the engineering facilities of residential and public buildings, and municipal and industrial enterprises, as well as providing for the removal of atmospheric precipitation from populated areas, for artificial illumination, and for the installation of radio facilities. In cities the expenditures for engineering facilities constitute 25–30 percent of the total cost of the construction of housing and social amenities.

Engineering facilities in a modern city include stations for water purification and supply; sewage-treatment plants; power plants (including heat and electric power plants) and electric and transformer substations; boiler rooms for heat supply; stations for sorting, processing, and burning garbage; gas-regulator stations and gas-storage installations; refrigeration stations, which provide cooling for airconditioning devices in buildings and for other needs; radio stations and telephone offices; numerous utility lines, which carry heat, gas, cold and hot water, sewage, and electric power. All these utility lines are ordinarily laid underground, both separately and in combination. In the latter case, for example, the same underground tunnel (collector) will hold heat and water mains and electric power and sound cables. The tunnels are usually made passable for convenience in inspecting and repairing utility lines. The combined laying of engineering utility lines creates particularly good conditions for comprehensive operation of engineering facilities.

The engineering facilities of populated areas (cities) often also include various types of transportation engineering structures, such as urban expressways, overpasses, tunnels, underground pedestrian crossings, and multilevel interchanges. The development and improvement of engineering facilities is a most important factor in public welfare planning for populated areas.