Are Christian College Students Equipped to Share their Faith with Their Muslim Friends?: A Plan of Action

According to Pew Research Center, the U.S. Muslim population will double by 2030. Training the church to reach this group of people is vital. This project proposes that the Christian college is the best resource to train students to reach their Muslim friends and neighbors for Christ because these institutions have at their disposal a rich reservoir of resources that are vital to providing the biblical, theological, missiological, sociological, and cross-cultural knowledge that is necessary to be effective witnesses for Christ. The project also identifies four important components to successful ministry to Muslims. The four components include spiritual vitality, cultural intelligence, evangelistic acumen, and countering Islamophobia This project will measure those four areas to see how well colleges are preparing their students to reach Muslims. The thesis will conclude by offering a plan of action

A design methodology to reduce the embodied carbon of concrete buildings using thin-shell floors

This paper explores the potential of thin concrete shells as low-carbon alternatives to floor slabs and beams, which typically make up the majority of structural material in multi-storey buildings. A simple and practical system is proposed, featuring pre-cast textile reinforced concrete shells with a network of prestressed steel tension ties. A non-structural fill is included to provide a level top surface. Building on previous experimental and theoretical work, a complete design methodology is presented. This is then used to explore the structural behaviour of the proposed system, refine its design, and evaluate potential carbon savings. Compared to flat slabs of equivalent structural performance, significant embodied carbon reductions (53–58%) are demonstrated across spans of 6–18 m. Self-weight reductions of 43–53% are also achieved, which would save additional material in columns and foundations. The simplicity of the proposed structure, and conservatism of the design methodology, indicate that further savings could be made with future refinements. These results show that considerable embodied carbon reductions are possible through innovative structural design, and that thin-shell floors are a practical means of achieving this.</p

Minimising embodied carbon in reinforced concrete beams

The construction industry has received attention due to its significant contribution to global carbon emissions. In this paper, conventional design and construction practices of reinforced concrete beams are scrutinised to explore the potential for reductions in embodied carbon. For a given set of design criteria, a family of discrete beam designs which have different geometries and corresponding reinforcements were developed to identify those with minimum embodied carbon. Two algorithms for shape optimisation were developed, one to identify the geometry of the theoretical optimum design, and another considering technical and construction feasibility. Prismatic beams were also optimised exploring alternative designs with different depths and widths along with the required reinforcements, for a reasonable comparison. Several cases were studied to understand the effect of different design parameters. Different design criteria suggested different geometries to minimise embodied carbon, even if the design span was the same. The importance of minimising web width was seen throughout the analysis. The expected deflection of each design was also estimated to understand the effect of optimisation on serviceability performance and found to be satisfactory in all the cases. Embodied carbon of beams can be reduced by up to 38% by optimising prismatic beams compared with conventional designs. Further savings up to 8% are possible with a feasible shape optimised design compared with optimised prismatic beams.</p

Prototyping and load testing of thin-shell concrete floors

Buildings are being constructed at ever faster rates, fuelled by population growth and urbanisation. The total worldwide floor area of buildings is expected to almost double over the next 40 years, the equivalent of constructing Paris every five days. The majority of the mass and embodied energy (60% to 70%) in a typical multi-storey building structure exists within the floors, making these a primary target for sustainable structural design. In a typical reinforced concrete slab, much of the concrete is assumed to be cracked and therefore not structurally utilised, but nevertheless adds significant weight. This project proposes a radical re-design of concrete floors, using precast textile-reinforced concrete shells with an in-situ foamed concrete fill. By harnessing membrane action, self-weight savings of 62% have been demonstrated for typical spans (compared to traditional flat slabs). This paper discusses the design, optimisation, construction, measurement, analysis and structural testing of two prototype shells, one with and one without foamed concrete fill. The construction accuracy was quantified using digital scanner measurements which were then used as a geometry input for the analysis model. Each shell was loaded both uniformly and asymmetrically to beyond the design loading before failure. The foamed concrete was found to provide only a small increase in strength and stiffness. A design methodology for full-scale, practical application is currently under development.Building Research Establishment (BRE) Trust Cambridge University Department of Engineerin