One of the hardest parts of electrical work is accessibility. In some situations, adding a new outlet or replace old wiring can require nearly tearing your walls apart. There is a solution, however: Open building can make things easier by focusing on flexibility, ease of access and disentanglement of systems. If you’re building, renovating or putting an addition on your home, try incorporating open building principles to make it simple to change or upgrade your electrical system.

Total Flexibility

The big picture when it comes to open building is to keep the support structure of the house separate from the interior fill-out. This construction style also keeps wall spaces accessible and strives toward total flexibility. After all, chances are you'll have to replace one or more of your internal systems before you need to rebuild the whole house.

That means infill systems like your wiring are separated from others like plumbing and insulation so it's not difficult to access and remove them. So if you need to remove outdated wireing, add new circuits or upgrade your whole system to comply with local code, there's no need to gut your house. Instead, you remove some panels, install the electrical with no fuss and pop the panels back into place. No need to break through drywall or struggle with ducts and pipes that are in the way.

Rational Form of Design

The open building concept is being driven by the Open Prototype, a collaboration between MIT and Bensonwood Homes to build and test various models for open building principles.

“The simple act of disentangling the wiring from the structure and insulation layer allows you to upgrade, change, or replace a 20-year-lifespan electrical system when new technology arises without affecting a 300-year structure,” Bensonwood Homes founder Tedd Benson said to Ecobuilding Pulse. “Open Building provides a more rational form of design and construction that supports long-term sustainability for buildings with increased shell longevity, and more control and flexibility for the homeowner.”

The idea is to ensure that the home of today is ready to adapt to the needs of the tomorrow's homeowners. “We can’t predict what people will need and want in their living environment,” Benson said. “Open Building principles respond to occupants’ changing needs rather than force the occupants to conform to a preconceived design.

High temperatures cause conductors to expand and hence increase in length. The converse is true for low temperature conditions. The change in length varies from one conductor to another depending on its thermal expansivity. The length of copper conductors, for instance, changes by 5 feet per 1000 feet of length when the conductor temperature changes from 100 – 0°, while aluminum changes by about 7 feet. The length increases with increase in temperature and reduces with reduction in temperature.

This increase or decrease in length is of great concern when installing power transmission lines between poles and towers, or when installing other power connectors. There must be an allowance for this change in length since it can cause catastrophes if it’s not there.

Weather changes are associated with increase and decrease in temperature and thus affect power transmission lines and other conductors. However, change in temperature is only one factor that affects power lines. Below are the changes that occur to power lines and other conductors as a result of weather changes:

The amount of heat dissipated from power conductors is reduced during hot and calm weather conditions. Basically, if the temperature of air around the cable is low, more heat is lost from the cable to the air. If the air is already hot, the exchange of heat is lesser. This low heat dissipation causes the lines to overheat. However, the rise in conductor temperature (overheating) worsens when cables are transmitting too much power than required. The first effect of this increased conductor temperature is snagging, which is the downward bulging of the cable between two poles, caused by the increase in the length of cables.

Snagging is largest during extreme hot weather (largest increase in temperature) conditions experienced in summer. The increase in length results to downward bulging of the cable due to the effect of gravity. Excessive sagging is dangerous if it goes below the accepted height clearance – cables could come into contact with trees, buildings and other structures underneath, causing electrocution and fires.

Excessive sagging represent an added weight on the power line and this increase may cause the line to fail or to pull down weak poles and towers. The effects can be small but gradual and so the poles and towers will finally come down or require some adjustment/replacement after some time, which is costly. This sagging can also cause the lines to short out. Excessive sagging is also costly since it leads to increased electrical resistance. This means that a sagged power line transmits lesser current than it normally does, thus causing under-feeding of electrical equipment and industries. It is also costly and time consuming to rectify a sag.

The chandelier used to mark your arrival. Clad in crystal, it met you in the foyer of a well-appointed home, then dazzled you from a power position over the dining room table.

Rarely did you find a chandelier in a starter home. To see them illuminating any room other than one used for entry or dining, more unusual still.

My, how times have changed!

Today chandeliers rate as a brilliant idea just about anywhere — from modest homes to magnificent mansions, contemporary digs to traditional houses. They dangle decorously in almost every room of the house.

Credit our bigger-is-better building boom. Taller ceilings and increased volume in today’s homes means chandeliers are less likely to crowd a room.

“Nine-and-10-foot ceilings almost demand something hanging to fill the space,” says Joe Rey-Barreau, educational consultant for the American Lighting Association (ALA) and assistant professor of interior design at the University of Kentucky. The ALA is a non-profit organization of leading manufacturers, retail lighting showrooms and sales representatives in the U.S. and Canada dedicated to expanding public knowledge about lighting.

Colorful chandeliers create drama in the kitchen. Mini ones provide elegance to powder rooms. Even walk-in closets go upscale when lit with a small chandelier.

“Beyond laundry rooms and garages, any room is an open target for hanging a chandelier,” adds Rey-Barreau. “More commonly, kitchens and bathrooms have become the popular locations for chandeliers.”

Chandeliers add twinkle to a boudier. “People are treating their bedroom suites as more luxurious personal spaces with elaborate bathroom areas, so it is not unreasonable to consider chandeliers there, either,” says Dan Blitzer, Director of Education for the ALA..