Engineering assessment made easy: the 'Energysave' approach.

Whilst naturally ventilated buildings are currently considered to be the ideal solution to low energy design there remain a large proportion of buildings for which air conditioning offers the only practical solution. This project is intended to provide a means to assess design options for such buildings at a very early stage in the design and in particular address the selection of the most appropriate system. The form of the interface is still developing and while it has been demonstrated to designers no third party tests have yet been carried out. This paper reports on a project that aims to show that a general description of the building can be used to generate sufficient data to drive a valid analysis using a detailed thermal model at the early sketch stage of the design process. It describes the philosophy, methodology and the interface developed to achieve this aim. The interface guides the user through the input process using a series of screens giving options for keywords used to describe the building; comprehensive default data built into the software are then attached to these keywords. The resulting data file is a building description that is the best possible interpretation of the design intent. This can then be used to assess options and guide towards a final design

Computer optimization of the thermal design of buildings

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D173008 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Computer visualisation as a communication tool in the construction industry

Computer visualisation tools offer good visualisation capabilities that cannot be achieved rising traditional methods, such as 2-0 drawings. Design details are not always simple arid easy to understand. Builders may spend considerable time on interpreting difficult or complex details in a drawing; this could result in buildability problems. Computer visualisation tools have considerable potential to improve this aspect of construction. However, their use is still at present limited and not fully understood. This paper presents an ongoing research project demonstrating the possible rise of computer visualisation as a communication tool for design information and to support collaboration between construction participants (designers and contractors). An industry. survey has been conducted to investigate the current use of computer visualisation in the construction industry. A summary of the survey results is presented in this paper and the outline features of a new visualisation tool is presented

IT implementation in the construction organization

Organizational issues are inhibiting the implementation and strategic use of information technologies (IT) in the construction sector. This paper focuses on these issues and explores processes by which emerging technologies can be introduced into construction organizations. The paper is based on a case study, conducted in a major house building company that was implementing a virtual reality (VR) system for internal design review in the regional offices. Interviews were conducted with different members of the organization to explore the introduction process and the use of the system. The case study findings provide insight into the process of change, the constraints that inhibit IT implementation and the relationship between new technology and work patterns within construction organizations. They suggest that (1) user-developer communications are critical for the successful implementation of non-diffused innovations in the construction industry; and (2) successful uptake of IT requires both strategic decision-making by top management and decision-making by technical managers