Intelligent computing for building performance analysis

Abstract

A challenge towards the intelligent use of computing in civil and architectural engineering is the definition of the questions that the ICT technology has to address. To some extent this is implicitly covered by activities such as the definition of search and option spaces, development of model views, the specification of objective functions, definitions of ontologies, or the development of multi-criterion decision methods. However, the underlying needs and drivers of design, construction and facility management processes of buildings are hard to capture, while they are essential to effective use of computing techniques. This paper reviews the starting point for intelligent computing within the domain of building performance analysis. It explores how approaches from the field of requirement engineering may help to support proper definition of computational needs, while embedding computational analysis efforts within the wider context of assessment approaches that are available in the building domain.