The Effects of Construction Knowledge on the Automation of Preliminary Building Design

This paper presents an approach to providing an automated decision support system for Preliminary Building Design. It integrates knowledge from different domains, mainly from construction, using Knowledge Based Expert Systems methodology. Given the overall geometric parameters for the building, this approach explicitly incorporates construction knowledge about major building components such as Foundations and Structure, Mechanical and Electrical, Envelope and Roof, and Building Finishings into the early phases of the design decision-making process. An example of its use is presented in the preliminary design of a low-rise commercial building. It is implemented on a mainframe computer using the Design Specialist and Plans Language (DSPL) developed by one of the authors.