An Expert System for Determining Compliance with the Texas Building Energy Design Standard

Abstract

Demonstration of compliance with the Texas Building Energy Conservation Design Standard involves completion of a summary checklist for each of its sections. This manual checking is tedious. Furthermore, no comprehensive documentation of the user's compliance is provided and the compliance checker must manage the data collected. To assist designers in complying with the Standard and to reduce the time required, the Center for Energy Studies (CES) at the University of Texas at Austin has developed an expert system to serve as both the compliance procedure and its documentation. This expert system directs the user with queries (screen menus), prompting the user for all relevant information. A graphical user interface has been developed to facilitate quick navigation through the Standard, easy data entry, and identification of compliance failures. This paper describes the research approach to the expert system, the system features, current status of project, and the benefits to be derived from this innovative compliance tool.