EnerFace : a computer model for integrating energy design knowledge into the design process using hypermedia

Abstract

The study acknowledges the necessity of regarding the user as the center of the energy-based CAAD (computer-aided architectural design) tool design. It concentrates on the design of the user interface and its main concern is to improve the design environment to be more desirable to architects. It begins by discussing the cur-rent limitations and evaluating the existing approaches in meeting the requirements for developing such tools. It presents an extensive theoretical background needed for their development from the human factors and the design points of view. The study provides an illustration and description of the entire architecture of the conceptual model, identifying its different components and explaining the relationships and interactions among these components. Dealing with issues of acquiring and accessing design knowledge in the conceptual stage of the design process is the focus of this research. Thus, the study identifies the necessary types of knowledge needed in this stage, such as general strategies, design guidelines, and rules of thumb, and develops an appropriate access structure for integrating the knowledge bases with the user interface. The study describes a prototype that conforms to the conceptual framework of the model and utilizes the object-oriented programming approach for its implementation. It incorporates a simple sketching tool that supports automatic creation of links between nodes of access and nodes of knowledge. This is achieved by utilizing the capabilities of hypermedia in accessing information (e.g., through the use of buttons embedded in different objects of a building as nodes to access information) and controlling program navigation in a nonlinear way. Finally, it evaluates the prototype based on a conceptual definition of usability that relates to the ease and effectiveness of use. The evaluation criteria includes subjective measures of six factors that operationally define usability. The evaluation procedure instructed ten participants to accomplish a structured sequence of design tasks, using the prototype, then fill in a questionnaire. The helpfulness of EnerFace received the highest score, 93 %; then the ease of use, 91 %. The overall user reaction concept received the lowest score, 82 %. The participants' combined impression about the usability of EnerFace is 88 %.