AEDOT technology. [Advanced Energy Design and Operation Technologies (AEDOT)]

Most commercial buildings designed today will use more energy and cost more to operate and maintain than necessary. If energy performance were considered early in building design, 30% to 60% of the energy now used in new commercial buildings could be saved cost-effectively. However, most building design teams do not adequately consider the energy impacts of design decisions to achieve these savings; the tools for doing so simply do not yet exist. Computer technology can help design teams consider energy performance as an integral part of the design process. This technology could enable designers to produce much more energy-efficient buildings without increasing the costs of building design. Recognizing this, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated the Advanced Energy Design and Operation Technologies (AEDOT) project, led by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). The aim of the project is to develop advanced computer-based technologies that will help designers take advantage of these potentially large energy savings. The success of the AEDOT project depends largely on the ability to develop energy design-support tools that can be integrated into comprehensive building design environments so that all parts of the design process willbe supported. Energy, just one consideration among many in building design, must be considered in a context that includes visual, acoustic, and structural aspects; accessibility; thermal comfort; indoor air quality; cost; and other factors associated with the quality, acceptability, and performance of a building. Advanced computer-aided design support environments will need to integrate tools from many different domains and provide access to the vast amounts of data that designers need to apply these tools and to make informed decisions.