The US Department of Energy's Advanced Energy Design and Operation Technologies (AEDOT) project

Computer technology could be used to help design teams consider energy performance as an integral part of the design process. If this becomes possible, their capability to produce much more energy-efficient buildings without increasing the costs of building design would be enhanced. Recognizing this, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has initiated the Advanced Energy Design and Operation Technologies (AEDOT) project, led by Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The aim of the project is to develop advanced computer-based technologies that will help designer take advantage of these large potential energy savings. The success of the AEDOT project depends largely on our ability to develop energy design-support tools that are integrable into comprehensive building design environments so that all parts of the design process will be supported. This integrability is essential: energy, just one consideration among many in building design, must be considered in a context that includes visual, acoustic, structural, 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 tomore » make informed design decisions. This paper presents an overview of the AEDOT project. It also provides a discussion of the concept for future computer-based design support environments on which the project is based, anticipated data needs, and the role of artificial intelligence and knowledge-based systems in providing the proposed capabilities. The need for integration of diverse tools and data is highlighted. 11 refs., 4 figs.« less