Creating an information quantum leap in early design phases

The poster will outline the dynamic simulations tools developed in the building industry during the last two decades for integrating knowledge of indoor climate and energy in early phases of a building design and give a brief up date of the present quest to include and integrate information from urban environment climatic conditions, broad multi-­‐criteria sustainability certification in early design phases aiming a.o. at meeting the obligations defined by smart cities challenges.

Civil and Environmental Engineering has special challenges concerning design processes. These design projects are always influenced by their location and the topography (be it natural or manmade), climate, etc. This means that each project is unique and must be viewed in its own right. This reduces the benefits of mass production and standardization that are so heavily emphasized in mechanical design and manufacturing.

This also means that design theories, tools, and techniques cannot be adopted directly from other design disciplines such as product design where different solutions can be developed for each individual or group. The natural environment has dynamic, unpredictable, and sometimes chaotic properties and behavior.

This is more true than ever when considering the challenge of climate change. The requirements and behavior of the human users also vary in time. To meet these challenges, Civil and Environmental Engineering projects must be designed to be flexible so they can adjust for temporary changes in natural or human conditions.

They must also be adaptable so they can evolve with technology, society, and the environment. The recent years, increasing application of renewable energy sources put extreme pressure onto the energy grids and need for demands side management, where buildings play a decisive role in stabilizing the energy demand through e.g. thermal storage in building components.

Design in Civil and Environmental Engineering also defines the reality in which we live, work, and play. Thus, it borders other fields such as architecture, landscape design, and urban planning -­‐ influencing them and being influenced in exchange. The design of sustainable and climate adaptive systems and structures requires a very high level of information in all of the design phases.

Addressing the challenges will require even more information with a better level of integration than is currently available today in either industry or education. Interdisciplinary design methods building on the know-­‐how created during the past 2 decades is at the fore. How can we better integrate the knowledge at hand in Civil and Environmental Engineering in interdisciplinary design processes?