Modelling sustainable and optimal solutions for building services integration in early architectural design : confronting the software and professional interoperability deficit

摘要

Decisions made in the earliest stage of architectural design have the greatest impact on theudconstruction, lifecycle cost and environmental footprint of buildings. Yet the building services, one of theudlargest contributors to cost, complexity, and environmental impact, are rarely considered as an influenceudon the design at this crucial stage. In order for efficient and environmentally sensitive built environmentudoutcomes to be achieved, a closer collaboration between architects and services engineers is required atudthe outset of projects. However, in practice, there are a variety of obstacles impeding this transitionudtowards an integrated design approach. This paper firstly presents a critical review of the existingudbarriers to multidisciplinary design. It then examines current examples of best practice in the buildingudindustry to highlight the collaborative strategies being employed and their benefits to the design process.udFinally, it discusses a case study project to identify directions for further research.