This research is an investigation of the relationship between commercial remodeling and building thermal performance. A computer graphic semiotic is developed to display building thermal performance based on this relationship. Commercial remodeling includes everything from minor tenant improvements to whole building redesign. One type of remodeling, rehabilitation, has flourished in recent years and is the concentration of this research. A distinction is made between rehabilitation and other types of remodeling. such as refurbishment. renovation and rebuilding. Rehabilitation is defined as major changes to a building. either to save the building from decay of structure and services or to extensively modify the building for another use. A trend in the building industry towards increased activity in remodeling has been developing over the last ten to fifteen years. Based on the 1982 Census of Construction. Commercial remodeling accounted for about 10% of all nonresidential construction receipts, representing over a four billion dollar market. This trend. as well as the reasons for the trend and its implications to designers is discussed in this research. The combination of continual maintenance, changes in the federal tax Jaws and an acceptance by commercial tenants to be located in rehabilitated buildings are the major reasons for the trend. The energy crisis of 1973 increased public and governmental awareness of the need for thermally responsible buildings. Therefore. building energy use became a design requirement for architects and engineers. Energy use has special significance for remodeling. Because energy systems (lighting. heating and cooling systems) do not last as long as structural systems. a large percentage of the remodeling cost is associated with the renovation or replacement of these systems. Further. operating costs are of primary concern to owners and tenants. The cost of energy and maintenance of energy systems are large contributors to total operating costs. As with any design element. energy use must be considered at the earliest stages of building design or redesign. This is especially true with a remodeling project. The building's existing lighting. heating and cooling systems must be evaluated as well as the building's structure and space allocation. Only after the relationships between these building characteristics are understood can an appropriate design concept be proposed. The computer graphic semiotic proposed as part of this research is used to develop graphic images as aides in determining the relationship between the building configuration and the building's energy use. The basis for this evaluation is energy cost per square foot for each season. and peak heating and cooling loads in 1000 BTU /hr by building zone (north, east. south, west and core). The images are specifically intended for use during predesign evaluation and early conceptual design. Currently, so called computer design tools produce a multitude of confusing numerical tables and equally confusing graphics such as bar and pie charts. The difference between the proposed semiotic and standard graphic theory is that it is intended specifically for use with a computer and takes advantage of a computer's unique capabilities. Typical computer displays are merely standard print graphics produced by a computer. The proposed system displays quantities and the components that make up the quantities. The quantities in the prototype developed are energy cost and peak loads. Each image, representing each quantity, can be independently evaluated. In other words, no ordinate or abscissa is necessary to compare the values of each quantity. The discussion of the new imaging system is concluded with a proposal for future development where each image is used as an "icon" by the user to be manipulated, stored, or combined with other images. With the use of the computer, and a new imaging system. complex data can be visually ordered in a way as to be quickly interpreted and understood. a necessity during conceptual design. Information is thus transformed into knowledge.
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