Extraction and analysis methodology for supporting complex sustainable design

The advent of computer-based tools in design has meant ever larger sets of parameters can be taken into consideration. It also means other factors associated with environmental issues can be considered and increasingly there are legislative requirements to do so. This means increasing demands are placed on designers to create high quality, innovative, sustainable solutions to satisfy many stakeholders. Design by nature is a complex interdisciplinary practice. Managing complexities requires the support of specifically created tools and methods to handle a large number of design parameters. This is particularly true of the built environment where such parameters include the spread of buildings, energy consumption, handling of waste, management of water and transport needs. The paper discusses a methodology that seeks to support the decision making process and design optimization for complex designs, demonstrating an approach for dealing with integrated assessments and optimal design choices. It is based upon automatically studying relations between design parameters so that interdependencies can be obtained, related parameters can be clustered and sensitivities established.