INTEGRAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR

"INTEGRAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR INDUSTRIAL COLLABORATION DESIGN OF SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL FLEXIBLE DEMOUNTABLE BUILDINGS" Wim Zeiler 1, Emile Quanjel

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ABSTRACT Starting in 1998 from developing and designing their own office Kropman, a major Dutch Building Services contractor, developed a new methodology for structuring and documenting integral design processes. Integral design is meant to integrate the different disciplines involved in the building design design, this in contrast to integrated design which focus merely on the borderlines between disciplines. To help the design team with the complexity of the design process a design methodology was introduced. This design methodology enables clarification, verification and reproduction of decisions made during designing. The project was called Duflexpronoivatie, Duurzame(Sustainable) flexibele(fexibel) proces(process) innovatie(innovation). A “thinking in levels by functional decomposition” approach improved the design and decision process by structuring it at different levels of abstraction. The newly developed methodology for structuring and documenting integral design processes enabled verification and reproduction of decisions made during designing. Its conscious use by professionals results in iteration cycles within and between their own domains. The gradual emergence of a design language that helps structuring design tasks and solutions further stimulates the multidisciplinary exchange of ideas and concepts. This gradual emerged to a kind of design language that helped structuring design tasks and solutions further stimulates the multidisciplinary exchange of ideas and concepts. Morphological charts were used to write down the ideas and concepts. The design process improved by this approach, which was tested within the professional context. The project was awarded the status of IFD (Industrial Flexible Demontable)- demonstration project by the Dutch government. The design methodology was used within the professional context of the real project. Besides its value for the building design process itself, this methodology directly stimulated application of sustainable energy in the built environment by the use of the morphological overviews which generated all the thinkable possibilities.

KEY WORDS Process innovation, industrial collaboration, planning, building, design methodology.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS The making of the built environment has become complex. In the conceptual design phase, in order to create conditions that assure a built environment that gets better, the ingenuity of the whole design team existing of different disciplines should be used, not only architecture. The quality of the team should be combined with a well considered process of decision making. Techniques are selected and put together by a team in an integral design process. In addition

1 Professor Building Services, Faculty Architecture, Building and Planning, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, [email protected] 2 Dipl.-Ing. Architecture, PhD-student, Faculty Architecture, Building and Planning, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Architect Delft

to the application of proven construction methods, the integral approach demands an attitude of openness and appreciation of the other participating disciplines and their positions. In the planning of their own new office Kropman, one of the major Dutch mechanical and electrical contractors, wanted to show their design and engineering capabilities. It had to be innovative and so they decided to design an office building with a flexible construction and notable use of sustainable energy. To make this possible, they developed a sustainable IFD (Industrial Flexible Demountable) building concept. An IFD-building is seen as a expedient for an optimal useable and efficient building process. The IFD-programme was an joined initiative of the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the Netherlands Ministery of Economoc Affairs. IFD-building is strongly related to ‘Open Building’, based on the ideas of John Habraken (Habraken 1961). Open building is an attempt to integrate industrial building and user participation in housing, but the concept can also used for office buildings. It approaches the built environment as a constantly changing product engendered by human activity, with the central features of the environment resulting from decisions made at various levels. The levels which usually are distinguished are the level of city structure, urban tissue, support and infill. Open building entails the idea that the need for change at a lower level such as the dwelling, emerges faster than at upper levels, such as the support. Open building aims at a situation where decisions made on upper levels leave the contents of the decisions to be made al lower levels open. This approach makes it possible to combine and to develop different kind of aspects in interaction to each other. As often such new ideas take a long time before being implemented. The Osaka Gas NEXT 21 Project in Shimizudani, Tennoji-ku, Osaka City, Japan, realized in October 1993 is a very nice example of the realisation of the open building approach, see figure 1.

Figure 1: NEXT project interesting realization of the ideas of Open building

Open building is primarily intended as an organized way of responding to the demands of diversity, adaptability and user involvement in the built environment. In open building the built environment is approached as a constantly changing product engendered by human action, with the central features of the environment resulting from decisions made at various levels. A central idea in Open Building is to respond to the various needs of individual users through the phasing of the design and implementation process. In order to provide prospective occupants with the opportunity to influence their building, the elements decided by the occupants must be easy to change. Thus adaptability is not merely a means for modifying the dwelling during use; it is first and foremost a strategy for enabling the fulfillment of individual wishes without compromising. Thinking in levels is the basic Open Building principle.

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To meet the challenges of Open building design a methodology has been developed by us with help from TNO Bouw. Not only the building to design but also the design process itself became a topic of study. The results of this new approach are called “Duurzaam Flexibele Proces Integration” – sustainable flexible process innovation. The “thinking in levels” approach of Open building was introduced to improve the design and decision process by structuring them at different levels of abstraction. At each level in the design process different decisions have to be taken. One of those decisions is the application of sustainable energy systems and components. However this is rather complex to integrate in the early stages of building design as many aspects have to be taken into account. During the design process participants and their decisions are structured at several levels of decision-making; the infilllevel, the support-level and tissue-level. On each level there has to be made a balance between the performance of supply and demand for the building during the life-cycle. Instead these sustainable energy systems and elements are often added during the final design stages. This results in sub optimal solutions and often leads to complete rejection of proposals to use sustainable energy systems and components at all. At the early design stages, usually only conceptual sketches and schematics are available, often rough and incomplete. Architects tend to develop their designs in a drawing-based, graphical way (prototypes are used to investigate the design concepts). It is important to mention here that (building) design is a creative process based on iteration: it consists of continuous back-and-forth movements as the designer selects from a pool of available components and control options to synthesize the solution within given constraints. As the design proceeds, more information and detail will be developed. By the dichotomy of this design process at the early stages of design there is little information, even though nearly all the important decisions have to be made at this time, as fig. 2 ( den Hartog 2003) shows. High

Influence/information contradiction

Design information

Influence/information Kropman

High

Design information

Influence

Low

time Requirements Conceptual

Preliminary

Final

Principal

Influence

Low

time Requirements

Conceptual

Preliminary

Final

Principal Kropman

Architect

Architect van den Broek & Bakema

Structural consultant BS consultant

Structural consultant Aronsohn BS consultant Kropman

Figure 2: Influence / information contradiction at the early stages of design (den Hartog 2003) and influence/ information within the Kropman project

As a mechanical contractor Kropman is normally only confronted with the resulting end quality of a design process. Problems emanate from a lack of integration between architectural design and design of indoor climate. Building Services consultants have difficulties adapting their methodical and arithmetical way of working to artistic and intuitive characteristics of architectural design. To a slightly lesser degree, the same applies to structural consultants. This notion of 'professional enmity' is not as insurmountable as it may seem( den Hartog 2003). Designing their own office gave Kropman the opportunity to approach the design process at a different stage, see figure 3. As principal of their own office, they used the design process to

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investigate the influence of introducing knowledge of building services consultants into the early conceptual stages of the design process. Furthermore, even at the requirements stage of the design process the influence of the building services consultant could be effective. During the process there was a strict focus on implementing sustainable energy solution and their optimal integration with the construction of the building.

INTEGRAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY The idea of the participants was that, by optimising the design process, fewer mistakes will occur and fewer unnecessary costs will arise. The project had to unfold ways to investigate and implement an integral approach for building design. This integral approach encompasses the built environment from initiative to design, construction and real estate management as a seamless whole. This seems to contradict with the subdivision of the construction industry in phases, in which parties operate with opposing interests, resulting in disintegration and waste. The coordination of these independent phases, scales, decision-makings and disciplines are crucial to the creation of a built environment in which the people concerned feel comfortable. This is the core of the integral approach. Integral design is meant to overcome, during design team cooperation, the difficulties raised with the early involvement of consultants. This is achieved by providing methods to communicate the consequences of design steps between the different disciplines on areas such as construction, costs, life cycle and indoor climate at early design stages. The aim is to support all disciplines with information about the tasks and decisions of the other disciplines. Supplying explanation of this information will improve understanding of the combined efforts.

ABSTRACTION When attempting to integrate sustainable energy aspects into design decision-making, the process must identify opportunities of sustainable energy. Instead of developing new design methods, this research study attempts to utilize existing architectural design characteristics and decision making for the introduction of sustainable energy – resulting in good building designs. This implies defining a methodology that acts as a bridge between architectural elements, such as shapes and materials on the one hand, and sustainable energy use together with the aspects of indoor climate issues such as overheating and ventilation on the other. During design support, it is important to transfer the essentials of the proposed structures and mechanisms, without overloading other member of the design team with unwanted details. This information control can be achieved by use of abstraction. So far, many building teams have been sending their partners detailed drawings, thus relying on the addressees to make the necessary abstraction themselves. With the increasing use of product information models, it is now possible to incorporate multiple abstraction levels in the design representation. Abstraction is the mapping from one representation of a problem to another, which preserves certain desirable properties and reduces complicity (Giunehiglia et.al 1997). Abstraction is the selective examination of certain aspects of a problem. The goal of abstraction is to isolate those aspects that are important for a particular purpose and suppress those aspects that are unimportant (Rumbugh et.al 1991). This enables representations to take an appropriate (abstract) form that matches the needs of the design specialist, thus saving much time and confusion. Throughout the different levels of abstraction, the description of the building design gradually becomes more and more detailed. The various levels of abstraction should be considered as representations of a particular view on the total information available for a design. This integrated design model must: • be able to distinct related information,

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support distinctions related to the different levels of abstractions (views) by being structurd into corresponding sub-models, • ensure the satisfaction of consistency and completeness constraints linking different levels of abstraction in the design process. Design, as a solution-evolving process, involves activities of searching, analysing, manipulating and structuring information about the problem to be solved. Generating new information, and evaluating and communicating information are major activities within the process. Design normally has a very dynamic nature, with a tendency to ad hoc actions, which should be supported by design aid systems. Design is the key discipline that brings systems into being. In the engineering sciences, a lot of approaches have been developed to structure and optimise design processes: concurrent engineering, value engineering, design for manufacturability, systems engineering, quality function deployment, strategic design, etc. To develop our required model of design support, an existing model from the mechanical engineering domain was extended: Methodical Design (van den Kroonenberg 1978, de Boer 1989, Blessing 1994). The methodical design process can be described at the conceptual level as a chain of activities which starts with an abstract problem and which results in a solution. The original methodical design process is extended from three to four main phases, in which eight levels of functional hierarchical abstraction, stages can be distinguished. A feature of our extended model of Methodical design, Integral Design, is the occurrence of a four-step pattern of activities in each stage, see figure 3. •

Methodical design model cycle generating 1

Goal

designer

synthesizing

need/ functions

2 designer

shaping

function structure

3 designer

(detailed)

design

Originate from mechanical engineering domain; by Van den Kroonenberg

Integral design model cycle generating 1

Goal

designer

need/ functions

synthesizing

selecting

2

3

designer

function structure

designer

shaping

design concept

4 designer

(detailed)

design

Adapted for building services design and engineering domain; by Zeiler

Figure 3: Comparison between system theory and methodical design

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FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION In order to survey solutions, engineers classify them according to various features. This classification provides the means for decomposing complex design tasks into problems of manageable size. Decomposition is based on building component functions. This functional decomposition is carried out hierarchically so that the structure is partitioned into sets of functional subsystems. Decomposition is carried out until simple building components remain whose design is a relatively easy task. This like the decomposition which is described in VDI 2221 (Beitz 1985), and can also be seen in Architecture e.g. an example by Herzog de Meuron, the Olympic Stadion of Beijing, see figure 4.

Figure 4: Decomposition of problem and fitting to solutions according to VDI 2221(Beitz 1985)

Hierarchical abstraction implies the decomposition of information into levels of increasing detail, where each level is used to define the entities in the level above. In this sense each level forms the abstract primitives of the level above. These higher-level terms form condensed expressions of a given relational and/or operational combination of primitives from the level below. Sets of generic components are located at distinct levels of abstraction. The contents of the layers are based on the technical vocabularies in use, technology-based layers or levels. Each layer represents an abstraction of the levels below. For a more extensive description of the models that formed the basis for the notion of technology-based layers (Alberts et.al 1992, Alberts 1993). The technology-based layers can be combined with the abstraction levels from the Integral Design methodology. The method/contents matrix, represents the recursion of the design steps of a design process from high abstraction level to lower abstraction levels and is now combined with the technology-based layers, see fig. 5.

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Design activities; steps

Design issues

Abstraction level stages Need

generate

synthesize

select

shape

Descripe needs goals etc.

Compose problem description

Select problem description

Task to fulfill

Design problem

List demands, requirements, wishes

Structure and quantify list of requirements

Determine programme of requirements

Specification

Functional specification

Determine functions to be fulfilled

Combine functions to function block diagram

Select best function diagram

Function structure

Process level

Physical solution process

List various physical processes

Arrange according to importance

Select most feasible working principles

Principle solution

Conceptual design stage

Module structure

Generate combinations of working principles

Arrange compatible combinations

Select most promising combinations

Structure

Prototype structure

Sketch lay-out of the selected structure

Vary lay-out by mixing moving fusing etc.

Select preliminary lay-out optimum

Preliminary form

Engineering aspects

Generate different forms

Vary form

Select best form

Definite form

Material properties

List possible materials

Make alternatives with different materials

Select material

Product

Stages Problem definition stage

Information level Functional design stage

Component level

Detail design stage

Part level

Figure 5: Method/contents matrix combined with technology-layers In the matrix stages can be found as well as the four-step pattern of activities. The design process can be looked upon as working one’s way through the matrix cells from left to right and from top to bottom, step after step. By doing so the different levels of abstraction from upper levels to lower levels are slowing getting shape, and the combination between the principles of Open building and Integral Design is made see fig. 6. E.g. on the city structure level the urban tissue can be seen as an interwoven or interrelated number of buildings forming a kind of an organism of an aggregate of buildings (cells) having a simulate structure and function.

Need Different levels of functional abstraction Design Brief

Programme of demands Built environment

Building

Floor

Room

Workingplace

User

Solution

Figure 6: Abstraction levels of Integral Design and Open Building Besides the framework of the design matrix for structuring the design process there is one distinguished tool which is used within the Integral design method; morphological overviews.

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TOOL WITHIN INTEGRAL DESIGN Morphological overviews (Zwicky & Wilson 1967) can be used to generate alternatives in a very transparent and systematic way, see figure 7.

Figure 7: Morphological overview The morphological approach has several advantages over less structured methods, it may help to discover new configurations, which may not be so evident and could have been overlooked. It also has definite advantages for scientific communication and for group work (Ritchey 2002). The building to be designed takes a central place in thinking of the design team.

RESULTS During the design process of the Kropman building, students of the Technical High School Rijswijk and young high-potential engineers from Kropman worked together on subinvestigations on specific building aspects. The studies of the students on specific building aspects, led to morphological views for reduction of energy demand and to maximize application of sustainable energy. The application of new innovative construction products and methods in this project demonstrated their potential; and the project reached the status of a demonstration project within the IFD programme of SEV (Stichting Experimentele Volkshuisvesting (Groenedijk et.al. 1999), see figure 8.

Figure 8 : Conceptual Design Kropman Utrecht office and final result

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FOLLOW-UP Besides designing the Kropman project, one of the design team members was chairman of the steering committee Climate technology of the TVVL ( Dutch Society for Building Services). During this period he was asked questions about the investigation of problems concerning comfort and health in buildings. Instead of treating them with an ‘end of pipe solution’ approach, where only the effect is treated and not the cause, the real source of the problems was investigated. These problems resulted from mistakes made during the design process, so it was logical to investigate the design process itself. The parallel between the activities within the Kropman design process and the TVVL activities led to a combined effort. The architect and building services consultant of the Kropman project took the initiative to get in touch with the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) and Delft University of Technology (TUD). From 2000 till 2003, BNA, TVVL and TUD participated in the research project Integral Design. The methodology of Integral design in combination with the workshops is used in the education program at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven and was tested in workshops for students and for professionals from the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) and the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers (ONRI). Well over 200 professionals participated in these workshops “Learning by doing”.

CONCLUSION “It is impossible to teach somebody something; one can only assist him in finding it within himself.” Galilei Galileo (1564-1643) It is necessary during design team cooperation to overcome difficulties raised by lack of information and lack of knowledge. By structured early involvement of consultants in the conceptual phase of design it is possible to largely resolve the influence/information contradiction at the early stages of the design process. Aim is to support all disciplines with information about the tasks of the other disciplines. Supplying implicit explanation through structuring this information will improve understanding of the combined efforts. Morphological overview is a tool to structure the information and communication between the different design disciplines in the conceptual phase of the design process. Integral Design methodology makes it possible to work in a structured and transparent way using the framework of the Integral design matrix. It is for the designer to make decisions about which elements of the design method matrix he wants to use. Integral Design should not be considered as a recipe for all processes, but it is a good recipe to learn cooking. Gradually designers will modify the method they use and improve it. Integral Design should be a set of rules with which designers can start, as well as improve upon. The need for an integral approach of the sustainable design of a building and its building services systems, such as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems is strongly felt. Methodical design is proposed as a theoretical basis for design of the building and its building services systems. Design is viewed as a problem-solving activity in which functional reasoning is central. The benefits of methodical process design strongly depend on the experience of the design team members with the approach and its tools. To support architects more effectively with their tasks, integral design methodology for conceptual design proves to be helpful. If used together with necessary feedback within a framework of building design workshops, it will increase consciousness of sustainable energy characteristics of conceptual design. This approach was tested in various workshops with experts from the various disciplines.

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Transforming a design methodology such as the domain-independent design theory of Open building to a specific multi-disciplinary approach will help to construct a bridge between architecture and building services. We think that the proposed Integral Design methodology is a possible solution to bridge the gap between design theory and daily practice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TVVL, BNA and TU Delft have supported the Integral Design project. KCBS, Kropman bv and the foundation “Stichting Promotie Installatietechniek (PIT)” support the new research.

REFERENCES Alberts L.K., 1993, YMIR: An Ontology for Engineering Design, PhD-thesis, University of Twente, Enschede. Alberts L.K., Wognum P.M., Mars N.J.I., 1992, Structuring Design Knowledge on the basis of Generic Components, Artificial Intelligence in Design, J.S. Gero (e.d.) Kluwer Academic Publ., 1992. Beitz W., 1985, Systematic Approach to the Design of technical systems and products, VDI 2221 0 Entwürf, VDI, Düsseldorf Blessing L.T.M., 1994, A process-based approach to computer supported engineering design. Dissertatie Universiteit Twente. Boer S.J. de, 1989, Decision methods and techniques in methodical engineering. Dissertation Universiteit Twente Giunchiglia F., Villafiorita A., Walsh T., 1997,Theories of abstraction, A.I. Communications 10 (1997), ISSN 0921-7126. Groendedijk P., Vollaard, Vos H., IFD-bouwen 1999, SEV Rotterdam january 2000, ISBN 905239-158.0 Habraken, N.J., 1961, De dragers en de mensen, Haarlem Hartog J.P.den, 2003, Designing indoor climate, a thesis on the integration of indoor climate analysis in architectural design, thesis manuscript dated 01/09/2003, Delft University Kroonenberg H.H. van den, 1978, Methodisch Ontwerpen (WB78/OC-5883), University of Twente, (dutch). Ritchey T., 2002, General Morphological Analysis, A general method for non-quantified modeling, 16th EURO Conference on Operational Analysis, Brussels 1998. Rumbaugh J., et.al., 1991, Object – Oriented Modeling and Design, Prentice – Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Zwicky F., Wilson A.G. (eds.), 1967, New Methods of Thought and Procedure. Contributions to the Symposium on Methodologies, May 22-24, Pasadena, New York Springer Verlag

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