Maintenance, Retrofit and Operation Decision Support Tool for Both Domestic
and Non-domestic Buildings
F. Fouchal
1
, T. M. Hassan
2
, S. K. Firth
3
1
Dr Farid Fouchal, CBE, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, UK,
F.Fouchal@Lboro.ac.uk
2
Prof Tarek Hassan, CBE, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, UK,
T.Hassan@Lboro.ac.uk
3
Dr Steven Firth, CBE, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, UK,
S.K.Firth@lboro.ac.uk
ABSTRACT
There is great potential for novel decision support tools to aid in the provision
of tailored advice for both domestic and non-domestic buildings. The method
described in this paper will rely on a combination of data from BIM, monitoring
technologies such as smart sensors and performance-based analysis, user behaviour,
and expert knowledge, for the development of a decision support tool for
maintenance, retrofit and operation. It will present the concepts and research work
behind the development of a novel tool to automatically generate maintenance and
retrofit advice at different levels of abstraction taking into consideration the
requirements of different stakeholders, building performance analysis (BPA),
standards guidelines and regulations. Design4Energy (D4E) EU project engaged into
the development of an optimised design methodology, which uses decisions making
tool based on expertise from a combination of different subject fields feed into a
statistical model. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is adopted for the development
of the tool as it uses priority theory which decomposes any complex multi-
dimensional decision making problem into a system of hierarchies. This looks into
the historic type of experiences while predicting the future building performance and
takes into account the operation scenarios and maintenance activities. It logically
incorporates data and expert’s judgement in the model to identify criteria to enables
decision making.
INTRODUCTION
EE is paramount in ensuring the energy security and sustainability of
Europe, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a fundamental
role to play in delivering that energy efficiency (EE) (Barroso, 2011; EU commission,
2009). Among those technologies are smart metering and control in domestic and
non-domestic building, smart grid for energy distribution and dispersed renewable
generation, demand response / demand management and energy balancing within the
neighbourhood. The energy consumed by buildings to maintain their operations
1699 COMPUTING IN CIVIL AND BUILDING ENGINEERING ©ASCE 2014