An expert system has been constructed for the purpose of assisting in the design and analysis of direct gain passive solar environments. This system has been constructed for the use of senior undergraduate architecture students in a computer-based design studio. The primary use of the system is in the role of an educational tool which generates design recommendations from user input and predicts some physical characteristics of the environment.The system is applicable to passive solar environments with vertical, south-facing glazing. The system incorporates three models. The first model represents an attached sunspace with no thermal mass storage. The second model represents a direct gain living space. The third model represents a direct gain living space integrated with thermal mass storage. The third model allows the use of floors, ceilings, and walls as mass for thermal storage. Four representative mass materials (concrete, adobe, common brick, and dense concrete masonry) have been included for comparison purposes. Four representative sub-climates are also incorporated into the system: cold / arid, hot / arid, hot / humid, and cool / humid. For educational purposes, the system makes separate calculations for identical structures based on models for inhabited and uninhabited cases.The system incorporates scientific and mathematical relationships as well as rulesof thumb which have demonstrated their applicability to passive solar design. The system performs calculations based on work by Balcomb, et al. [5, 9], and Duffle and Beckman [1], to estimate environmental temperature swings, total solar energy input, and thermal absorption by mass storage elements. The system also utilizes models based upon work by Mazria [4] to recommend glazing areas. Recommended glazing areas are calculated from user input variables such as structure type, site latitude, and floor area.The system's ease of use allows it to be adapted for various classroom goals, and its generalized nature permits the instructor to adapt it easily into different areas of architectural design curricula. The system is written for use with the CLIPS expert system shell. / Department of Physics and Astronomy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/185435 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Bower, Jeffrey R. |
| Contributors | Cosby, Ronald M. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | x, 93, [6], 40 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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