Pre-design Phase Research Articles

Developing Independent Living Support for Older Adults Using Internet of Things and AI-Based Systems: Co-Design Study.

The number of older people with unmet health care and support needs is increasing substantially due to the challenges facing health care systems worldwide. There are potentially great benefits to using the Internet of Things coupled with artificial intelligence to support independent living and the measurement of health risks, thus improving quality of life for the older adult population. Taking a co-design approach has the potential to ensure that these technological solutions are developed to address specific user needs and requirements. The aim of this study was to investigate stakeholders' perceptions of independent living and technology solutions, identify stakeholders' suggestions on how technology could assist older adults to live independently, and explore the acceptability and usefulness of a prototype Internet of Things solution called the NEX system to support independent living for an older adult population. The development of the NEX system was carried out in 3 key phases with a strong focus on diverse stakeholder involvement. The initial predesign exploratory phase recruited 17 stakeholders, including older adults and family caregivers, using fictitious personas and scenarios to explore initial perceptions of independent living and technology solutions. The subsequent co-design and testing phase expanded this to include a comprehensive web-based survey completed by 380 stakeholders, encompassing older adults, family caregivers, health care professionals, and home care support staff. This phase also included prototype testing at home by 7 older adults to assess technology needs, requirements, and the initial acceptability of the system. Finally, in the postdesign phase, workshops were held between academic and industry partners to analyze data collected from the earlier stages and to discuss recommendations for the future development of the system. The predesign phase revealed 3 broad themes: loneliness and technology, aging and technology, and adopting and using technology. The co-design phase highlighted key areas where technology could assist older adults to live independently: home security, falls and loneliness, remote monitoring by family members, and communication with clients. Prototype testing revealed that the acceptability aspects of the prototype varied across technology types. Ambient sensors and voice-activated assistants were described as the most acceptable technology by participants. Last, the postdesign analysis process highlighted that ambient sensors have the potential for automatic detection of activities of daily living, resulting in key recommendations for future developments and deployments in this area. This study demonstrates the significance of incorporating diverse stakeholder perspectives in developing solutions that support independent living. Additionally, it emphasizes the advantages of prototype testing in home environments, offering crucial insights into the real-world experiences of users interacting with technological solutions.

A multi-label text classifier: application on an Italian public tender procedure, project ISCOL@

The main means of communication during the pre-design phase is natural language. Effective communication during the pre-design phase through text documents and reports is essential to the success of a design and construction project. The study develops and evaluates a Natural Language Processing (NLP) tool called ArchiBERTo to process textual data related to design tender documents in the Italian public procurement process. Documenti di Indirizzo alla Progettazione (DIPs) are key documents, as they outline the demands, needs, and objectives of the public appointing party. ArchiBERTo is developed to process and convert DIP quality objective sentences into a hierarchy of objectives and criteria. The performances are evaluated by comparing the tool’s rankings with those provided by a group of domain experts. The results demonstrate ArchiBERTo's capability to reflect the collective ability of a panel of experts and to properly reflect the different contents of the DIP in the objectives hierarchy. The proposed system aims to address the issue of information asymmetry and potential misunderstandings, or varying interpretations, among the key actors of the Italian tendering procedure, namely the public appointing party, the design teams, and the external committee, regarding the relative importance of quality objectives and evaluation criteria. The utilization of the NLP systems ArchiBERTo to establish a shared hierarchy of objectives is expected to enhance communication and promote consensus during the pre-design phase. The minimization of the consensus issue among the actors can have a positive impact on the overall quality of the design proposals and facilitate the evaluation process conducted by the external committee, bridging the gap between expected and actual quality, ensuring that design proposals align with the quality objectives and demands of the public actor.

Circular Economy-Related Strategies to Minimise Construction- and Demolition- Waste Generation in Australian Construction Projects

The construction industry in Australia generates a significant amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, necessitating better waste management (WM) practices. This research addresses this issue by investigating CE strategies aimed at minimising C&D waste in Australian construction projects (CPs). Utilising a qualitative approach, the study is based on 20 interviews and four case studies of commercial CPs, analysed through NVivo content analysis. The findings emphasise the need to integrate CE strategies at every CP stage. In the pre-design phase, setting sustainable objectives and engaging stakeholders early is crucial for aligning goals to reduce C&D waste. The tendering process benefits from incorporating WM into contracts, demonstrating early commitment to sustainability. The design phase, through Building Information Modelling and designing for disassembly, offers substantial waste-reduction opportunities. Modular and prefabricated components during the construction phase enhance material reuse and recycling. Operational strategies like regular maintenance and retrofitting extend material lifespan, while selective demolition and digital cataloguing at the end-of-life phase enable efficient material recovery. This highlights the essential roles of policy, technology, and stakeholder collaboration in advancing CE practices, providing practical insights for construction professionals and policymakers to implement CE-related strategies in CPs. The research concludes that adopting CE strategies can lead to significant reductions in C&D waste and improved sustainability in the construction sector.

An Aero Engine Disk Sizing and Weight Estimation Approach with Improved Temperature Profiles

Abstract During the predesign phase of an aero engine, interdisciplinary parametric studies are crucial for identifying an optimum engine. As innovative engine concepts emerge, it is essential to study trends aiming to minimize climate impact and one of its key contributors, fuel burn. The comparatively heavy disks, subjected to high thermal and mechanical loads, are central to this analysis due to their high impact on the overall module mass. This paper proposes an approach to achieve a first lightweight mechanical design of disks in the predesign phase. Based on a performance and aerodynamic baseline, the design space and physical boundary conditions are set. Firstly, an initial mass optimized disk is derived using simplified temperature profiles and stress calculations under the Mechanical Design Point conditions. Subsequently, all the module disks are considered and an estimation for each bore temperature is achieved through a novel loop over the entire module and all available operating points. By evaluating the temperature and stress profiles across various operating conditions, the lowcyclefatigue life of each disk can be studied. As part of a highly modular engine predesign framework, this method allows for zooming capabilities of single disk calculations by prescribing individual boundary conditions. The proposed approach already yields an initial assessment of the rotors within a short runtime, facilitating simple iterations with the succeeding design phases due to method and tool commonalities. While the primary focus of the current work is on compressor design, the principles presented are adaptable and expandable to turbine disk applications as well.

Mechanised deep tunnel excavation in saturated clayey soils: a pre-design hydro-mechanically coupled method for the assessment of both spoil and face volume loss

Mechanised tunnel excavation in soils causes over-excavations, potentially leading to large amounts of spoil and settlements at ground level. An accurate estimation of over-excavations is crucial in the pre-design phase for assessing costs, determining the appropriate excavation method and choosing the muck management strategy. Currently, the estimation is based on experience and data from similar projects, but this becomes difficult when project conditions are heterogeneous. As an alternative, finite-element analyses are time-consuming and not suitable for early design stages; therefore, simplified tools are needed. In this paper, the authors present a simplified approach putting in relation face extrusion with estimated spoil mass and face volume loss. This approach, conceived for deep tunnels, is the extension to the case of mechanised tunnelling of a hydro-mechanical coupled meta-model derived from finite-element numerical analyses for tunnels in clayey soils excavated by using conventional techniques (i.e. without any use of tunnel-boring machines). The model has been validated against field data relative to a case study. The approach can be used in the early design process to identify tunnel-boring machine characteristics and provide preliminary cost estimates. In addition, during the construction phase, the method can be employed to interpret monitoring data and pre-design mitigation measures for unforeseen soil profile variations.

The ‘right’ place to age? Exploring age-friendly and diversity-sensitive design in a super-diverse neighbourhood

The neighbourhood is a significant place for older adults in later life, especially given their strong wish to age in place, pointing to the importance of age-friendly design that accommodates older adults’ changing needs. Moreover, the older population is diversifying, highlighting the additional need for diversity-sensitive design, accommodating older adults’ diverse needs. Considering the importance of public places to age-friendly and diversity-sensitive design, this paper explores design that promotes community connection in an age-friendly and diversity-sensitive manner. To do so, a research-by-design study with master students in (interior) architecture was set up in a super-diverse Belgian neighbourhood. After a pre-design phase that immersed students in the neighbourhood and its inhabitants’ experiences, the students engaged in a design phase. Here, they re-designed various public places in an age-friendly and diversity-sensitive manner. The design output illustrates how various functions and intensities answer the changing and diverse needs of a super-diverse population.

Digitalizing and Greening the Built Environment

The paper investigated issues of greening and digitalizing the built environment with a view to identifying applications of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in it and prospects of smart cities development. The paper adopted qualitative research method, with its design based on archival materials in the subject investigated as contained in the literatures reviewed on it as a mono-method. Google search engine was employed to scout through Google Scholar, Science Direct, among other relevant websites for open-access materials. Qualitative data obtained were subjected to content/thematic analyses. Findings revealed that digitalizing and greening the built environment have great prospects in smart cities development, one of which is the creation of sustainable environment resulting in reduction of carbon emissions from the built environment, lowering of global warming, increase of user participation in buildings and lowering the cost of building lifecycle. Although green building design strategies and digitalization have advanced, full adoption in the built environment particularly in developing nations is required, hence the need to take steps in the right direction. Digitalizing and greening the built environment can enhance the quality of life of people by increasing availability of green spaces, improving air quality, creating healthy living spaces, and reducing pollution levels. The study sensitizes architects, planners, and other designers in considering sustainability and digitalization from predesign phase (incorporating required or special features into the design of future cities, towns, and microenvironments) to postconstruction phase making the environment sustainable.

Co-design of a personalised digital intervention to improve vegetable intake in adults living in Australian rural communities

Diets low in vegetables are a main contributor to the health burden experienced by Australians living in rural communities. Given the ubiquity of smartphones and access to the Internet, digital interventions may offer an accessible delivery model for a dietary intervention in rural communities. However, no digital interventions to address low vegetable intake have been co-designed with adults living in rural areas(1). This research aims to describe the co-design of a digital intervention to improve vegetable intake with rural community members and research partners. Active participants in the co-design process were adults ≥18 years living in three rural Australian communities (total n = 57) and research partners (n = 4) representing three local rural governments and one peak non-government health organisation. An iterative co-design process(2) was undertaken to understand the needs (pre-design phase) and ideas (generative phase) of the target population through eight online workshops and a 21-item online community survey between July and December 2021. Prioritisation methods were used to help workshop participants identify the ‘Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, and Won’t-have or will not have right now’ (MoSCoW) features and functions of the digital intervention. Workshops were transcribed and inductively analysed using NVivo. Convergent and divergent themes were identified between the workshops and community survey to identify how to implement the digital intervention in the community. Consensus was reached on a concept for a digital intervention that addressed individual and food environment barriers to vegetable intake, specific to rural communities. Implementation recommendations centred on i) food literacy approaches to improve skills via access to vegetable-rich recipes and healthy eating resources, ii) access to personalisation options and behaviour change support, and iii) improving the community food environment by providing information on and access to local food initiatives. Rural-dwelling adults expressed preferences for personalised intervention features that can enhance food literacy and engagement with community food environments. This co-design process will inform the development of a prototype (evaluation phase) and feasibility testing (post-design phase) of this intervention. The resulting intervention is anticipated to reduce barriers and support enablers, across individual and community levels, to facilitate higher consumption of vegetables among rural Australians. These outcomes have the potential to contribute to improved wellbeing in the short term and reduced chronic disease risk in the long term, decreasing public health inequities.

Usability test and implications of an activity allocation mapping in complex organizations: perceptions about a software by emergency room agents

PurposeProperly allocating an organization's activities within a building is vital to reducing the relational complexity arising from process–environment interactions. Multiple relationships are mapped, and certain interferences are only identified after these have been processed. The method/software employed for this task is Mapping Activity Environment Allocation (MAEA). However, data input and interpretation of results depend on the usability conditions of the organization's agents. This paper presents MAEA's usability test results.Design/methodology/approachTest sessions and interviews were carried out with seven agents registered at a University Hospital. Participants were instructed to think aloud during its use, and immediately afterward, responded to semi-structured interviews. Test sessions were audio recorded and screen captured.FindingsParticipants found the software easy to use and pointed out valuable implications for professional and academic use. In addition to relationship, priority and parallelism data, customized visualizations were created, including organizational charts, flowcharts and activity flow routes on the floor plan.Practical implicationsMAEA's simplicity allows non-designers to conduct evidence-based assessments and decisions. It allows designers to test their proposals during the programming and outline proposal stages.Social implicationsA more detailed definition of design requirements from the beginning increases the conditions to successfully achieve project goals.Originality/valueThe ability to map the allocation of activity-spaces in the pre-design phase of building architecture allows for early identification of interactions, aiding in the development of more robust project requirements during programming.

Optimal Design of Motor–Pump Parameters for Direct Load-Sensitive EHA Based on Multi-Objective Optimization Algorithm

The electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is a highly integrated and reliable actuation system which has been widely used in aerospace and construction machinery. In addition, the direct load sensitive EHA (DLS–EHA) has been investigated by introducing load-sensitive techniques which can well match the system output and external loads. More importantly, the matching design of motor–pump parameters is an important stage in the pre-design phase of DLS–EHA. For this reason, a multi-objective optimization design method for DLS–EHA motor–pump parameters is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the motor–pump mass and energy loss models are constructed based on similarity criteria. Secondly, the multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm (MOPSO) is used to optimize the design of the motor-pump parameters, and the Pareto frontier solutions of the optimized parameters are obtained. Further, the optimal design parameters are selected on the basis of meeting the actual requirements. Finally, the DLS–EHA prototype is designed based on the optimized design parameters and experimental verification is completed. The results of the study show that the optimized design parameters can meet the design requirements. The design method proposed in this paper provides an important theoretical basis for the optimized design of DLS–EHA.

The pre-design phase in the post-catastrophe intervention process. The case of Chamanga, Ecuador

This article examines the concept of pre-design as a preliminary phase of a research-by-design methodology. The aim is to reveal the importance of this first stage in the development of an architectural project process and to provide new information on the relationships that occur with the rest of the design phases and, ultimately, with the final design result. The research is carried out experimentally through on-site action in a post-disaster environment. The case study took place in the town of Chamanga, Ecuador, after the seismic event of 2016, which required a reconstruction process. The situation was conducive to applying pre-design methods and reflecting on the results. The research results highlight the importance of establishing the criteria for action and how these must be selected based on successive 'observation-projection' iterations. It also shows how the pre-design is already a determining part of the final design due to the decisions taken during the process. This research contributes to identifying the variables and characteristics of a pre-design phase and provides new insights into understanding the architectural project as a research process.

‘I already forgot half of it’ – Interviewing people with dementia for co-designing an intelligent system

ABSTRACT During the pre-design phase of supportive intelligent systems, interviews with future users, such as people with dementia, aim to explore the problems for which technology may present a solution. However, interviewing someone with dementia in this unstructured design phase is reported to be challenging resulting in systems that are not truly addressing the needs of the people with dementia. Existing guidelines on creating engaging interviews are often based on post-hoc reflections of researchers and participants. In this study we performed line-to-line sequential in-depth analyses on transcripts of 10 interviews conducted to co-design an interactive intelligent gaming system. Both interviewers and interviewees were subsequently asked to reflect on their experiences. Results show that information exchange with people with dementia can be supported by carefully constructed questions, well-designed probes, and an appropriate length of the interview. To create a pleasant atmosphere during the interviews, researchers should design the interview as a fulfilling experience, be prepared to respond respectfully to negative responses and be able to adapt to different signs of consent. Improving the engagement with people with dementia during interviews can enhance the design and development of intelligent systems that cater to their unique challenges and requirements.

Evaluation of Landscape Design Using the Gray Relational Analysis Method

Landscape Design in (GRA) Gray Relational Analysis. Landscape designers are often architectural, Civil Engineering, Surveying, Panorama Contract and with related fields such as craftsmanship They cooperate. Two of the design tasks There are distinct professional roles: Panorama Layout and Panorama Architecture. Nature Design is generally an art form and craftsmanship, Horticultural techniques and expertise contains, and final from ideological positions Product up to the best website online engagement asserts. City Planning, Urban and Neighborhood Parks, Civic and institutional landscapes, on a massive scale after completing intermediate tasks and designs Refers to landscape organization contractors. Of the expert depending on understanding, license and experience, two of skills and abilities between roles the composition can be significantly correlated. Landscape Designing GRA (Gray-related analysis) method Alternative: Concept testing model, Analytical synthesis model, Empirical Model, complex cognitive function model, Associations model. Evaluation Preference: Source of ideas, pre-design research Phase, post-construction evaluation phase, problem approach to judgment. shows that from the result it is seen that Approach to problem solving and is got the first rank whereas is the post-construction evaluation phase got is having the lowest rank. The value of the dataset for Landscape Designing GRA (Gray-related analysis) method shows that it results in Approach to problem solving and top ranking.

Analysis of Origami Applications within the Scope of Kinetic Architecture

In the past three or four decades, scientists working in computer science, physics and mathematics have had significant research studies on origami. Currently, most of the articles and books that can be reached by designers or architects describe and deal with the subject through mathematical expressions. It does not seem possible for a reader who is not related to mathematics to understand what is explained in articles and books. Therefore, folding systems have been basically classified to make the subject more understandable for designers. Examples of kinetic architectural products that act with origami principles were evaluated through folding and building hierarchy concepts. The matrix has been generated to visualize the distribution of the characteristics and to display architectural tendencies. By the visualization of data, it becomes possible to examine the potential outputs of desired folding technique on the existing projects. Thus, the matrix guides designers to select a folding technique that meets the function. It can be mentioned that the proposed method can be attributed as a novel perspective for predesign phase of origami-based elements. Thanks to the matrix, the areas that have not been studied in architectural applications such as flexible foldings are demonstrated. Also, the relationship between building concept levels and movement motivations such as configuration and compactness has been revealed by the study. The findings and the matrix demonstrate that there are still many possibilities that can be studied.

Fostering the consensus: a BERT-based Multi-label Text Classifier to support agreement in public design call for tenders

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concerned with allowing computers to process natural human language. NLP is applied to solve several tasks in the design and construction process. However, in scientific literature, no applications are related to the pre-design phase and the processing of quality objectives and needs. The pre-design phase aims to reach a consensus between the stakeholders' quality demands and the design solution, relying on written natural language. Human language is the most pervasive and richest form of human knowledge representation and communication; however, at the same time, it is ambiguous, prone to misinterpretations, and hardly machine computable. Moreover, the mandatory procedural steps of the public tender procedure exacerbate the risk of misinterpretations inherent in using natural language. The study provides a methodology to design, assess, and evaluate an NLP tool based on the latest language model (i.e., BERT) to translate quality demands sentences into an evaluation grid in the Italian public tender context. The methodology is validated against a case study of an educational facility tender. The first results show good accuracy and capability of the NLP system to translate natural language into a numerical grid to support communication and foster consensus among actors, clarifying the appointing party and end-user's objectives to be reached via the design proposals.

Natural frequency prediction of the 3-RPS parallel manipulator using the substructure synthesis technology

AbstractThis paper proposed an elastodynamic modeling method combined with independent displacement coordinates and substructure synthesis technology. Firstly, the connecting rod was discretized, and the elastodynamic control equation for each element was established. The multipoint constraint element theory, linear algebra, and singularity analysis were used to identify the globally independent displacement coordinates of the manipulator. On this basis, the elastodynamic model using the substructure synthesis for the 3-PRS parallel manipulator (PM) was developed, with its natural frequencies distribution in the regular workspace discussed. The comparison with the finite-element results showed that the maximum error of the first three-order natural frequencies was within 1.03%, which verified the correctness of the analytical model. The proposed elastodynamic model included all the kinematic constraints of the manipulator without increasing the Lagrangian multiplier. The method is computationally efficient and assesses the dynamic behaviors of the mechanism at the predesign phase.

Improving infection prevention briefing through predictive predesign: a computational approach to architectural programming by evaluating socioecological risk factors

ABSTRACT This research aimed to use a computational approach to aid infection prevention strategies during the predesign phase of healthcare environment planning. The objective of this study was to decompose and analyze health system catchment area ‘outside design basis factors’ such as demographic, public health, and environmental characteristics that may contribute to infection causing pathogen spread in healthcare environments using state of Florida data as a context for analysis. Supervised Machine Learning methodologies were used to determine relationships between Socioecological System (SES) factors and observed incidence rates of specific Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). Results of the analysis suggest that relevant regional population SES factors, when included as independent variables, can forecast the potential co-occurrence of specific types of HAI in regional health system service areas. Outcomes of the analysis suggest that demographic and regional characteristics are significantly related to the predictive incidence of Antimicrobial-resistant infections in healthcare settings in Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration (ACHA) regions. The outcomes of this research suggest the benefit of using SES computational modeling for decision-making in health system Architectural Programming and predesign. This process allows for manifesting meaningful patterns by applying quantitative methods to analyze patient population characteristics that may influence the prevalence of pathogen spread within the interior environments of healthcare inpatient settings. This information contributes to a deeper understanding of context-specific priorities for operationalizing human-centered Infection Prevention through Design (PtD) infrastructure and planning.

Floor plan recommendation system using graph neural network with spatial relationship dataset

The purpose of this study was to develop a recommendation system that, in the pre-design phase, quickly and easily search adequate floor plans satisfying the client requirements about the spatial relationship type using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In this study using a graph dataset representing the spatial relationship between entities, we propose a deep neural network approach using SimGNN and shallow networks with teacher–student learning to compute graph similarity, measured by graph edit distance, fast and accurately during the search operation in the recommendation system. The prediction errors between the GED score (ground truth) and the predicted score were small enough to employ the neural networks for the recommendation system instead of using GED, which takes a long calculation time. The proposed recommendation systems based deep networks also suggested floor plans satisfying given conditions on the spatial relationship with high accuracy.

Pre-design of collective residential solar districts with seasonal thermal energy storage: Importance of level of detail

Solar districts with seasonal thermal energy storage show great potential in reducing the climate impact of buildings. However, many possible configurations or concepts with different technologies exist for these solar districts. As a result, detailed modelling and simulation of all possible configurations are highly time-consuming and therefore a higher level pre-design phase is often necessary. To limit calculation time, system simplifications are usually applied in this pre-design phase. This paper investigates the effect of two of these simplifications, i.e. fixed coefficient of performance (COP) values for heat pumps and fixed efficiency profiles for solar thermal collectors. In this study, two pre-design methods are developed and investigated, one with the aforementioned system simplifications and one without these simplifications. The methods preliminary size the most important system components and consequently determine the total cost of ownership and CO2 emissions of each concept. Both approaches are applied to a virtual solar district of 50 residential dwellings for which 4 configurations with a seasonal tank storage and two configurations with a borefield storage are identified. Results show that the method with system simplifications underestimates the total cost of ownership of the configurations with a tank storage by 56%, while it overestimates the total cost of ownership of the configurations with a borefield by 9.3% and the average cost of the borefield concepts changes from being 230 thousand euros higher to being 5.44 million euros lower than the average cost of the tank concepts when the simplifications are refined. Adopting the system simplifications thus results in a completely different selection of preferred configurations, and should therefore be avoided when assessing different concepts for solar districts.

Multiphase Project Risk Management on Food Factory Building Construction: Consultant Perspective

This article reports on research on a flour mill factory building construction in Indonesia by investigating the root cause of time overrun in consultant perspective. While numerous risks are identified during the phases of construction project, it is unknown which risk is the primary cause of project delays. To have a better understanding of the optimisation of the risk management and the risk mitigation, a multiphase risk management is proposed, which is divided into four phases, namely pre-design, design, tender and construction. Employing the bow-tie analysis enables a more in-depth examination to identify the risk. From each bow-tie diagram, a detailed risk mitigation table can be formulated and made the response for each risk easier to plan. The probability impact matrix is then used to identify the risk score and to evaluate the risk. This research began by giving questionnaires to 45 qualified respondents. It was found that 45 factors that caused the delay in all phases were divided into nine factors from the pre-design phase, 14 factors from the design phase, 6 factors from the tender phase and 16 factors from the construction phase. As the final step of the risk management process, there are various responses in this research depends on their final assessment based on the scores and the questionnaire results. Factory building construction is quite different from the other type of building construction because machine design also being an important part that affects the structural, architectural, mechanical and electrical aspects.