Artificial Intelligence Software Engineering in Building Engineering

This article provides a review of two main research projects carried out at the French Scientific and Technical Center for Building (CSTB) in the area of artificial intelligence applied to building engineering. We first describe the software engineering techniques used to develop the computer environments. Then we present the architecture of an advanced multiservice computer system offering capabilities comprising retrieval facilities, hypertext editing of documents (e.g., unified codes of practice, regulations), object-oriented database management, and multifunctional expert systems. Finally we discuss a major multiactor computeraided design project aiming to provide a framework able to combine the sundry contributions of the various actors involved in the building design process. The expected results of such projects are a panel of complementary capabilities either aiming at satisfying multiservice requirements for an isolated designer or at providing a single but cooperative and computer-assisted process to different actors. Of course, merging the respective capabilities of these tools is a very promising perspective.