Surveys of Architectural, Electrical, and Mechanical Hardware/Software Use and Needs

Abstract

Army Corps of Engineers designers are continually faced with the need to reduce energy use in new and existing construction while maintaining overall life cycle cost goals. However, designers sometimes experience problems incorporating available energy and economic analysis software into the design process. To help overcome this situation, surveys were administered at Corps-wide Mechanical/Electrical and Architectural conferences to (1) determine designers' software/hardware needs and (2) obtain the designers' opinions of automated products. The survey results indicate that lack of training and lack of hardware/software are the most serious obstacles to full use of computers by designers. Ease of use and quality of training/support are among the chief criteria for selecting computer tools. Standardization of hardware and software is a high priority and poor interdisciplinary coordination interferes with the effective use of computer-aided design and drafting.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA218230

Entities

People

  • Jeffrey D. Morton
  • Linda K. Lawrie
  • William P. Bahnfleth

Organizations

  • Construction Engineering Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Costs
  • Databases
  • Economic Analysis
  • Economics
  • Energy Consumption
  • Engineers
  • Graphics
  • Information Systems
  • Job Training
  • Life Cycle Costs
  • Life Cycles
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Systems Engineering
  • Training
  • Word Processors

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Facility/Structural Engineering.
  • Software Engineering.
  • Systems Analysis and Design