Decision support life cycle analysis system in building design

Life Cycle Costing (LCC) has proven beneficial to building owners. Progress in the application of LCC techniques as an aid to analyzing the economic impact of alternative design decisions in the construction industry has been steady although uninspired. In general, this can be attributed to the inherent complexity of various LCC tasks, the enormous volume of data that must be filtered to obtain information, and the interrelated design decisions made when performing LCC.; The advances made in the field of Management Information Technology can play an important role in enhancing the LCC technique. The recent evolution of Decision Support Systems as computerized decision aids have proven themselves by providing management with substantial quality information. The assumption behind Decision Support Systems is that the use of DSS will increase the effectiveness of decisions and the efficiency of the decision process. Therefore, utilizing such tools with LCC techniques will lead to better decisions during the design phase.; The Decision Support Life Cycle Analysis System (DSLCAS) is used as a prototype tool for investigating the outlined issues. For this reason, and as proof of the concept, the DSLCAS is implemented in the domain of the architectural system of a building. The architectural system of a building constitutes a manageable, yet rich aspect of a building's components which is suitable for demonstration purposes. DSLCAS is intended to be used by both novices and experts in the field of Life Cycle Cost Analysis. The system is designed to perform conceptual, as well as detailed LCC, in addition, it is designed to identify and check the impact of various design decisions upon one another during all stages of the Life Cycle Costing analysis.; The exploratory nature of this study has contributed much more to the features of the practice of LCC and, as a result of this study, many lessons have been learned regarding the design domain and the technology used, as well as the nature of the LCC process and its automation. DSLCAS will not only provide a vehicle for opening up lines of communication between clients and designers for improving construction project investments, but it will also help designers to become more involved in the process of performing better Life Cycle Cost Analysis.