Method for Conceptual Design Applied to Office Buildings

The paper presents a computer-based method for the multicriteria conceptual design of engineered artifacts. The proposed method involves genetic-based stochastic search, Pareto optimization, and color-filtered graphics. A multicriteria genetic algorithm broadly searches the governing body of design knowledge and identifies Pareto designs that are equal-rank optimal in the sense that each is not simultaneously dominated for all objective criteria by any other feasible design. Computer color filtering of the Pareto-optimal design set creates informative graphics that identify trade-off relationships between competing objective criteria, as well as design subsets having particular designer-specified attributes. Much of the paper is devoted to presenting a detailed illustration of the method for the cost-revenue conceptual design of high-rise office buildings, including several examples.