Task 05-12. Development of a Knowledge-based Resources Management System for Indoor Environmental Quality and Building Technology

Objective

Web pages and databases are routinely created during the progress of most research projects. However, most web sites serve only to highlight projects and as limited data repositories. The utility of web sites become diminished with the conclusion of the project. Since the information concerning IEQ concepts, energy management, and building technologies and research is growing at an astonishing speed, an interactive resources management system with instant knowledge feedback and the capability of expansion would be extremely beneficial for both researchers and related industries. During the first-year National Center for Energy Management and Building Technology (NCEMBT) projects (Tasks 1 to 3) a thorough development framework that includes energy management (EM), building technology (BT) and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) surveys, physical and biological measurements of building, experimental work with data analysis, and IEQ modeling/simulation was initiated. Integration of such complicated research identities into one system with the capability to effectively access resources can be challenging. Such a system can be continuously expanded through the inputs from a variety of research institutes. The integrated effort for implementing such system will be significant and will provide valuable information to industry, governmental agencies, and researchers. The major missions of the NCEMBT are to provide information repository, analytical tools and educational outreach programs to the community. The database developed from the resource management system can definitely provide an electronic information repository to end users. The design of the front-end modules (or analysis tools) attempts to organize, manipulate and report data and information with a more systematical approach.

Through the classification algorithm development, information from NCEMBT projects across all tasks will be modularized and dissected into categories. Each category will be further classified into levels depending on their hierarchies. Such classification can provide strong data assimilation and reusability. Module accessibility is designed to be controlled by the complete user right definition. The system will integrate and organize all available information under designated repositories and presented based on a customized user definition. That is, researchers, governmental agencies, and industrial personnel can query different levels of data resources from the same repository. The users can also access the same data sources with customized formats (tabulated or charted). Therefore, general web development and database design can be minimized. The system will have three major compartments, database (MS SQL Server or equivalent database system), web-based access (Active Server Pages (ASP.NET) or equivalent package), and analysis tools. Emphasis will be put on the analysis tool design and knowledge utilization (search engine design).

Major Sub-awardees

This project is being executed by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Principal Investigator is Hsuan-Tsung (Sean) Hsieh, Ph.D.
This project was initiated October 1, 2005 and will be completed in 12 months.