610
Summary: The Systems Approach
612
THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
The clear need for a more rational approach to the design, construction
and alteration of buildings has led to widespread interest in the concept of
systems.
612.1
TERMINOLOGY
612.1.1
THE SYSTEMS APPROACH is a strategy of problem definition and
solution which emphasizes the interaction between problem elements and
between the immediate problem and its larger context, and which
specifically avoids traditional methods of independent or ad hoc treatment
of the various elements.
612.1.2
BUILDING SYSTEMS INTEGRATION is the simultaneous development of
a group of coordinated components, traditionally treated independently, to
improve their combined performance through controlled interaction. Direct
physical integration is not necessarily implied.
612.1.3
A BUILDING SYSTEM is a particular method of design and construction
involving a specific group of coordinated components.
612.1.4
A PROTOTYPE DESIGN is a basic system design establishing the
performance and dimensional limits within which alternative detailed
designs may be produced to accommodate specific conditions at various
times and places. It is not a standardized scheme for identical repetition;
it is a generalized decision process, of which various specific designs are
the products.
612.2
THE BUILDING AS A SYSTEM
There is nothing new about the notion that a building is a collection of
systems: a structural system, a mechanical system, an electrical system,
and so on. What has evolved more recently, however, is the
conceptualization of the whole building as a system, and further, the total
process of building production and utilization as a system demanding a
much higher degree of internal coordination than has been achieved so
far. This internal coordination, or integration, begins with an analysis of
the building into its components and a study of how well each meets its
intended function under real conditions. Of particular interest is how the
characteristics of each component directly or indirectly affect the
performance of the others and of the total building.
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