SYSTEMS DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

                                 SYSTEMS DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
Systems design comprises a logical series of steps that leads to the best decision
for a given set of conditions. The procedure requires:
Analysis of a building as a system.
Synthesis, or selection of components, to form a system that meets specific
objectives while subject to constraints, or variables controllable by designers.
Appraisal of system performance, including comparisons with alternative systems.
Feedback to analysis and synthesis of information obtained in system evaluation,
to improve the design.
The prime advantage of the procedure is that, through comparisons of alternatives
and data feedback to the design process, systems design converges on an
optimum, or best, system for the given conditions. Another advantage is that the
procedure enables designers to clarify the requirements for the building being designed.
Still another advantage is that the procedure provides a common basis of
understanding and promotes cooperation between the specialists in various aspects
of building design.
For a building to be treated as a system, as required in systems design, it is
necessary to know what a system is and what its basic characteristic are.
A system is an assemblage formed to satisfy specific objectives and subject to
constraints and restrictions and consisting of two or more components that are
interrelated and compatible, each component being essential to the required performance
of the system.
Because the components are required to be interrelated, operation, or even the
mere existence, of one component affects in some way the performance of other
components. Also, the required performance of the system as a whole, as well as
the constraints on the system, imposes restrictions on each component.
A building meets the preceding requirements. By definition, it is an assemblage
(Art. 1.1). It is constructed to serve specific purposes. It is subject to constraints
while doing so, inasmuch as designers can control properties of the system by
selection of components (Art. 1.9). Building components, such as walls, floors,
roofs, windows, and doors, are interrelated and compatible with each other. The
existence of any of thee components affects to some extent the performance of the
others. And the required performance of the building as a whole imposes restrictions
on the components. Consequently, a building has the basic characteristics of a
system, and systems-design procedures should be applicable to it.