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Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
ScienceDirect
Procedia Engineering 208 (2017) 2–7

2nd International Joint Conference on Innovative Solutions in Construction Engineering and

Management: 16th Lithuanian-German-Polish colloquium and 6th meeting of EURO working
group Operational Research in Sustainable Development and Civil Engineering 24 May- 2nd
International Workshop on flexibility in sustainable construction, ORSDCE 2017, 24-26 April
2017, Poznan-Puszczykowo, Poland

Knowledge is the key to innovation in architectural design

Wojciech Bonenberga, Oleg Kaplińskia*

aFaculty
Faculty of Architecture (IAP), Poznan University of Technology, 60-965 Poznan, Nieszawska 13c, Poland

Abstract

Attention is drawn to tacit and explicit knowledge, in particular regarding the functioning of closed scheme
buildings, and integrated designing. Using an example, the significance of A/V shape ratio has been discussed, and
the importance of synergy in multi-aspect design.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility
Peer-review under responsibility of
of the
the scientific
scientific committee
committee of
of ORSDCE
ORSDCE 2017.
2017.

Keywords: architectural design, explicit and tacit knowledge, A/V shape ratio, synergy

1. Introduction

Engineering, innovation and design activities take place in the context of the intellectual-ecological revolution.
It is a revolution (like any other, to a greater or lesser extent) based on knowledge, [1,2].
The revolution is developmental, but what can already be said is that a new term: architectural IQ has become
its derivative. The dynamics of new examples/practical implementations is astounding: [3,4].
An architect, taking this trend on board, confronts not only the need to respect the applicable laws, meeting the
basic requirements of design, but also the need to truly grasp many topics, issues, signalled in Fig. 1; see also [5,6].
It is a tangle of problems; their solving/use brings about the following observation:

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 61 6653260.

E-mail address: oleg.kaplinski@put.poznan.pl

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of ORSDCE 2017.

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of ORSDCE 2017.
10.1016/j.proeng.2017.11.013
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2 Wojciech Bonenberg, Oleg Kapliński/ Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000

An architect should know that it is not enough to have a small office at his/her disposal in order to meet the
requirements indicated in Fig. 1; to cope with all this one needs to have a competent team, use new ways of
organization (e.g., Integrated design), new tools (e.g., BIM).

2. Knowledge is intellectual and creative capital

Fig. 1 shows some of the motifs which result from the architect’s entering the Vitruvian triad or a triad entered
into sustainable development. Both triads are shown in the figure, while the oval marks basic pillars which are
indicators of sustainable development. What ties these threads is KNOWLEDGE, both designer’s and community
knowledge.

ARCHITECT

UTILITAS - FUNCTION - ECONOMICS MACRO ECONOMICS

COMFORT VENUSTAS - FORM - SOCIETY GREEN BUILDING

FIRMITAS - STRUCTURE - ECOLOGY SAFETY DESIGN PARAMETERS

EXPLICITE KNOWLEDGE

SYSTEMS OF THE INVESTMENT

TACIT KNOWLEDGE
REVERSE DESIGN CERTIFICATES OF
PROFITABILITY ENERGY
KNOWLEDGE
GLOCALIZATION INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS
&
ORGANIZATION OF THE PARADIGMS URBAN SPRAWLE
INVESTMENT PROCESS
TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT OF BUILDING
MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS SMART CITY
THERMAL STABILITY OF THE BUILDING
BUILDING INTEGRATED DESIGN STARCHITEKTURA
PHYSICS NZEB
HVAC EU DIRECTIVES OPERATING PARAMETERS CERTIFICATES
EPH +ZEB OF QUALITY
BIM
TIGHTNESS RES TOTAL COST
BUILDING MANAGEMENT LCC
SYSTEMS

CLOSED CIRCUIT OF RESOURCES INTEGRATED MANNER OF DISIGN

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Fig. 1. Architect in the jungle of knowledge - selected items (own arrangement)

From the an architect’s viewpoint (and his design office viewpoint), there are two kinds of knowledge. Formal
(explicit knowledge) and hidden (tacit knowledge). The former is the knowledge obtained, originating from
standards, technical conditions of the design, and may even be obtained from technical specifications. It also
includes design paradigms. The latter concerns the ability of individual creativity, and is used in the design on a
regular basis.
Both types of knowledge are intellectual and creative capital. The architect who is unable to use both these
kinds of knowledge loses - at least - their professional prestige. Nonetheless, knowledge management is also
acquiring knowledge, education (of the architect and society), selection, storage. In the era of digitization, IT
technologies acquire special significance. The scope and amount of knowledge expands in accordance with the
requirements of development and human resources. Hence, the architect and his/her studio should be a learning
organization. It remains an open question whether in contemporary categories it would be a step towards an
intelligent organization?

3. Knowledge and anti-linear design paradigms

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Wojciech Bonenberg, Oleg Kapliński / Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000 3

Among several important design paradigm in which knowledge plays a very important role we mention only
two. The first concerns the changes in functioning of the building from a linear scheme to a closed-circuit scheme -
of course from the point of view of sustainable development. The second paradigm concerns the change in the
manner of design - from linear to integrated.

3.1. Linear vs. closed-circuit scheme

As mentioned before, from an ecological point of view, the scheme of functioning of the building today is an
important paradigm. The designer differentiates between two schemes: linear and closed circuit. In the linear
scheme, a building it is treated as a "place of processing of natural resources into waste." For example, energy is
"transformed" into heat loss, clear water into waste water, fresh air is turned into used air, materials and consumer
goods into classic waste. In the closed circuit scheme, a building can become a more self-sufficient unit rather than a
voracious consumer of energy and all other resources. Much less energy for heating in winter and cooling and
ventilation in summer can be used (some of the energy will be recovered). Part of the water can not only be saved,
but also reused. Generally, a large amount of waste can be avoided at all or used again.
The first step in this direction of designing were passive, low energy buildings. The next step was friendly
buildings - not only to humans but also to the environment. Today we can speak of almost zero-energy buildings,
autonomous buildings and IQ architecture. There are numerous examples of such buildings. The city of Masdar in
the United Arab Emirates is an example of a city autonomous in terms of energy, in addition meeting all other
criteria of sustainable development.

3.2. Linear vs. integrated process of designing

The beginning of the twenty-first century highlighted the need for design paradigm change, from linear
(traditional) to integrated. The linear process is characterized by the breakdown into industry disciplines, joining
successively the implementation of design documentation. In retrospect, it can be concluded that such manner of
design certainly gives the visual (aesthetic) effect but often leads to inefficient energy performance in the resulting
buildings, not to mention high operating costs and dubious environmental impact.

NATURAL BUILDING
LOW-ENERGY CONSUMING

FORM FOR ENERGY

Architecture
IQ
Friendly to
environment Friendly to
man Autonomous building
FORM FOR FUNCTION Buildings low energetically

Buildings sustainable energetically,

passive buildings

HIGH-CONSUMING

Fig. 2. Integration of creative process in approaching the integrated design.

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Wojciech Bonenberg et al. / Procedia Engineering 208 (2017) 2–7 5

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has created a new type of contract, used for the purposes of
implementation (design) of construction projects, known as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), [7].
Integrated Design is an iterative and interactive process, a way of implementation of the entire investment process,
facilitating a creation of a building in a rational manner, balanced in terms of construction costs and operating costs,
in cooperation of the entire project team including an architect, industry representatives, investor, contractor and the
user. Each stage of the design is evaluated using multi-criterion methods, [8,9].
Comparing the two processes of design it is quite clear that the linear process is characterized by a separation
of the creative process, while the integrated design is characterized by the integration of creative processes.
Subsequent stages of integration of creative processes, i.e., moving away from separation of these processes, is
shown in an overview in Fig. 2.

4. Examples of knowledge-based design requirements

In recent years the architect (and other entities of the investment process) has come across with two very
important requirements.
The first one stems from the introduction of strong sustainable policy instruments, such as buildings for close to zero
energy demand. It results from the EU Directive 2002/91/CE amended in May 2010 [10,11]. The point is that after
31 December 2018, all new buildings occupied and owned by public authorities are to be designed/implemented as
buildings with nearly zero energy consumption; while after 31 December 2020 all new buildings have to be
buildings with near zero-energy consumption ("nZEB").
The second very important requirement derives from Directive 2010/31/EU and PN-EN 15459. The
requirement applies to the calculation period of the building (not as of today, but over time). A 30 year calculation
period was introduced with regard to residential and public buildings, and 20 years for residential buildings of a
commercial nature, for commercial use. This forces designers to take interest in concepts such as LCC (Life Cycle
Cost) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and’ above all, costs generated during the operation.
The demand for knowledge of physics of buildings has increased considerably. Only applying physics one can
explain or refute circulating myths and opinions about, e,g., the so-called glass houses (glass architecture), thermos
buildings, breathing of buildings, emitting CO2, leakage etc. Unfortunately, what is needed now is detailed
knowledge of heat and air transfer, moisture sorption, diffusion of water vapour, the role of ventilation, etc. On the
other hand, the point in heat exchange is accumulation mass of the building which facilitates a natural way to
stabilize temperature and humidity.
The architect, in his professional practice, comes accross various conflicts, not only administrative and
substantive, but also with the clients and users. In terms of sustainable development the prime conflict is between
architecture and energy. It is functional and spatial conflict, utility, financial and aesthetic one. The need for
compromise is well known, especially in the relationship between energy criteria - functional and architectural needs
and increasing the insulation of external partitions. A typical, though more detailed conflict is the one regarding a
relationship between the degree of compactness of the building structure (A/V aspect ratio) and homes or offices,
access to natural light, also in self-shading.
It is known that the smaller the value of A/V, the more compact the structure, and less heat is lost.
Unfortunately, in our climate, it is not possible to achieve passive standard for the ratio of the A/V greater than 0.7.
Increasing the A/V ratio by 0.1 means increasing the outer surface of the building relative to cubature and greater
heat loss. In order to compensate for this, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the thermal insulation of the
non-transparent partitions by about 3 cm. (More on this topic: [12]).
It can be seen that in most new developments in Poland this ratio is at a level close to one. This is an unfavourable
value.
Favourable results can be obtained by synergistic actions. Figure 3 shows the possibilities of such actions in the
pursuit of the energy standards defined in the above mentioned European Union Directives (i.e., "nZEB").
Calculations were made for two A/V values, [13,14]. For a lower value, i.e., A/V = 0.41, it is easier to obtain the
desired standard. Synergy consists in reducing the energy demand (this is the evident role of a designer, top icons,
line 1) with the share of renewable energy (bottom icons, line 2). The effect of synergy is particularly evident in
multi-faceted design.
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6 Wojciech Bonenberg et al. / Procedia Engineering 208 (2017) 2–7

1 A/V = 0,75

A/V = 0,41
EPH [kWh/(m2a)]

The reduction of energy demand

EPH = 10
2
The share of renewable energy

Energy standards (EU Directives)

Fig. 3. The role of a designer in approaching energy standards

5. Conclusion

 The boom of the so-called “intellectual and ecological revolution” is visible. As a result, the paradigm of design
changes and, above all, the importance of knowledge grows.
 The division of knowledge into explicit and tacit will remain as it is. Their combination will give rise to
designing autonomous buildings, or even "star" solutions (STARchitecture).
 The full range of knowledge will be used in the case of teamwork, especially in the context of integrated design
and BIM.
 Synergistic activities are particularly useful in the design of sustainable buildings.

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