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Building fa��ades are Engineer-To-Order (ETO) products and, as such, they show unique features on a project-by-project basis. The partitioning of design tasks during the design and manufacturing process of these products, however, does not fully capture how specific design decisions influence other stakeholders��� choices. This lack of design integration is most severe at early stages when a large proportion of initial costs, mostly driven by manufacturability aspects, is determined. This paper illustrates a methodology to build Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) applications to support early-stage design integration through the development of a fa��ade Product Model for automatic rule checking and knowledge reuse. The main outcome is a preliminary framework for developing knowledge-based, digital tools to support and integrate fa��ade design as well as different scenarios in which the tool can potentially be used, based on two types of procurement methods. A prototype of the tool is also shown here. The paper proposes a new paradigm where fa��ade systems are considered to be more closely related to Make-To-Order types, rather than ETOs, in which the product is ready for fabrication and designers can rapidly explore the subcontractor���s manufacturing capabilities and the implications of their design choices. Future work will include tool validation by applying the tool into a specific fa��ade manufacturer���s workflow., Journal of Facade Design and Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 2 (2017): Special Issue ICBEST Istanbul

The use of prefabricated façades provides a timely means to increase efficiency in the delivery of buildings, while maximising the expected environmental service performance. In order to achieve high performance and low cost, these products require manufacturability and supply chain knowledge to be integrated earlier than usual in the design process. Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) applications can potentially fulfil this need by providing a digital Product Model that informs designers about manufacturability aspects and expected performance. This paper explores the currently-available digital tools, as well as KBE and its applicability in façade design. It is first demonstrated that there is a fundamental gap in state-of-the-art digital tools: rather than integrating design principles and manufacturing constraints, existing and emerging tools continue to focus on single-disciplines with no consideration for the actual manufacturing stage. The applicability of KBE is then evaluated by reviewing the current use of this approach in the building and other industries, namely, aerospace and shipbuilding. It is found that, although KBE is rarely used in facade design, there are significant opportunities for it to be applied in this sector, due to the similarity in terms of design tasks and priorities with the two other industries reviewed in this paper.