The Concept of Expert System Supporting the Increase of Energy Efficiency in Buildings

This chapter describes the concept of an expert system supporting improvements in a building's energy efficiency. An expert system is a computer program or group of programs that facilitates using knowledge and decision making. The main elements of an expert system are the knowledgebase and a conclusion system. The knowledgebase collects information about a particular area, which was beforehand written in using particular rules. The conclusion system uses the knowledgebase and user input facts to generate conclusions or prove the user's hypothesis. The proposed expert system contains information on building technology, modernization and installation activities, and the values for financial, environmental, and technical indicators characterising these technologies. The user of an expert system defines the problem to be solved using questions. Using the knowledgebase, the system will present the optimal solution or information that the technologies in the existing knowledgebase will be applicable in the case defined by the user.