Review and comparison of data visualization techniques used in building design and in building simulation

This paper will present a review, for a range of building design and performance issues, of the visualization language used in building design and in building simulation, and identify the overlaps and divergences in their use. There is a plethora of techniques available ranging from textual data to graphical representation, from 2D drawings to 3D representations, and from static images to interactive animations and virtual reality. The review has been undertaken using taxonomy of visualization techniques based on data type and analytic task. The review and classification of available techniques also enables a comparative study of the various ways to visualize specific data and thus, attempts to identify the most effective visualization technique for different analyses aimed at the design community as users.  The results are used to propose a new interface “look and feel” for early-stage design analysis software.