Home design by computer

Almost at the push of a button, you can now design and redesign your dream house with a new computer program developed by a graduate student at the Thayer School of Engineering. Mark Franklin, also a 1983 undergraduate alumnus of Dartmouth, created the software as a master's thesis project in conjunction with Northern Energy Homes, a Norwich, Vt.-based firm, which specializes in energy-efficient, post and beam construction.

A simplified version of the program is already on display at Boston's Computer Museum as an example of state-of-the-art computer graphics. The program produces two-dimensional blueprints, a complete list of required building materials, and three-dimensional pictures all with feedback on suggested design modifications. You can start from scratch or begin by selecting a standard cape, saltbox, or ranch. You can add a wing here or subtract a window there. Then you can view your design modifications from any angle on the computer screen a worm's eye view on the ground, a bird's eye view from above, or from any point around a 360-degree circumference.

William Baschnagel '62, executive vice president of Northern Energy Homes, says Franklin's "home editor" is on the cutting edge of the commercial drafting programs he has seen. It promises to be a great time-and tedium-saver for the firm, which provided financial support for the project and owns the program. Robert Jerard, an assistant professor of engineering at the Thayer School, advised Franklin on the project. He thinks the program is "indicative of a trend we soon will be seeing low-cost, architectural computer-aided design."

Franklin has been interested in computers since his undergraduate days. After earning his bachelor's degree in engineering sciences in 1983, he went on to the Thayer School, leaving with a master's degree in engineering this past June.