An effort was undertaken to assess the validity of the design criteria currently specified in selected standards. The effort was concentrated on the criteria contained in the Human Engineering Design Criteria for Military Systems Equipment and Facilities (MIL-STD 1472), which is mandatory for use by all Departments and agencies of the Department of Defense. Both psychologists and engineers reviewed individual statements on several levels including: 1) Intelligibility, 2) Consistency with other statements contained within the standard, 3) Consistency with a referenced specification, standard, or other design references, 4) Quality of the statement – Can the statement be attributed to a reference document? If so, does that source agree with that particular statement or has the statement been cited inappropriately or out of context? The quality of the statement was determined by comparing the statement with data contained in a wide variety of handbooks and design guides including: Human Factors Engineering Guide to Equipment Design, Bioastronautics Data Book, NASA NSFC-STD 267A, etc. Also, selected sections were compared with current research as well as reviews of the literature. A record was kept of those statements which could be attributed to a source; those which could not and those which, while they could be attributed to a source, were suspect. Where it was possible to present the data in a tabular or graphic form, the data were reformated. When suspect or apparently data-less areas were uncovered, a three pronged literature review was undertaken. The three prongs included: 1) Determining what was available in the literature. 2) Presenting literature findings in a report format and if possible in a graphic format (matrix, figure, nomograph) emphasizing trade-off possibilities. 3) Identifying what was missing, what needed to be done, and how it should be done. The study described above is part of an on-going effort sponsored by the Naval Air Systems Command. It is expected that both in-house and contractor efforts in this area will be continued and will ultimately result in improved design criteria.
Development of improved design criteria for low-rise buildings in developing countries to better resist the effects of extreme winds