ABSTRACT: Available energy analysis and optimization methods do not produce fast and accurate enough results to provide guidance to professional design teams making massing and technology decisions. This paper proposes two methods using the reduced-order Energy Performance Calculation (EPC) toolkit with parametric building models and optimizers in Rhinoceros, Grasshopper and MATLAB to provide rapid feedback that gives architects more confidence in their decision between alternatives on energy and cost performance. The first method helps architects to understand and optimize the performance of a set of building massing parameters through an energy demand analysis. The second method seeks to optimize for lowest life cycle cost combinations of material and technology parameters that meet or exceed operational energy efficiency targets. The methods are compared with existing prescriptive methodologies, and tested as part of a professional office building design process to demonstrate how they can quickly and accurately lead an architectural design team to improvements in energy performance and construction cost.
REFERENCE URL:
CITATION:
Sandeep Ahuja, Patrick Chopson, John Haymaker, Godfried Augenbroe (2015). “A Practical Optimization Method for Choosing Energy and Cost Efficient Massing, Materials and Technologies for a Building Design, ” Future of Architecture Research of Architecture Research Centers Consortium, Chicago, Illinois, April 6-9, 2015.
