Evaluation of a Community Center Based on Retrofit Strategies and Re-Design through Python Tools and Local Standards, Case Study in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Over the last 50 years the cities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) developed rapidly. Building stock is very diverse in the country and varies from one city to another. While Dubai has a large stock of skyscrapers, Abu Dhabi has more of a mix of high-rise and mid-rise buildings, and AL Ain—mainly mid-rise and low-rise buildings. The aim of this study is to evaluate the energy consumption of a retrofitted building versus a new building designed based on advanced tools of calculation. The new design is based on sustainability principles of design as well as the advanced parametric design where the analysis considers several parameters. This evaluation is a comparison between the current building, a retrofitted building, and a new design of the same build-up area. This analysis will be conducted considering local sustainability standards such as Estidama and Abu Dhabi Realm Manual. The methodology starts with the building selection process which consists of the selected building as part of a villa compound done in the city of AL Ain. The site measurements are the following step. This file is used for the boundary conditions of the models. The following step involves energy simulations. The models were prepared with several scenarios as per the predefined analysis and run for simulation. Grasshopper throughthrough rhino were the softwares used for energy simulations and applied design. Therefore, energy saving was calculated based on the selected matrix. The results show that the selection of the shape of the building and application of sustainable measures in the early stages of design can save 32% of energy, and a retrofit of the current building would save 9% of the electricity used.