Optimizing The Building Form By Simulation-a Parametric Design Methodology Study With Integrated Simulation At Schematic Phase

Abstract

Focusing the architecture form as an objective function of many parameters, building parametric design is a novel design method widely used all over the world. The final scheme can be generated through controlling the parameters or the function relationship. But the current situation of the application is that, the energy efficiency design, ignored in schematic phase, is subject to the architecture form design. In order to combine the energy efficiency design with the parametric design, an integrated application of the building modelling software Rhino, the building performance simulation software EnergyPlus and the Most Energy Efficient Scheme Generator MEESG(Yu Qiong etal, 2011) is put forward in this paper, to achieve an integrated process from building modelling to energy consumption simulation. Firstly, a modelling procedure in Rhino has been established, and the building information output has been achieved through writing and running python script; secondly, comparison between EnergyPlus and MEESG has been performed from three aspects: computing time consumption, difficulty of combination with Rhino, relative deviation and deviation direction of simulation results; finally, the way to achieve the integrated simulation design process more efficiently is discussed and some specific technical advice is put theories as their design logic. As a result, the functional requirements of building are forced to fit in with the design logic which has nothing to do with architecture. Finally, the core idea of parametric design method is deviated from. As the first step of the whole design process, the scheme design phase concentrates the main points. In this stage, the architectural form nearly takes shape, and most of the parameters related to energy consumption are selected. Many studies (de Wilde P, 2004, Hong Tianzhen etal, 2000, Augenbroe G, 2001) show that, with the promotion of design, the energy-saving space is smaller and smaller, and the cost of the same energy saving benefit is higher and higher. It is pointed that performance-based architecture design should be taken place of by performance-driven design (Xing Shi etal, 2010). In conclusion, parametric design method and energyefficient design method should be combined in the early stage. If building energy consumption or other single performance goal is taken as the objective function of building design parameters, the energy consumption can be reduced or the building performance can be improved by controlling the parameters or controlling the function relationship. For example, building cooling and heating energy consumption can be expressed as: forward.