Design optimization of urban typologies: A framework for evaluating building energy performance and outdoor thermal comfort
Published in Sustainable Cities and Society, 2022Mirzabeigi, S., & Razkenari, M. (2022). Design optimization of urban typologies: A framework for evaluating building energy performance and outdoor thermal comfort. Sustainable Cities and Society, 76, 103515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103515Design optimization of urban typologies: A framework for evaluating building energy performance and outdoor thermal comfort
In the physics-based simulation of urban geometries, the outdoor environment was usually simulated separately from buildings – until recently, when the holistic assessment of the urban environment began to attract more attention. Although analyzing design alternatives with multiple objectives is still a challenge, computational tools enable generating thousands of scenarios to rapidly assess performance corresponding to a specific goal. In this study, we developed a multi-phase optimization framework for conceptual urban design. We tested this framework for urban typologies in Syracuse. The energy performance of each alternative was compared with a baseline. The alternatives that generate wasteful energy performance were filtered out first, then remaining scenarios that performed better than the baseline were analyzed using outdoor thermal comfort autonomy (OTCA). Mid-rise multifamily buildings showed the best performance (55.8% energy improvement compared to the baseline). Although hot week outdoor comfort satisfaction among selected mid-rise typologies was high (92.9–98.5%), the satisfaction in cold week was very low (between 8.4–11.6%) among them. This framework contributes to identifying an acceptable range of design solutions by broadening the perspective of the field toward using a more customized optimization framework in early design that will further guarantee the requirements of energy efficient and sustainable cities.
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