Program
Invited Talks
SimAUD Keynote
What might happen when simulation is free?
Robert Woodbury – Simon Fraser University
Presume simulation is free, in cost, time and intellectual access. All three are natural consequences of the current blossoming of simulation systems and their human-computer interfaces. Simulation may well be on a path to achieving all three. Cost free simulation lowers barriers to widespread use and encourages experimentation. Increases in computing power, especially the cloud, brings simulation into the human-computer interaction loop where its results can be available at interactive speed. Intellectual freedom means that simulation algorithms and systems are open to scrutiny and community improvement. The lecture will explore the implications of free simulation, showing how both user experience of and research focus in simulation might change.
Presenter Biography
Robert Woodbury is a University Professor at Simon Fraser University. His research is in computational design, visual analytics, and human-centered systems for sustainable living. He holds a PhD and MSc from Carnegie Mellon, and a BArch from Carleton. He has over 150 publications, including his book Elements of Parametric Design. In 2009 he chaired Team North, a Canadian entry to the 2009 Solar Decathlon. In 2008 he was awarded the Innovative Research Award from the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture and the Tee Sasada Award from the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia. He is a Director of Smartgeometry.
For over 30 years, Woodbury has focused on new design media and how design work changes through its use. He has made contributions to solids modeling, generative design, parametric modeling, end-user programming in design, sustainability and, especially, design alternatives. Design work universally proceeds through creation, critique and refinement of alternatives, yet a near-universal feature of computational design interfaces is a limitation to seeing and interacting with a single-state of a design at a time. This limit flies in the face of observed practice in manual media, in which the sketchbook supports rapidly generating multiple alternatives. It also fails to employ much of the human cognitive system, in which people rely on visual scanning and comparison as an integral part of work. Design alternatives are foundational: all design, analysis and simulation systems could benefit from a design alternatives capability. Woodbury’s current work is focused on direct designer interactions with large collections of alternatives in parametric modeling systems.
Panel Discussion
Robert Woodbury, Peter von Buelow, Daniel Hambleton, Erin Morrow, Enrico Nobile, and Azam Khan - moderated by Rudi Stouffs
The panel tackles the use of computer simulations, data analysis and optimization in early design stages. The role of simulations is debated in relation to the interdisciplinary nature of design. The use of numeric data is explored for designers, technical specialists, decision-makers and final users. Can simulation bring together specialists from multiple disciplines in the early design? What interfaces are needed in order to promote interdisciplinary understanding of data and communications? How can numeric results be made usable for decision-making?
Presenter Biography
SimAUD Keynote
Site, Shelter, Setting: energy and environmental simulation at three scales
William W. Braham – University of Pennsylvania
Simulation is a technique for “enhancing mental models” (Forrester). Within the architectural discourse, energy and environmental performance are discussed, presented, and modelled in many different ways, mostly organized around specific tools and techniques. Designers and modelers should clarify the models they use, identifying intelligible models that correspond to meaningful design issues. The talk will argue for three discrete scales of model—Site, Shelter, and Setting.
Presenter Biography
William W. Braham, PhD, FAIA is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he previously served as Chair, and is currently Director of the Master of Environmental Building Design and of the Center for Environmental Building + Design. He has worked on energy and architecture for over 30 years as a designer, consultant, researcher, and author of numerous articles and books. He recently published Architecture and Systems Ecology: Thermodynamic Principles for Environmental Building Design, in three parts (2015). He also co-edited Energy Accounts: Architectural Representations of Energy, Climate, and the Future (2016), Architecture and Energy: Performance and Style (2013), and Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory (2007). He is currently working on a project called, The City Always Writes in the Plural: Narratives of Urban Self-Organization.
Recent work has operated at three scales, 1, looking at building products and components, such as responsive building skins and advanced glass products developed with material scientists, 2, building performance & design, including energy and daylighting focusing recently on management strategies for large collections of buildings, and 3, urban and Regional assessment, land use strategies, resource allocation, and decision making for resilient development.
SimAUD Keynote
Discover
David Benjamin – The Living
Project Discover is a workflow for generative design for architecture. It involves the integration of a rule-based geometric system, a series of measurable goals, and a system for automatically generating, evaluating, and evolving a very large number of design options. This approach offers many benefits for designing architecture—including managing complexity, optimizing for specific criteria, augmenting human creativity and intuition, incorporating a large amount of input from past projects and current requests, navigating trade-offs based on real data, structuring discussion among stake-holders about design features and project objectives, offering transparency about project assumptions, and offering a "live model" for post-occupancy adaptation.
Presenter Biography
David Benjamin is Founding Principal of The Living, an Autodesk Studio. He and the studio have won design awards from the Architectural League, the American Institute of Architects, Architizer, the Museum of Modern Art, Ars Electronica, the German Federal Government, and Holcim. Recently the firm was ranked third on Fast Company’s list of World’s Ten Most Innovative Companies in Architecture. David has lectured about his work in many parts of the world, and he currently teaches at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Before receiving a Master of Architecture from Columbia, he received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard.
The Living combines research and practice, exploring new ideas and technologies through prototyping. The studio welcomes rapid change, embraces design with uncertainty, develops rules rather than forms, and designs with unknowable forces. The work embraces the complexity at the intersection of ideas, technologies, materials, culture, humans, non-humans, and the environment. It also explores generative design, feedback-based robotics, machine learning, and new materials. The studio’s research is developed through applied projects for real-world problems. Clients include City of New York, Seoul Municipal Government, Nike, Prada, Google, 3M, Airbus, BMW, Quantified Self, Miami Science Museum, and Björk. Recent projects include Project Discover (generative design for architecture), the Airbus Bionic Partition (biological algorithms and generative design for manufacturing), the Princeton Embodied Computation Lab (an open source building), and Hy-Fi (new bio materials for architecture).
Paper Abstracts
Investigating the Effects of the Geometry on Speech Privacy of Semi-Enclosed Meeting Spaces
Pantea Alambeigi, Jane Burry and Eva Cheng
This paper investigates the effect of the room geometry on speech privacy of small meeting areas. The aim is to explore different semi-enclosed room shapes within an open plan office and study their influence on speech privacy and the significant parameter and performance metric, Speech Transmission Index (STI). This is a simulation study in the room acoustic modeling software (ODEON). The impact of the geometry on the sound of the large spaces such as concert halls has been widely reported, however, at the scale of the small, particularly semi-enclosed, meeting room the role of geometry in tuning the acoustic performance needs to be studied further. This research investigates the potential impact of room shape on speech privacy by exploring whether this impact lies above or below the Just Noticeable Difference (JND). Matrices of studies have been developed to study diverse variables individually and the results demonstrate how speech privacy might be affected by modifying room shape.
Requirements for BIM-based Thermal Comfort Analysis
Fawaz Alshehri, Paul Kenny and James O’Donnell
When designing and creating a working or living space, the provision of thermal comfort for a building s occupants remains a key objective. However, significant energy consumption associated with a considerable proportion of the commercial building stock is not necessarily translated into improved thermal comfort conditions. When collaborative design revolves around Building Information Models (BIMs), much of data required for thermal comfort analysis is already defined by other project stakeholders. Furthermore and during operation, mechanical equipment such as HVAC and lighting fixtures plays a major role in functional performance, resultant thermal comfort and energy consumption. Monitoring building performance and thermal comfort requires additional representative data about indoor environmental conditions and energy consumption. This paper presents a holistic review of the data and information needed for integration of BIM with thermal comfort modelling for commercial office spaces. For example, thermal comfort is dependent on multiple factors, such as indoor environmental conditions, user behaviour, properties of building materials etc. and this data must first be categorised in a standardised manner. The outputs of this work will contribute to a Model View Definition (MVD) for thermal comfort using the IFC standard.
A Simulation-Based Workflow to Assess Human-Centric Daylight Performance
Siobhan Rockcastle, Maria Amundadottir and Marilyne Andersen
This paper will present an annual simulation-based workflow for assessing human perceptual and non-visual responses to daylight across a series of view positions in an architectural case study. Through the integration of mathematical models used to predict visual interest and non-visual health potential, this paper will introduce an automated workflow to assess an array of view positions (located at eye level) under varied sky conditions and across multiple view directions to analyze the predicted impacts of daylight on perception and health in architecture. This approach allows for a spatial and occupant centric analysis of daylight using an integrated simulation-based approach.
A computational design exploration platform supporting the formulation of design concepts
Ding Yang, Yimin Sun, Danilo di Stefano and Michela Turrin
The comparison of various competing design concepts during conceptual architectural design is commonly needed for achieving a good final concept. For this, computational design exploration is a key approach. Unfortunately, most of existing research tends to skip this crucial process, and purely focuses on the late-stage design optimization based on a single concept that, they assume, has been good enough or accepted already. This paper focuses on information or knowledge extracted from a multi-objective design exploration for the formulation of a good geometrical building design concept. To better support the exploration process, a new integration plug-in is developed to integrate parametric modelling software and process integration and optimization software. Through a case study that investigates the daylight and energy performances of a large indoor space, this paper 1) tackles the importance of design exploration on the formulation of a good design concept; 2) presents and shows the usability of the new integration plug-in for supporting the exploration process.
An Interactive Approach for Evolving Pareto Optimal Architectural Form
Camilo Cruz, Michael Kirley and Justyna Karakiewicz
Architectural design is regarded as a challenging open ended activity aimed to transform an existing reality into a desired one. This transformation takes place via the generation of design alternatives. Digital morphogenesis techniques lend themselves to the task of producing design alternatives quicker and easily. In this paper, we introduce an interactive population-based model for evolving design alternatives. Our model enables designers to steer the trajectory of the evolutionary process. We use a population-based evolutionary approach that allows us to represent, evaluate and evolve design alternatives. We illustrate how the model is capable of generating a diverse space of alternatives, increasing the probability of finding unexpected designs. Finally we examine the results obtained, by defining measures of quality related to design intentions.
Are Genetic Algorithms really the best choice in Building Energy Optimization?
Thomas Wortmann, Christoph Waibel, Giacomo Nannicini, Ralph Evins, Thomas Schroepfer and Jan Carmeliet
This paper considers which black-box optimization methods are most appropriate for building energy optimization by revisiting a seminal work concerned with this question. We benchmark three categories of black-box optimization methods—(1) direct search, (2) metaheuristics and (3) model-based methods—on three building energy optimization problems. Considering speed of convergence and stability, we find well-performing methods from all categories, but the widely popular genetic algorithm performs poorly. We also extensively analyze the fitness landscape of one of the three problems. To understand why algorithms fail or succeed, we relate this analysis to the methods’ performance. Our results show that the sweeping generalizations on the appropriateness of metaheuristics, and especially genetic algorithms, for building energy optimization require critical scrutiny, while other types of algorithms deserve increased interest in this field.
Project Discover: An Application of Generative Design for Architectural Space Planning
Danil Nagy, Damon Lau, John Locke, Jim Stoddart, Lorenzo Villaggi, Ray Wang, Dale Zhao and David Benjamin
This paper describes a flexible workflow for generative design applied to architectural space planning. We describe this workflow through an application for the design of a new office space. First, we describe a computational design model that can create a variety of office layouts including locating all necessary programs and people using a small set of input parameters. We then describe six unique objectives that evaluate each layout based on architectural performance as well as worker-specific preferences. Finally, we show the use of a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) to search through the high-dimensional space of all possible designs, and describe several visualization tools that can help a designer to navigate through this design space and choose good designs. We conclude by discussing the future of such computational workflows in design and architecture. Our hope is that they go beyond basic automation to create an expanded role for the human designer and a more dynamic and collaborative interaction between computer design software and human designers in the future.
Evaluating Architectural Layouts with Neural Networks
Nicole Phelan, Daniel Davis and Carl Anderson
Determining the mixture of spaces that go into a building (the building’s programming) is a difficult decision. Despite decades of research into effective layouts, designers still primarily rely on rules of thumb to determine how to allocate space. In this paper, we describe a new method for predicting meeting room utilization using an artificial neural network trained on empirical data from 56 buildings. This method was able to predict meeting room usage (R2 = 0.56, P < 0.0001), outperforming human designers. We argue that by training machine learning algorithms to recognize usage patterns in built architecture, the algorithm can help the designer make more informed programming decisions.
Robot-Aided Fabrication of Interwoven Reinforced Concrete Structures
Elif Erdine, Alexandros Kallegias, Pradeep Devadass, Angel Fernando Lara Moreira and Alican Sungur
This paper describes the outcomes of ongoing research, conducted at the Architectural Association (AA) Summer DLAB Visiting School 2016, to develop an innovative strategy for the construction of three-dimensionally interwoven concrete composite structures. Research methods include the employment of computational design and robotic fabrication techniques that incorporate geometry rationalization and material constraints. Through the analysis of traditional rod bending strategies, this research aims to develop a novel approach by the reduction of mechanical parts for controlling the desired output geometries. This goal is addressed by devising a robotic tool-path, developed in KUKA|prc with Python scripting, where fundamental material considerations, including tolerances and spring-back values, are integrated in the bending motion strategies through a systematic series of mathematical calculations in line with physical tests. Correlations between custom-formed steel reinforcement bars and Polypropylene form-work within the agency of a concrete composite structure are verified through the large-scale prototype. This research serves to test the evolving complexity of embedding parameters related to generative form-finding, geometrical rationalization, material constraints, and robotic toolpath planning within the computational environment and simulation tools, thereby enabling the capacity to implement simple mechanical tools and cost-effective fabrication methods.
PULSE: Integrated Parametric Modeling for a Shading System. From Daylight Optimization to Additive Manufacturing.
Milou Teeling, Michela Turrin and Paul de Ruiter
This paper presents a parametric approach to an integrated and performance-oriented design, from the conceptual design phase towards materialization. The novelty occurs in the use of parametric models as a way of integrating multidisciplinary design constraints, from daylight optimization to the additive manufacturing process. The work focuses on the case of a customized sun-shading system that tailors daylighting effects for a fully glazed façade of the alleged PULSE building. The overall workflow includes preliminary analysis on simplified models and an initial parametric model to run computational optimization loops. The output consists of individually unique sun-shading panels, optimized for varying daylighting requirements based on programmatic distribution and specified viewing areas. The resulting geometric complexity was resolved through subsequent detailed parametric models; implementing the structural design requirements and integrating the constraints dictated by the additive manufacturing process, including the necessity to minimize material and 3D-printing time. This paper focuses on a particular part of the overall workflow, describing the support provided by parametric modelling to control geometric complexity and multi-disciplinary requirements.
Simulation in Complex Modelling
Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, Martin Tamke, Paul Nicholas, Anders Holden Deleuran, Phil Ayres, Riccardo La Magna and Christoph Gengnagel
This paper will discuss the role of simulation in extended architectural design modelling. As a framing paper, the aim is to present and discuss the role of integrated design simulation and feedback between design and simulation in a series of projects under the Complex Modelling framework. Complex Modelling examining how methods from the parallel disciplines engineering and computer science can broaden our practices and transfer central information modelling concepts and tools. With special focus on new hybrid structural morphologies and material fabrication, we ask how to integrate material performance, engage with high degrees of interdependency and allow the emergence of design agency and feedback between the multiple scales of architectural construction. This paper presents examples for integrated design simulation from a series of projects including Lace Wall, A Bridge Too Far and Inflated Restraint developed for the research exhibition Complex Modelling, Meldahls Smedie Gallery, Copenhagen in 2016. Where the direct project aims and outcomes have been reported elsewhere, the aim for this paper is to discuss overarching strategies for working with design integrated simulation.
Integrating technical performances within design exploration. The case of an innovative Trombe wall.
Tudor Cosmatu, Yvonne Wattez, Michela Turrin and Martin Tenpierik
The Double Face 2.0 research project aims at developing a novel type of an adaptive translucent Trombe wall. The novelty of the proposed system is based on the integration of new lightweight and translucent materials, used both for latent heat storage and insulation, advanced computational design processes, used to identify the relationship between variations in geometry and their effect in terms of overall performance, as well as proposed fabrication methods based on Fused Deposition Modelling. Various concepts and geometric configurations are explored and improved via a computational design workflow. The exploration is deeply rooted in performance simulations manufacturing constraints and measurements of prototypes. The paper presents the workflow of the overall on-going research project, with specific emphasis on the incorporation of a computational assessment and optimization process. Moreover, it presents the preliminary set of measurements and simulations for thermal performances, their results and related conclusions.
3D-Printing, Topology Optimization and Statistical Learning: A Case Study
Vishu Bhooshan, Shajay Bhooshan and Mathias Fuchs
This research paper explores the use of 3D-printing technologies in prototyping of Topology Optimization (TO) driven design. The paper describes the integration of TO into an early design work-flow and highlights the difficulties thereof. Due to the high computation times of TO, we outline the use of statistical learning to approximate TO material density results. Specifically, we highlight the use of such techniques for TO of thin-shell, non-volumetric geometries and the incorporation of specific assumptions related to such geometries to improve the functional approximation using statistical methods. We describe the various stages of the design pipeline that benefit from interactive TO.
Matrix Architecture: 3D-Printed and Simulated Kirigami Matrices & Auxetic Materials
Maddy Eggers, Jingyang Liu, Jasmine (Chia-Chia) Liu, Bennett Norman and Jenny Sabin
This paper explores the possibilities of kirigami geometry — folding with the addition of strategically placed cuts and holes — through simulation and kinetic and adaptive architectural assemblies. Typical kinetic assemblies consist of rigid components connected by mechanical joints that offer limited range of motion and tend to require mechatronic actuation. While mechanical motion is adequate for specific applications, mechanically motile systems lack the adaptive potential, elasticity, and embedded intelligence of adaptive structures. We propose to focus on the design of flexible matrices as a way of moving away from stiff, mechanical unitized systems and toward pliable, continuous 2D and 3D structures that can elastically change geometry in response to external stimuli without the need for external mechatronic energy input. As a proof-of-concept, we have produced an integrated panel-and-hinge assembly in which the panels and hinges are not discrete, mechanically connected components, but are instead functional zones of a continuous matrix. In addition, by controlling aspects of the individual units (panel size, hinge geometry, spacing, unit shape), we can induce larger-scale behavioral changes in the whole matrix.
A Performance Based Computational Method for Assembly Design of Reciprocal Architectural Systems with 2D Elements
mid Oliyan Torghabehi, Peter von Buelow and Alireza Seyedahmadian
In this research a computational method is developed to study the form-finding process of non-standard reciprocal systems with 2D elements based on the current methods on the morphology of reciprocal systems with 1D elements. The developed form-finding methods will be used in a performance based form exploration process for geometrical and structural performance enhancement. The proposed computational framework will explore new potentials for variations in the assembly design of these systems through the introduction of new geometric parameters both at the component level and the assembly level within the form exploration process. The proposed method integrates parametric assembly design with structural analysis in a stochastic optimization process to explore the design space while minimizing the total weight of the structure. The results of the form exploration process will be stored for the post processing phase in which the solution space is explored to study the variation of the emerging assemblies. In this paper the proposed method is explained and implemented via two case studies towards the further exploration of the concept.
Augmented Assembly for Tessellated Structures
Parantap Bhatt, Nicolo Bencini, Spyros Efthymiou and Antoniya Stoitsova
This paper focuses on describing how augmented reality (AR) and object tracking methods can become tools for overlaying real-time information, for assembly of structures with tessellated geometries. Within this context, guided assembly is explored as an alternative to the energy intensive construction and demolition processes currently used in the building industry. For the research, sheet folding is chosen as the process upon which all assembly data is based on, and object tracking and augmented reality software are used as tools to guide the assembly of the proposed system. Experiments across multiple scales are conducted to study various methods of translating digital geometric information into a series of physical guided manipulations, which form the techniques for achieving a correct degree of folding within the component. Through large scale assembly tests, the viability of using guided assembly techniques as well as the potential of applying them in construction scenarios is assessed. The paper concludes with a description of benefits and drawbacks in which such technology may be used for, and outlines suggestions for further developments of the system to become a viable tool for construction assembly.
Visualization of Building Performance using Sankey Diagrams to Enhance the Decision-Making Process
Aly Abdelalim and William O Brien
Nowadays, there are various building energy performance optimization methods available to designers. The aim of these methods is to vary building parameters to optimize the energy performance of the building in the early design stage and during operation and to choose the appropriate alternatives evaluated through multi-criteria objectives. However, current visualization methods have some limitations in evaluating simulation results in relation to non-performative or qualitative analysis. This paper investigates the feasibility of using Sankey diagrams to visualize and understand the upstream and downstream performance impacts of building design decisions. The current target audience is primarily architects and design engineers. The aim of this paper is to provide a workflow to obtain, analyze, and visualize energy flows obtained from simulation outputs. The developed workflow is applied to large office commercial reference building models that comply with the national energy code of Canada for buildings. Samples of Sankey diagrams are presented to visualize the impact of changing building/system components on the whole system performance and demonstrate energy-saving strategies.
Building performance database to facilitate the integrated design process for net zero energy buildings
Navid Pourmousavian, Samson Yip, Bruno Lee and Andreas Athienitis
There are a variety of international and local programs that encourage the design and construction of sustainable buildings. Irrespective of the energy targets they pursue or their strictness, all affirm the role of integrated building design. Although its benefits are known, in practice it is seldom delivered in its full potential. Two major issues leading to this shortfall have been addressed in this paper. The first is the lack of an appropriate decision-making tool to facilitate conscious integrated design development and the second issue is the lack of a predefined communication framework in which the project can fully benefit from such a tool. This paper proposes the building performance database, as an effective tool in assisting the project team through the design development of a net zero energy building. A framework consisting of the role of architects and engineers is also discussed to maximize final building design quality, using this database. To create such a database, an energy and cost model is created for a baseline building. Numerous passive/active parameters with various degrees of freedom are defined and the multi-objective optimization algorithm (NSGA) is used to evaluate the trade-offs between the outputs. The development of this database is demonstrated using a case study.
An Investigation of Generative Design for Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning
Justin Berquist, Alex Tessier, Liam O’Brien, Ramtin Attar and Azam Khan
Energy consumption in buildings contributes to 41% of global carbon dioxide emissions through electricity and heat production, making the design of mechanical systems in buildings of paramount importance. Industry practice for design of mechanical systems is currently limited in the conceptual design phase, often leading to sub-optimal designs. By using Generative Design (GD), many design options can be created, optimized and evaluated, based on system energy consumption and life-cycle cost (LCC). By combining GD for Architecture with GD for HVAC, two areas of building design can be analyzed and optimized simultaneously, resulting in novel designs with improved energy performance. This paper presents GD for HVAC, a Matlab script developed to create improved zone level mechanical systems for improved energy efficiency. Through experiments, GD methodologies are explored and their applicability and effect on building HVAC design is evaluated.
The Use and Requirements of Simulation and Data Analytics for Building Energy Efficiency
Zheng Yang and Rishee Jain
Buildings account for about 40% of total U.S. energy consumption, and 90% of them are energy inefficient to some extent. In order to improve energy efficiency, simulation and data analytics techniques have been widely developed to support building management professionals for efficiency related decisions and actions. However, to date no work has established a comprehensive and clear understanding about the use and requirements of simulation and data analytics for building energy efficiency. This paper proposes a nationwide survey conducted on building management professionals. From the 535 distributed questionnaires, 92 responses were collected. Preliminary results of how decisions are made by building management professionals, how simulation and data analytics are used in their current decision-making process, and how simulation and data analytics should be improved for further leveraging building energy efficiency, are presented.
Relationships Between Variables and Energy Consumption in Different Building Types
Ju Chan Kim, Jonathan Salter, Ronald Kellett and Cynthia Girling
Cities and municipalities have set energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets in attempts to manage energy consumption and mitigate climate change. Numerous variables, that vary significantly across climates and design options impact energy consumption in the building sector. It is important to understand the relationships between these variables to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions. This paper describes ongoing research showing the potential of a parametric simulation approach with regression analysis to investigate and compare relationships among building design variables and energy consumption by building type in the Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada.
Context-sensitive Personal Space for Dense Crowd Simulation
Omar Hesham and Gabriel Wainer
Real-time simulation of dense crowds is finding increased use in event planning, congestion prediction, and threat assessment. Existing particle-based methods assume and aim for collision-free trajectories. That is an ideal -yet not overly realistic- expectation, as near-collisions increase in dense and rushed settings compared to typically sparse pedestrian scenarios. This paper presents a method that evaluates the immediate personal space area surrounding each entity to inform its pathing decisions. While personal spaces have traditionally been modeled as having fixed radii, they actually often change in response to the surrounding context. For instance, in cases of congestion, entities tend to share more of their personal space than they normally would, simply out of necessity (e.g. leaving a concert or boarding a train). Likewise, entities travelling at higher speeds (e.g. strolling, running) tend to expect a larger area ahead of them to be their personal space. We illustrate how our agent-based method for local dynamics can reproduce several key emergent dense crowd phenomena; and how it can be efficiently computed on consumer-grade graphics (GPU) hardware, achieving interactive frame rates for simulating thousands of crowd entities in the scene.
Modeling Space to Support Use-Pattern Simulation in Buildings
Kartikeya Date, Davide Schaumann and Yehuda E. Kalay
Event based approaches to simulating use-patterns in buildings require descriptions of space which are not readily available in contemporary BIM or CAD tools. The required description should accommodate a spatialized description of actors, a method for describing how these actors move in the space, and a method for describing and updating features of the space. A modular, extensible system for modeling space and movement of actors using a hierarchical adaptation of the A* search algorithm is described in this paper. This system provides a modular, extensible data model for describing Events and simulating how people move in buildings. The system is demonstrated using an abstract case.
An Event Modeling Language (EML) to simulate use patterns in built environments
Davide Schaumann, Kartikeya Date and Yehuda E. Kalay
In this paper we contribute a method to model and simulate use patterns in built environments. The aim is to assist architects in analyzing the implications of design decisions as far as human behavior is concerned, prior to committing to a building construction. Use patterns are modeled using Events, computational entities that encapsulate descriptions of the dynamic unfolding of human behavior patterns in a designed space, over time. An Event Modeling Language (EML) allows modeling Events in a modular and hierarchical fashion. Event building blocks can be assembled into larger compositions describing context-dependent behaviors at increasing level of detail. We demonstrate the approach in a hospital domain, where multiple use patterns involving collaborative activities unfold in space, while adapting to the spatial and social environment.
A Building Database for Simulations Requiring Schemata
Gabriel Wurzer, Jelena Simanic, Wolfgang E. Lorenz and Vahid Poursaeed
Obtaining spatial representations of existing buildings for use in simulation is challenging: To begin with, getting permission to access submitted construction plans can take a long time. Then these might only be available in analog form, making it necessary to scan and vectorize them at the regulations office. The resulting representation might still not be adequate for simulation, requiring further extraction of relevant features and enrichment by additional information in order to fit the simulation domain. In our work, we have specifically targeted simulation types that work with schemata (e.g. occupancy, work and egress simulations). Our contribution lies in restructuring the aforementioned workflow so as to (1.) minimize time and effort spent on digitizing and to (2.) automatically derive schemata sets of boundary polygons which (3.) can be further enriched by attributes. These steps are embedded into a web-based building database which allows uploads and queries per web interface as well as web services. The query interface furthermore includes (4.) the ability to download the schemata both in vector as well as raster form so that they can be used for both discrete and continuous-space approaches. Apart from acting as data provider, the database furthermore (5.) allows for spatial predicate functions which may be used for analysis of a space program.
Double-Skin Facades and Daylight Simulations: Comparative Study of Facade Typologies and Effects on Natural Light in Different Climates
Ajla Aksamija
This article discusses results of a research study that investigated daylight performance of glazed double-skin facades (DSFs) in various climate types. The objectives of the study were: 1) to analyze the daylight levels in different types of DSFs (box window, corridor type, and multistory) in four different climates; 2) to compare daylight performance against the conventional single skin glazed facade (curtain wall); 3) to investigate the effects of facade orientations on daylight; and 4) to investigate the impacts of facade characteristics (different depth of air cavities in DSFs) on daylight levels. The research methods consisted of daylight simulations in Radiance software program of an office space, which would be enclosed by the investigated facade types. Multiple models were developed to investigate different typologies of DSFs, depth of air cavity between the two skins, orientations and climate types, as well as sky conditions, totaling a dataset of 336 simulation models. Daylight simulations were performed for sunny, overcast and cloudy sky conditions, for four different locations (Miami, San Francisco, Chicago and Duluth). Results indicate that all types of DSFs would decrease daylight levels compared to a conventional curtain wall; however, the air cavity depth and DSF facade type have a significant impact on the daylighting performance. Moreover, the results show that the discrepancies are largest in the area closest to the glazed facade. The article presents detailed results and discusses the effects of each variable on daylight levels.
Geometry-Material Coordination for Passive Adaptive Solar Morphing Envelopes
Sarah Mokhtar, Christopher Leung and Angelos Chronis
The cost-intensive and mechanical complexity natures of the adaptive facades of the past decades drifted designers and researchers’ interest towards passive material-based actuation systems. Architectural applications using the latter showed, however, a few limitations restricting the output possibility space to options that rely entirely on one material’s phase characteristic. This study aims to investigate the potential of expanding a shape memory alloy-actuated facade’s output from one that is limited and hardly controllable in the case of entirely passive actuation to one that can produce a specific desired performative target. This is explored through coordinating between geometry-movement connections of an adaptive component of four integrated shape memory alloys, which work on tailoring the geometry-material-climate relations of the responsive system. The research findings suggest that the integration of geometry, material, and their connections in the design of a SMA solar morphing envelope lead to the development of a wider range of behavioural system outputs. The variety instilled through these added dimensions promoted diversity and adaptability of output for a flexible range of responses and higher performative gains.
A Methodology to Analyze Building Envelopes Based on Discomfort Glare
Navid Hatefnia and Marjan Ghobad
This article proposes a method to analyze the effect of façade surfaces on selected interior area at eye level based on daylight glare probability. By highlighting the critical parts of a façade in terms of indoor discomfort glare issue, this method helps architects to improve the design by adjusting the façade elements, openings and material transparency. Since the demand for the optimized usage of the internal spaces has recently increased it has been gradually becoming more and more important for architects and designers. Consequently, glare is one of the main criteria to consider indoor visual comfort conditions. The analysis identifies the positions on the facade where the daylight comes from and causes discomfort glare, after several bounces, corresponding duration and times, therefore facilitates the design decisions for appropriate solutions. Although this analytical method is not the only way to analyze and mitigate discomfort glare and it is not solving all the daylight issue, it considers discomfort glare and shows the direct relation between façade design and interior visual discomfort which leads to the design decisions. In the following, the method is applied by a series of Python algorithms in Rhinoceros which are simplified in terms of computational limitations and two practical examples are described.
Hybrid Workstations: Establishing Interactive and Responsive User-Interfaces for Daylight Applications
Emad Al-Qattan, Liliana Beltran and Wei Yan
The research project presented in this paper explores the benefits of utilizing a hybrid workstation in a daylight design application. The prototype developed for this work links a physical design object with digital modeling and simulation tools. The aim of the work is to integrate physical and material properties of kinetic design objects in the digital workflow. Additionally, the hybrid system utilizes smart hand-held devices to provide designers with a user-friendly interface to control modeling parameters. The developed workstation provides real-time interactive features and live responses to visualize and evaluate design options in both the digital and physical environments. The proposed work demonstrates unique possibilities for daylight applications, which will assist designers in making informed decisions regarding both the aesthetics and the performance of a kinetic architectural system.
Estimating the Cooling Power through Transpiration of Vining Green Walls in Various Climates
Arta Yazdanseta
Limited studies have been conducted on the impact of green walls on the energy performance of buildings. Green walls can reduce the cooling loads of buildings through shading and transpiration. Most studies have focused on the shading effect of green walls. This paper investigates the transpiration effect of green walls. For this investigation, the Penman-Monteith model was modified to estimate the cooling power from transpiration produced by vining indirect green walls in six distinct climatic conditions. The model accounts for green wall design, plant biophysical traits, and environmental conditions. The model shows that under optimal design conditions, green walls can produce a maximum cooling power of 377 w/m2 through canopy transpiration.
Assisting the development of innovative responsive façade elements using building performance simulation
Marie L. de Klijn-Chevalerias, Roel C.G.M. Loonen, Zarzycka Aleksandra, Dennis de Witte, Valentini Sarakinioti and Jan L.M. Hensen
Thermal mass is usually positively associated with energy efficiency and thermal comfort in buildings. However, the slow response of heavyweight constructions is not beneficial at all times, as these dynamic effects may actually also increase heating and cooling energy demand during intermittent operation or can cause unwanted discomfort. This study investigates the potential of energy simulations to support the exploration-driven development of two innovative responsive building elements: “Spong3D” and “Convective Concrete”. Both use fluid flow (Spong3D: water, Convective Concrete: air) inside the construction to reduce building energy demand by exploiting the use of natural energy sinks and sources in the ambient environment, aiming to make more intelligent use of thermal mass. During the development of these concepts, different simulation tools were used alongside experiments for e.g. materials selection, climate analysis, comfort prediction and risk assessment. By presenting the results from a series of simulation studies and by reflecting on their application, this paper shows how computational building performance analyses can play a useful role in ill-defined R&D processes.
Unifying Visualization of Hydrologic, Thermal and Plant Growth Performance in Green Roofs
Liat Margolis, Andrew Hooke and Vincent Javet
Vegetated roofs have become an important component of sustainable building design in many cities across the world due to the range of environmental benefits they provide, including water retention, evaporative cooling, and biodiverse habitat. Not all green roofs are made equal, and the performance metrics of green roofs are influenced by the choice of growing media, planting, and the use of supplemental irrigation, among other factors. There is a need for additional studies on the influence of multiple design variables on multiple performances in green roofs, as well as for visualization and design tools that represent such complex relationships. This paper describes the data acquisition system of a replicated green roof modular array to derive hydrologic, thermal, and plant growth data over a three-year period. Using Rhinoceros™ with Grasshopper® and LunchBox™ plug-in components, as well as a web-based platform, an interactive tool was developed to unify visualization of diverse forms of data. We discuss the tool’s merits over current visualization practices and the potential use in green roof design simulation by researchers and design professionals.
Microclimate on building envelopes: wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamic analysis of basic and complex geometries
Cheli Hershcovich, Rene van Hout, Vladislav Rinsky, Michael Laufer and Yasha J. Grobman
This paper presents the results of an investigation into the potential of complex geometry to create a microclimate by changing the airflow on building façades. The current stage of the research focused on developing a set-up and a methodology for examining and comparing the results of a physical wind tunnel test to those of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. A series of chosen façade geometries was examined using CFD simulations and physical wind tunnel simulations. The numerical simulations were validated by the experimental data. Based on the best performing geometries of the first examined series, new geometries will be developed and tested towards a better understanding of the façade’s geometry contribution to the building’s thermal performance.
Parametric Modelling in Form-Based Urban Design Code for High-Dense Cities
Yingyi Zhang and Marc Aurel Schnabel
The parametric modeling capabilities were established to support architecture design and building processes. While in urban design, it is still in the relative infancy. This paper aims to extend parametric approaches to multi-scenario tests and modification in large scale urban design. Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), a super high-dense area of Hong Kong, here works as a study context. Through marrying Building Information Modeling (BIM) into Form-Based Code (FBC) generation of TST, this research argues that 1) as a critical response to conventional zoning, FBC has potential to be an alternative approach to urban design of high-dense cities; 2) parametric modeling can support FBC implementation with directly visualized consequences that paper-based regulation cannot express; 3) adopting parametric FBC in high-dense cities has both benefits and drawbacks. Thus, this research attempt to fill the gap among the current approaches by generating parametric form-based urban design code for high-dense cities.
Volatile Data Mining: A Proof Of Concept For Performance Evaluation Of The Built Environment Using Drones
Ramon Van Der Heijden, Alan Tai and Gustav Fagerstrom
In this paper we propose a proof of concept for an affordable method utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to acquire visual and thermal images of a building envelope using preprogrammed flight paths. We demonstrate how photogrammetry and sensing technology can be used to create three-dimensional digital models and enrich them with non-geometrical properties. Our main research focus is to gather urban data in novel ways, offering a reading of the city that historically has been hard to observe and quantify, while allowing for a fluid design process regardless of scale and maintaining a reliable storage and retrieval functionality for persistent data. Furthermore we aim to contextualize said method within current practices in building enclosure design, engineering and post-occupancy evaluation. The proposed method is generically applicable and scalable, exemplified by a specific case study conducted during a 4 day intensive workshop in the summer of 2014. We describe how this methodology may be deployed to create Building Information Models (BIM) – and, on a larger scale of data gathering, Urban Information Models (UIM) - from simple data. Finally we will introduce means of obtaining metrics and techniques by which geometric and non-geometric data may be combined.
A Case Study on the Relationship between Urban Morphology and Traffic Noise Distribution in High-density Urban Context
Ji Zhang, Stephen Siu Yu Lau, Chye Kiang Heng, Siu-Kit Lau and Hongzhan Lai
Noise pollution is one of the key issues that may have significant impact to the physiological comfort and psychological wellbeing of urban dwellers and to urban environmental quality in general in the planning of liveable city to achieve urban sustainability. Applying validated numerical noise mapping technology, a case study of 30 high-density urban residential neighborhoods in Singapore were conducted utilizing an integrated and automated workflow for simulation, analysis and visualization. The results revealed the significant impacts of several key urban planning and architectural geometric parameters on a variety of performance indicators quantifying the traffic noise levels as simulated for outdoor open spaces and building façade. The research findings highlight the need to develop methods and technology to allow reliable and efficient evaluation of urban aural performance in the early stage of planning and design when building typology and urban morphology play a much decisive role in affecting a variety of environmental qualities.
Multimodal Transportation Performance Certificate (MTPC) for Buildings and Neighborhoods – A Model for Benchmarking the Effect of the Built Environment on the Modal Split in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Todor Stojanovski
Unsustainable mobility is a major challenge in many cities. To provide information about sustainable transportation, this paper proposes instituting Multimodal Transportation Performance Certificates (MTPC) as assessment method and performance measure for multimodality of buildings and neighborhoods. MTPC measures the Level of Integration (LoI) of the built environment with walking, cycling, public transportation and private car and estimates the modal split in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based on urban design elements. The benchmarking procedure for MTPC is applied and tested in a suburban neighborhood in Stockholm.
The Mobility Topography Model for Substantializing and Projecting Transportation in Cities
Zachary Trattner, Angelos Chronis and Angel Muñoz
Cities are built on transportation strategies. The constructed urban environment is influenced by the accumulation of individual transport choices, and also by the decisions of transportation planners who continue to rely on tools designed to hasten the expansion of car culture. Past experiences incorporating cars, trains, and horses have demonstrated that paradigm shifts in mobility technology impact activity patterns in cities. Autonomous vehicles will certainly revolutionize urban mobility, but the positive and negative consequences of driverless personal transport on cities and societies remain unknown. The probability of a beneficial impact will increase with more and better tools available for analyzing existing transportation habits and projecting future possibilities. The mobility topography model (MTM) introduced in this paper is a multimodal route simulator that evaluates probable modal choice for hypothetical travelers, derived using actual ridership data, transportation infrastructure, and economic conditions. An application has been developed for users to adjust input parameters and quickly project the potential impacts of evolving technologies and changing circumstances. The MTM is flexible, general, and well suited for casting holistic projections of future scenarios, rather than for precise accounting of specific interventions. The model is demonstrated in Singapore today and into the future.
A Pedestrian-centric Design Strategy: Melding Reactive Scripting with Multi-agent Simulation
Xiaoran Huang, Marcus White and Mark Burry
Over last two decades, walkability has been increasingly recognised as a pivotal component for urban liveability and sustainability. As a result, facilitating pedestrian-friendly environments is now becoming an urgent need for many urban design and planning projects. This research investigates a computer-aided design strategy to optimise urban forms to enhance precinct walkability. Agent-based modelling (ABM) is used to simulate both mobile pedestrian behaviours and immobile built environments. Urban forms are evolved informed by walking, taking multiple design parameters into consideration. The principle of reactive scripting is applied to keep designers in the simulation loop, allowing them to make critical adjustments during the concept design process. Acting as the procedural core, a walking index system based on precedent research is encoded and used for the evaluation process. This method is applied and tested against a practical scenario in Melbourne, Australia. The investigation site is situated on the Arden-Macaulay precinct in Melbourne s inner North, which will be transformed from its former industrial area to a sustainable mixed-use community. Through this case study we demonstrate how this transformation from industrial to mixed use commercial and housing can be shaped by adopting our pedestrian-centric ABM modelling approach, addressing a range of spatial and temporal urban walkability concerns. The flexibility of our approach and its successful demonstration in the Arden-Macaulay project suggest significant potential for improving walkability in other urban scenarios throughout the world.
The Use of CFD and Wind Tunnel Testing in Wind Microclimate Assessments
Krishan Jayyaratnam, Ruth Shilston and Daniel Hackett
As Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools become more powerful and widely available, their use for the assessment of the wind microclimate around buildings has become more prevalent. The key question for wind consultants and planning authorities to understand: is CFD appropriate for this assessment, and what are its limitations in comparison to wind tunnel testing? In collaboration with the Development Division of the City of London, UK, we have conducted a comparative assessment of the wind microclimate around the “Eastern Cluster” of the City using the two tools. An understanding of the limitations of each tool is crucial and the consideration of parameters beyond the choice of wind modelling tool are at least as influential on the outcome as the choice of tool. The conclusion is that while CFD cannot currently replace established wind tunnel methodology in all scenarios (where strong, gusty winds occur) it can provide a good match in terms of wind comfort. This allows for consultants to use CFD qualitatively, i.e. in early stage designing, or quantitatively for buildings not anticipated being susceptible to strong, gusty winds (with necessary application of professional judgement to determine the likelihood of strong winds causing distress).
The Thermal Performance Exploration of Outdoor and Indoor Spaces Using IES & ENVI-met
Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini, Umberto Berardi, Kaamran Raahemifar, Ali Ghaffarianhoseini and Karam Al-Obaidi
Recent studies have frequently reported the relatively high rate of thermal discomfort in urban spaces during summer time in numerous cities. This clearly indicates the crucial need for applying effective passive design and heat mitigation strategies during the early design phase of urban built environments. Reviewing the recent studies in this area, it is found that there is a growing interest in use of ENVI-met simulation for the purpose of thermal performance investigation of urban areas. However, besides the limitations of ENVI-met simulation, the majority of these studies do not fully take into account the impacts of their findings on indoor environments. As a result, this study proposes a new simulation approach using IES and ENVI-met to better understand the design weaknesses of the existing urban settings and explore the circumstances of thermal performance optimization. Hence, looking at two case studies in Toronto and Kuala Lumpur; the study explores and tests the benefits of the proposed two-phase simulation strategy. The output of this strategy can lead to the development of more effective technical guidelines for the design of thermally comfortable urban areas while taking into account the impact of the proposed configurations on both outdoor and indoor thermal conditions.
Computational method for variable objectives and context aware solar envelopes generation
Francesco De Luca and Hendrik Voll
Daylight requirements are an important factor for the layout and image of cities. In Estonia complex requirements of direct solar access guarantee the right-to-light for existing and new housing buildings. Nowadays different environmental design software permits to calculate the quantity of direct sunlight hours for facades or windows and allows designers to generate solar envelopes. This is an efficient method to calculate the shape of the maximum buildable mass on a plot that allows the neighboring buildings to receive a required amount of direct sunlight. The existing method to generate solar envelopes presents a significant limitation when applied to the Estonian daylight standard. The present work discusses a method that consider specific amounts of direct solar access and take the context into account to improve the actual solar envelope generation method and available tools. The tests carried out in four different urban areas show that the proposed method is superior to the existing. It generates significantly larger size solar envelopes that fulfill the requirements with a small margin of error. The outcomes can be generalized to underline the importance to consider the requirements of specific facades when calculating solar envelopes in urban environments and the incidence of the context layout.
Simulation-based Sensitivity Analysis of Future Climate Scenario Impact on Residential Weatherization Initiatives in the US Midwest
Charvi Jagani and Ulrike Passe
The existing building stock in countries across the world is designed to shelter against the current typical climate conditions. It may not be prepared to counter the possible extreme climate conditions of the 21st century. Based on the projections for the typical climatic conditions in the future, this project is simulating the energy consumption of a neighborhood in the US Midwest that is scalable to a city. Traditional building energy simulation programs mostly take into consideration – the location, weather, construction materials, type of use and occupancy. They do not, however, effectively simulate group of buildings or a neighborhood altogether. We are using a Rhinoceros-based, urban modelling design tool called Urban Modeling Interface (umi) that is capable of simulating building energy while taking into consideration the surrounding urban environment. Using umi, our model simulates the energy consumption of built environment across a street section and thus accounts for factors such as floor area ratio, built density, and other urban morphology parameters that affect the individual building energy consumption. These simulations are performed for current and future typical meteorological conditions using the FTMY data sets developed by Patton in 2013. Weatherization is simulated and tested as a design strategy to overcome the increased energy demands in predicted future climate conditions. In this way, we are examining a design strategy on real world urban conditions and presenting an analysis of how we could maintain the current thermal comfort in future climates.
Energy Performance of Residential Buildings at District Level from Data Perspective
Yuezhong Liu and Rudi Stouffs
Energy performance becomes more and more important during the urban planning/design process. There are two fundamental methods used to predict and analyze the residential building stock: top-down and bottom-up. However, both methods face the issues from data source and analysis method. While urban planners/designers manage to handle complicated design problems, the huge increase in data from sensors and simulations does not help to reduce the burden of designers. On the contrary, unfamiliar data sets can bring designers into a hopeless tangle. This research proposes a method using data mining techniques (k-means and S3VM) to address such issues and enhance the design process. The problem statement will be discussed both from design and data perspectives. A scenario analysis is proposed to evaluate the new methods to predict the electricity consumption of public housing in Singapore. The low difference proves the feasibility and possibility to apply the familiar and unfamiliar data concept into the design process in the future.
On Holistic Urban Energy Modelling and Optimization
Ralph Evins
New developments are needed in computational systems to facilitate truly ‘holistic’ urban energy modelling and optimization. This applies to the understanding of how to model holistically, which is poorly understood on a theoretical level, and the practicalities of how to achieve this, both computationally and in terms of collaborative model development. This paper first summarises the development of the Holistic Urban Energy Simulation platform (HUES), covering the platform philosophy (multi-model ecologies), core modelling areas, an example application, and benefits and limitations. Barriers to greater holistic integration are discussed from theoretical and practical perspectives. Future directions are posited for making modelling and optimization more holistic: appropriate modularity, better ways of linking computational modules (easier modularisation, a software bus, GUI-based reprogramming, semi-automated model configuration), use of statistical emulators (meta-models), and multi-method modelling. Conclusions are given related to theoretical and practical measures that could improve the holistic modelling and optimization of urban energy-related issues.
Modeling Energy for Urban Form Archetypes
Jonathan Salter, Ronald Kellett, Cynthia Girling and Fausto Inomata
Increasingly, municipalities are planning for climate change at urban scales. Techniques for modeling the energy and emissions consequences of planning options are crucial to do this well, however, it can be difficult to simulate alternative energy and emissions options in smaller municipalities, with limited data. This paper describes an approach for simulating the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of alternative policy scenarios. We use 3D archetypes that represent patterns of urban form common to many municipalities as the basis for modeling. Our process will translate these archetypes to parametric rules in Esri’s CityEngine to facilitate rapid iteration of scenario variables. The broader purpose of this research is to inform planners and urban designers about the effectiveness of energy and emissions strategies in diverse, heterogeneous urban form patterns.