Examining Building Design Strategies for Zero Energy Performance: Operational Efficiency, Reconstruction, and Restoration for Sustainable Urban Development

The transition to renewable energy has become a pivotal factor in urban planning due to the rising costs and adverse environmental impacts of conventional energy sources, the growth of smart cities, and increasing population demands. As a significant energy consumer during operations, the building sector necessitates strategies to enhance the integration of renewable energy while minimizing reliance on traditional sources. Zero Energy Building (ZEB) is an innovative approach wherein a building generates an equivalent amount of energy from renewable sources, such as solar photovoltaic systems, to offset its conventional energy consumption. However, there is limited research on the influence of building shape on achieving zero-energy goals. This study addresses this gap by analyzing various design strategies for new construction, retrofits, reconstructions, and restorations to identify optimal building shapes for achieving zero-energy performance. The research modeled the operational performance of different building shapes by evaluating energy production and consumption. Each design is optimized based on energy outcomes to determine the ideal configurations for ZEBs. The findings revealed that building shape significantly impacts operational performance. The one-story house emerged as the most favorable ZEB configuration. It achieved a net energy production of 167 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>/year, surpassing its annual energy demand despite its initially high energy usage. Conversely, achieving zero-energy was challenging for a two-story design (206 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>/year), whereas an alternative two-story design nearly met the target with a net energy of -0.69 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>/year. Implementing a ZEB retrofit approach significantly reduced operational energy from 293 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>/year to 91.4 kWh/m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>/year for a tower design. These findings underscore the critical role of building shape in ZEB performance and provide valuable insights for future urban planning and energy-efficient building designs.