Innovative geometric strategies for sustainable building design: Analyzing energy use and daylight quality

This study aims to analyze the effect of building form and geometric parameters on energy performance and natural lighting quality in the climate of Tehran using a multi-objective optimization approach. An analysis framework based on parametric modeling and simulation using the NSGA-II algorithm has been developed, and a variety of form specifications in terms of proportions and volume envelopes, and the window-to-wall area ratio, have been evaluated. The innovation of the present study has been to go beyond the common and conventional architectural forms, including squares, rectangular, U-shaped, L-shaped, cross-shaped, etc. As a result of this study, the building form relative to the exterior space has been determined to be the most effective means of responding to environmental factors, with the least impact on interior performance. During this research, the focus has been on designing and evaluating new forms with regard to their relationship with the volumetric envelope and their performance potential. The following approach facilitates the identification of hidden potentials in comparison to traditional designs, as well as the discovery of optimal forms that are appropriate to this research's objectives. Thus, the present study presents and analyzes geometries that are capable of meeting the multi-criteria needs of sustainable architecture in addition to comparing conventional forms. This was accomplished through the use of Ladybug tools software, followed by multi-objective optimization, using the Wallacei plugin and genetic algorithms based on NSGA-II. The evaluation of indicators such as Energy Use Intensity (EUI), percentage of desirable daylight hours (UDI), spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA), Daylight Autonomy (DA), Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE), UDI_up, and UDI_low across 3,000 scenarios indicates that by selecting optimal forms and adopting appropriate strategies in the field of volumetric envelopes and opening percentages, it is possible to simultaneously reduce energy consumption and enhance natural lighting quality. It has been demonstrated that optimized modes in selected examples (Top 10) resulted in an improvement in sDA by approximately 7.3% and UDI by approximately 5%, respectively, compared to the existing model, as well as a significant reduction in energy consumption by about 16%. The increase in UDI_low in some forms indicates that more attention should be paid to uniform light distribution throughout the space. In the field of sustainable architecture and energy consumption management, the findings of this research can serve as specialized references for designing optimal forms.