Teaching Performance-Driven Envelope Design: Experiential Learning with Building Performance Simulation in an Architectural Engineering Studio

In the hyper-arid climate of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the building envelope is a critical determinant of energy demand and occupant comfort. This paper reports an experiential-learning experiment in which undergraduate architectural-engineering students applied building performance simulation (BPS) as a generative design instrument rather than a post-design audit tool to their own real capstone building, a 6581 m2 mixed-use development. Using Sefaira (EnergyPlus/Radiance engines), they iteratively diagnosed, tested, and refined envelope decisions against the prescriptive thresholds of the Saudi Building Code (SBC 601). A baseline analysis revealed a high Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 139 kWh/m2·yr, driven primarily by solar heat gains and an “overlit” floor plate that exceeded Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) thresholds. Students then implemented passive interventions—improved glazing U-value (0.50 W/m2·K), reduced Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC 0.20), and external shading fins. These produced a 6.95% EUI reduction (139→130 kWh/m2·yr) and a 17.24% fall in cooling energy. The energy outcomes are consistent with established findings for hot-arid envelopes and are therefore treated here not as the novelty but as the technical evidence the students generated. Daylighting analysis confirmed improved distribution and reduced glare risk, although ASE remained above the LEED v4 threshold. The contribution is pedagogical: the study documents a replicable framework through which a design studio develops students’ technical competence in performance-driven envelope design, evidenced by their progression from uninformed parameter selection to code-referenced design reasoning and by the difficulties and trade-offs they encountered.