Sustainable building design: optimizing building geometry and external envelope to minimize energy consumption and CO2 emissions

Abstract

Large energy use throughout a building's operating phase leads to greater energy expenditures. Optimising energy use is therefore essential to reducing these costs. Pre-construction stages can be used to investigate several options to make this happen using building optimisation. This study aims towards optimizing energy consumption, CO₂ emissions from the use of electricity, and saving energy costs by investigating several design options in the pre-construction phase. Specifically, this study analyses building geometry, utilising the Autodesk Insight software to determine best possible orientation, windows-to-wall ratio (WWR), and glass selection. A commercial building in Mumbai serves as the case study, where the building model is examined in three different geometries. Each geometry is rotated 360° at 90-degree intervals, utilising Building Information Modelling (BIM) to apply energy-efficient design considerations, and integrating its operating schedule. Five options of window glass and WWR are examined in the study, along with four distinct building orientations, leading to a comprehensive analysis of 300 scenarios. The objective is to identify the configuration that optimises energy costs while reducing energy use and CO₂ emissions. The findings of this research provide valuable insights for building designers and developers seeking to minimize energy use, cut CO₂ emissions, and design low-carbon, energy-efficient buildings.