Generative Design Tool - Sustainability (Catchy name coming soon!)

Intended users

The intended users for this generative design tool will be any building stakeholder (owner, developer, architect, engineer, contractor, etc.) that wants to explore the relationships between building design, cost, and sustainable features.

Need you’re trying to provide a solution or support for

This tool is intended to be a conversation starter for initial design charrettes to get everyone on the same page regarding building goals and to jumpstart the design process. It will provide building stakeholders with a framework or a starting point in their design with specific regards to sustainability and cost. Additionally, it can used as a means to weigh costs and benefits and to determine what is most important in the building design. For example, if a building owner is extremely interested in increasing the amount of solar they can see the effect that would have on construction costs and find the most optimal balance.

Inputs

To allow this tool to be completely customizable based on the users visions or goals there will be a large number of inputs related to the building form, building costs, and sustainable features. The list of inputs are included below but may not be comprehensive for the final deliverable.

Building Form

-Lot Size

-Bottom Radius (Floor Plate)

-Middle Radius

-Top Radius (Roof Area)

-Middle Twist

-Top Twist

-Number of Sides (Bottom, Middle, Top)

-Building Height

-Floor Height

Costs

-Construction Cost Per Sq. Ft (Increased based on height)

-Rental Costs Per Sq. Ft (Increased based on height)

Sustainability

-Percentage of Solar PV on Roof

-Percentage of Green Space on Building Lot

-Window-Wall Ratio

-Window R-Value

-Wall R-Value

Underlying logic of the model you’ll implement

The first major part of this model will be generating the building form. This will be completed with a single node for simplicity. It will contain a variety of inputs so that the user has full customization of how the building looks. Additional inputs such as how much the building costs or various R-values will also be available to provide more specific information for the various output calculations. Inputs will also be capable of toggling between variable or constant to allow the user to focus on certain iterations. The generative tool will then be run to find the optimum building design based on user inputs and constraints.

Outputs

The list of outputs are included below but may not be comprehensive for the final deliverable.

Building Form

-Gross Volume

-Gross Floor Area

-Gross Surface Area

Costs

-Total Construction Costs ($)

-Total Rental Costs ($)

Sustainability

-Solar PV Capacity (kWh)

-Percentage of Green Space (%)