Envelope Design
Since I employ a lot of a glass for my building shell, my biggest concern when detailing the building envelope was ensuring the glass can healthily separate and facilitate interaction between the interior and exterior environments. The building’s exterior glass is double-paned with an air barrier between each layer of glass to effectively decrease U-factor. Glass walls on the east and west elevations are tinted and allow less visible light transmittance to protect against glare and excessive solar heat gain.
Roof and non-glass wall materials were edited to successfully provide standard levels of heat resistance. Windows are on some walls for the main purpose of daylighting in those spaces. Skylights were not yet added to the roof in anticipation of solar panels. This is the same reason why the area for the green roof is (initially) small in area.
Energy Model and Analysis
My energy model with all parameters set to match the values of the BIM is just below ASHRAE standards at 83.78 kBtu/sf per year. However, I did have trouble getting the model to accurately account for overhangs and light shelves, so this figure may be a little higher than the actual. Either way, the optimal scenario for building design reduced the EUI to 50.23 kBtu/sf per year with the largest reduction made through changing the HVAC system type
I was surprised to discover that the addition of PV panels did very little to offset the EUI. With a difference of less than 2 kBtu/sf per year, I didn’t find it significant enough to include here.
Daylight Analysis
The daylighting analysis demonstrates how the center of the building will strongly rely on artificial light. However, it may be worth considered a shafted skylight that runs through the core of the building to provide more daylight to the poorly lit areas. This is considering that floor area usage in building center could be reallocated to the perimeters and that the roof real estate will (most likely) no longer be used for solar panels given their ineffiency for this design.