Depicted here is the ideal building form based on all the data and optimization. A total structure height of 300ft and a base length dimension of 100ft. The recommended form is slightly more practical and realistic in terms of building construction. Limiting the total number of floors and the extent of the mid-section curve makes for logical planning and execution.
The original design is a bit more ambitious and resembling of a figure that might belong on a game board or perhaps an ancient obelisk.
Main Dynamo Graph (above)
I modified a custom node from class to utilize the mass.floor function and then reshape the floor value node for my specific building. Like many of the examples, I chose a small set of input parameters being the two variables to flex: total height and base dimension length, the input parameters to report, and a few basic price points for my profit calculation.
Main Custom Node - Calculating $ Values based on floor level
This node was responsible for most of the work breaking down the building into floors and calculating the costs depending on an upper or lower level residence. I used a lot of the example foundation to set up choosing each combination of inputs and modifying parameters. I reworked the price calculation part of the node by setting up my own custom node as well as an added custom node for calculating embodied carbon.
Custom Node for Calculating Embodied Carbon
The node for this step of the process was fairly straightforward and relied on a few industry standard metrics of CO2 emissions during construction and rations between floor areas, construction materials, etc. After doing some research I found that concrete and steel are by far the largest contributors to carbon emissions during a building’s construction and so naturally they seemed like good variables to implement. The basic structure relies on the gross floor area for its measurements.
Price Classifier Custom Node
Depicted here is a small organizational node that splits the mass floors list into two parts. My twisted building has two main portions that are roughly 2/3 and 1/3 of the total height. I determined a set price for each section of the building (lower and upper) and laid out some dynamo logic to create a corresponding list. The node simply splits the list at the desired size ratios and accounts for floor prices accordingly.
Attached is an excel sheet that illustrates calculated values from my Dynamo logic as well as some additional weighted factors to consider. The primary considerations were dollars/kg of CO2, Space efficiency, and dollars/square foot of floor space. The carbon output was weighted the highest in hopes of optimizing a profitable piece of architecture while minimizing climate effects. Followed by space efficiency and then 4/sq ft of floor area. Through a weighted equation and using excel solver tools I was able to isolate the three best scenario building formats (highlighted in green). The champion and most ideal in all three was the tower with a total height of 350ft and a base length of 100ft.
I believe this process yielded the best result both after a thorough examination of my plotted results and from an architectural standpoint. The weighted measurements provide a consistent means of optimization and luckily enough the building proportions were sustained both for a practical construction and ample aesthetic quality.