My project will be located in Colima, Mexico. Based on the humid and high temperature climate, I knew I had to focus on harnessing the weather through a buildings’ shape that provided high potential for PV use. The building orientation I chose maximized the amount of daylighting received by having the longitudinal axis follow the E-W direction. I also chose a design that blended in with the landscape instead of standing out tall because of the center’s proximity to both the city and rural towns. In general, the architecture of the area does not consist of high rising buildings, instead they blend in with nature.
In the table above are a couple of the designs I analyzed for their energy efficiency potential. Ultimately, I decided on the second one despite its initially high EUI. The layout will blend in more easily with the landscape and the PV potential, including areas for a green roof, is significantly higher.