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My table of evaluation metrics for 6 different twist angles are shown above. In addition to the gross floor area, gross surface area, and gross volume, I added two new metrics.
The first new metric is normalized facade construction efficiency. This metric compares facade panels (10ft by 10ft) and surface area of the facade to usable floor area. The structural options with a larger value (closer to 1) indicate a greater complexity for construction when compared to usable building area.
The second new metric is normalized solar heat gain. This metric looks at the solar heat exposure of the building envelope by comparing solar radiation and facade surface area to floor area. The structural options with a larger value (closer to 1) indicates that the structure has been exposed to more solar radiation to usable floor area compared to the other options.
For both metrics, the optimal design will be the options at 0. Note that, while in Module 5 the twist angles measured went all the way up until around 240, with the installment of the new metrics, the twist angles are only able to go up until 90 degrees.
This is the overarching custom node that intakes the revit element and iterates through the twist angles to obtain each evaluating metric. Each of the new metrics requires an input of the element’s surfaces. I used a passthrough node to get each element’s surfaces as the iteration was performed before passing through the new custom nodes.
Above is the logic behind the Facade Construction Efficiency Node. I first took the building surfaces and extracted only the surfaces on the side of the building. I initially constructed panels for the building based on the length of the curvature on the surfaces and using the lunchbox quad node. However, Dynamo and Revit would consistently crash for more realistic panel sizes, so I decided instead to estimate the number of panels from the facade surface area. I then calculated the facade efficiency based on the surface area, number of panels, and floor area.
Above is the custom node to calculate the solar heat gain of the building. I obtained the weather in Dubai through the location by latitude and longitude node and several weather nodes. I calculated the solar heat gain risk using average direct radiation, facade area, and floor area.
Points to Ponder:
Do the new evaluation metrics that you’ve designed capture the meaningful differences between the building form alternatives?
I believe they meaningfully capture differences between the building form alternatives. Both metrics respond to changes in the tower geometry. One metric takes into constructability, and the other metric accounts for environmental performance.
What other metrics would be useful to compute to help understand and make the case for which alternatives are truly better than others?
Another metric that would be useful to compute and understand would be cost of construction, embodied carbon of building materials, and energy use estimation.