Vlad Clima

A very brief description of the design decisions from Step 1 following the Generative Design Framework.

• Design Decision 1 - Structural Design vs Floor Area and Construction Cost
• Design Variables
• Building Height
• Building Width (Square shape)
• Floor to Floor Height
• Evaluators
• Maximum Wind Force at any Level
• Usable Floor Area
• Construction Cost
• View Radius (from the top of the building)
• Most Important Tradeoffs to Consider
• Considering a construction site with certain length and width constraints, the usable floor area can only increase by increasing the height (after the footprint reaches the constraints). Thus, increasing the height would increase the usable floor area, but would also increase the construction cost and wind lateral load (or base earthquake load)
• Design Decision 2 - Sustainability / Passive Design
• Design Variables
• Wind-to-Wall Ratio
• Building Orientation
• Overhang/Shading Depth
• Evaluators
• Daylight Availability
• Cooling/Heating Loads
• Visual Comfort
• Most Important Tradeoffs to Consider
• Maximizing daylight reduces lighting demand but may cause overheating or glare. Shading improves comfort but reduces daylight.
• Design Decision 3 - Construction Planning
• Design Variables
• Bay Size
• Number of Bays in X
• Number of Bays in Y
• Column Spacing
• Evaluators
• Material Volume
• Construction Time
• Architectural Flexibility / Open Space
• Most Important Tradeoffs to Consider
• Larger bay sizes and increased column spacings increase the architectural flexibility as it provides more open spaces. It could also reduce the construction time due to fewer elements. But it would increase the material volume as larger spans will need larger sections requiring more material. Smaller bays on the other hand increase the structural efficiency.

• I decided to run Design Decision number one 1 with the main goal of minimizing the lateral wind force on the building while also minimizing cost, maximizing usable floor area, and maximizing the view area from the top of the building. For this design, several assumptions were made mainly for calculating the wind force which are the location of the building, the flatness of the terrain, the exposure category etc.
• The following design variables were used:
• Building height
• Building width (equal to length as it is a square base)
• Floor to floor height
• The following evaluators were considered:
• Maximum wind force on the building - the maximum wind force at any level (typically highest at the last floor slab) calculated using the ASCE 7 methodology with some simplifications. This can also be adapted to calculate the base shear of the building which was not done here. For this, both the leeward wall and windward wall pressures were considered for maximum accuracy. The maximum force as well as the base shear typically increase with an increase in height. This in terms increases the sizes of the members of the Lateral Force Resisting System as well as the inter story drift.
• Usable Floor Area - For this case, I assumed that the construction site is limited in space and the only way to increase the floor area is by going up in height. Thus, in order to maximize the usable floor area, the height of the building needs to increase.
• Construction Cost - As buildings go up in height, typically the construction cost increases as well. Thus, it is preferable to keep the building height low in order to minimize the cost.
• View Radius - it is a metric that evaluates the maximum line of sight distance from the top of the building. This is the maximum theoretical distance without considering any obstructions and is based on the Earth’s curvature. This is calculated using: d = sqrt(2*R*h) where R is the radius of the Earth and h is the height of the building. Of course, for in order to maximize this distance, the building’s height needs to be higher. This was calculated in kilometers.

• The screenshot of the Scatterplot or Parallel Coordinates Graph illustrating the tradeoff that you chose to model and study.

• Provide a brief explanation of what’s being shown in the Scatterplot or Parallel Coordinates Graph and how the tradeoff being illustrated would impact the design decision. What would you do with this info?
• The graph above shows that in order to maximize the line-of-sight distance and at the same time minimize the effects of the wind a trade-off must happen between the two as the wind force is only minimized with a considerable decrease in height while the line-of-sight distance is only maximized with a considerable increase in height. Similarly, we can see that the usable floor area and total construction cost increase identically with an increase in height. Thus, in order to minimize construction cost, minimize the wind force on the building, and maximize the line-of-sight distance, the usable floor area remains pretty small as to accommodate the other evaluators. There is a tradeoff between maximizing the floor area and the line-of-sight distance and the total construction cost and maximum wind force. Thus, if a decision is made to prioritize comfort (a better view) and more usable floor area, the lateral system will have to be improved significantly, meaning that more material will be used which will increase the relative cost even more. On the other hand, if a decision is made to prioritize structural efficiency, the building might have a lower real estate value overall due to lack of space and comfort (better view).
• An image of your Dynamo Study Graph (showing all your nodes and the connecting logic) -- You can use the File > Export Workspace As Image... command in Dynamo to save a PNG image to upload with your posting.