Share a brief overview of your proposed tool or solution (1 page max) that outlines the essentials of your plan. It should include:
Intended users
This generative design tool is intended for architects, designers, engineers, sustainability consultants, and early-stage project stakeholders who require a practical and adaptable method to evaluate design tradeoffs for mid-rise buildings with shapes between cylinder or rectangle forms. It is especially created for users who may not be expert parametric modelers but still need access to performance-based design insights early in the design process for understanding of construction time, cost, and sustainability-three cores metrics for any current builiding projects.
Need you’re trying to provide a solution or support for
During early design phases, stakeholders often face difficulties balancing aesthetics, sustainability, cost, and constructability—especially without intuitive tools that integrate these considerations holistically. While my previous Generative Design model of Module 7 explored complex geometries, they lacked real-world feasibility, which would not give stakeholdrs realistic feedbacks. Therefore, certain changes are made based on orignal Generative Design model to create this new tool, which responds to the need for a user-friendly, construction-aware solution that allows non-expert users to explore how fundamental design choices impact key performance outcomes from a real-world case senario perspective.
Inputs
- Building Shape Type – a selector between cylinder or rectangle forms
- Base Radius (for cylinder) or Length & Width (for rectangle) – defines the footprint
- Building Height – total height of the building
- Floor-to-Floor Height – spacing between floors
- Material Type Index – selection between material presets (e.g., concrete, steel, timber)
Underlying logic of the model you’ll implement
The model begins with a shape selector that allows users to define their building geometry as either a cylinder or rectangle, which are the two most common building shapes. Based on the input geometry and dimensions, it calculates key building attributes—such as floor area, number of floors, volume, and surface area. These derived values inform a series of evaluation metrics that reflect tradeoffs across sustainability, cost, constructability, and quality. The tool uses simplified mathematical formulas and industry benchmarks to ensure results are both interpretable and grounded in real-world logic where users could easily interpret or even modify with their data and special benchmarks.
Outputs
The tool provides both numerical results and visual feedback to guide informed decision-making. Outputs include:
- Construction Time
- Construction Cost Estimate
- Product Quality Score
- Sustainability Score
- Embodied Carbon Score
- Operational Energy Estimate
All outputs are presented in comparative visualizations (e.g., scatterplots, parallel coordinate plots) to allow users to explore design tradeoffs across multiple criteria. By focusing on recognizable building forms and real-world metrics, this tool helps to ensure high usability, practical relevance, and adaptability across diverse building projects.