Energy potential and interactive design in the urban context

Despite the numerous existing design tools developed to support practitioners achieve energy performing buildings, practical use of those tools remains limited, in particular due to their restricted integration into the design process. This project is motivated in particular by the lack of interactive design-oriented tools able to provide guidance at the early design stage of urban districts. The proposed approach consist in the development of a support methodology based on improving the solar potential of an urban district design, considering the inter-building influence. By progressively proposing modifications of key variables (e.g. orientation) leading to a better performance as in a dialogue with a ‘virtual consultant’, the user shall gain insight into the energy considerations of the design.