Integrating building shape optimization into the architectural design process

The evolution of the architectural design process is associated with technological progress and the constitution of the design team. The design process is continuously enhanced by the development of computer softwares that allow quantification and visualization of design-related parameters. The main aim of this paper is to improve the early stages of a design process by presenting an approach that allows defining optimal building shapes informed by incident solar radiation requirements. This tool allows the design team to explore design options that require reduced energy use for a particular date and location. A non-linear optimizer using the interior point method is employed. Decreases in insolation vary between 23% and 53% and are related to building dimensions and site limits. Architectural design in warm/hot contexts that starts with a shape that is optimized to receive minimum solar radiation presents a significant advantage in terms of reduced energy use in buildings.