Site layout planning and Sensitivity of Energy Performance

Abstract

Buildings account for almost 40% of all U.S. energy use (REF). This has an impact on national energy security, the economic crisis, and the global environment. Provisions for local, state, and national building energy standards/codes exist to promote energy efficiency, making such codes a central part of the sustainable building movement. These efforts are advanced further by the building design and construction industry through passive design strategies, advanced construction techniques, and the application of renewable energy sources. This paper analyzes the sensitivity of energy use to variations in footprint aspect ratio and building orientation for high-rise office buildings. The energy analysis is performed using Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2011 for four high-rise office buildings that have been modeled according to International Energy Conservation Code (IECC 2009). The outcome suggest that buildings built to current energy codes were barely sensitive to variations in footprint aspect ratio and building orientation (which is some of the passive design strategies) for high-rise office buildings.