Coupling Building Morphology Optimization and Energy Efficiency – a Proof of Concept

This contribution focuses on recent efforts towards coupling building morphology optimization and energy efficiency computation in the context of early stage planning of complex buildings, using the hospital domain as a showcase. In more detail, a Netlogo model was conceived to generate typological design variations based on a grid grammar. Each resulting design was subjected to a fitness test based on a coupled energy performance model, which is unprecedented for early stage form finding to the best of our knowledge. However, given that hospitals require a large amount of energy for operation, energy efficiency considerations should indeed be implemented as early as possible within the design process. The given paper presents methodology and early results of these efforts.