Abstract

Fundamental to the development of concept design tools is the notion that environmental design principles are most effective when considered during the earliest most conceptual stages of the building design process. This paper presents a guideline of a design strategy in several steps of importance that should be followed by designers in order to get a building design with minimized energy consumption. Emphasis was put on a comprehensive collection of all relevant aspects in building design that affect energy use in buildings and its reduction. A set of strategies for designing robust energy-efficient envelope solutions for different kinds of buildings in different types of climates were developed. The design guidelines include specifications of technically feasible improvement potentials for sustainable energy-efficient building envelopes. In order to reduce energy consumption a three step strategy is recommended, i.e. initially apply energy efficiency measures to first reduce heating and secondly reduce cooling demand, and then reduce electricity demand, and lastly meet possible remaining demand with an effective energy supply system. The work is based on work from a two years research project using computer simulations of energy and indoor environmental performance. Finally, a number of examples help to illustrate the concepts and its integrated building elements. The guidelines tried first to give an overview of the different energy related issues in the early design stage. Estimates of the effectiveness of different measures can help in the early design stage to get advice on the applicability of different energy efficiency strategies. This can form the basis for further detailed development of certain design aspects.