Abstract

Architectural designs, in the past, were usually integrated with contextual climatic surroundings to enhance comfort conditions. Although modern architecture also aimed at increasing human comfort level, ecological consciousness was less considered in the process of architectural design. Today, integration of energy management into the early stages of architectural design, as a function of ecological/sustainable consciousness, is a paradigm of the contemporary architecture and of crucial concern. This paper intends to evaluate impact of different design options on the annual energy utilization intensity (EUI) of buildings. TRNSYS, transient systems simulation program, was used to simulate a sample module in a hypothetical building with six design options in three typical climate conditions of Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Phoenix. These six variables were: “Orientation”, “Amount of Glazing”, “Number of Panes”, “Shading”, “Wall Insulation”, and “Occupancy.” The result of the sixteen runs from the simulation program has been interpreted through a quantitative approach. Ultimately, the impact of each variable, for each of the three climates, will be elaborated in the three following sections: the module’s annual EUI, heating/cooling, and its associated economic analysis.