Determining the Effect of Building Geometry on Energy Use Patterns of Office Developments

The project investigates potentials of building geometry to minimize energy consumption in office developments. Five distinct building geometries are developed to represent mid-size office occupancies in the context of Toronto (located at southern Ontario, Canada). A square, a rectangle elongated on eastwest, a rectangle elongated on north- south, an H-shape, and a cruciform are examined with varied design parameters; such as: window to wall ratio and external static solar control devices (horizontal overhangs and vertical fins). The IES VE software is applied to predict the yearly energy consumption results for 40 analysis permutations. The outcome of this research shows that, the deviation of energy use values from one shape to another is relatively small. In addition to that, window to wall ratio appears slightly overpowering on the energy use pattern of a building than its shape. Shading design is found particularly helpful in reducing cooling energy demand in offices spaces. Overall, the energy performance of five archetypes is observed to comply with individual building aspect ratios (i.e. compactness). Thus, the findings of this project are expected to provide useful guidelines to the architects to utilize building geometry as an energy saving measure when designing office buildings.