A parametric design-based methodology to visualize building performance at the neighborhood scale

This paper focuses on parametric design-based visualization methods to represent building performance at the neighborhood scale in the perspective of an integrated design-support system. The goal of the developed methodology is to convey the relative effectiveness of different design alternatives according to a wide range of building performance indicators, including the potential for active solar applications, the energy need for space heating/cooling and (spatial) daylight autonomy. The proposed methodology is applied to a case study of a typical urban renewal project in Switzerland for which 768 design variants were analyzed using validated climate-based simulation engines. For each design variant, simulation results are represented qualitatively using multiple false-color maps and quantitatively through comprehensive plots. We conclude by showing the applicability of this methodology to a large number of neighborhood-scale design variants as well as the complementarity of the proposed visualization methods. On the basis of the case study application, a possible implementation as a design-support tool is finally discussed.