BIM-Based Generative Design Processes for Targeted Value Design of Low-Carbon Buildings

Buildings are a significant contributor to greenhouse gases; they account for 33% of greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of world energy consumption. The creation of low-carbon structures depends on the work of multidisciplinary teams that must approach issues holistically. Teams must cooperate, communicate, and make judgments that go beyond just the initial cost consideration. Several barriers exist with respect to evaluating building sustainability in the design stage. These include a lack of qualified building designers, access to data, the absence of quantifiable environmental targets, and the inability to assess performance against those standards. While addressing these challenges, clients are often expected to balance between cost, value, and schedule, and one way to do so is the target value design method (TVD). This research combines TVD with a generative design process to rapidly produce multiple sustainable design options through the generation of iterative designs. The proposed new method is illustrated via a case study of an institutional building. A new design workflow is proposed for the generative design that can create a pool of potential building layouts based on sustainability targets. Energy analysis is then performed on the selected layouts to investigate the impact of design changes. The optimized design option is then loaded back in Dynamo and Revit to see detailed results and better visualize the building with respect to the complete site. This study shows that the integration of TVD and generative design can ensure buildings are designed to perform at higher environmental standards and ensure the overall long-term sustainability of the project.