Interdependency of Passive Design Strategies for Energy-Efficient Building Envelope

Achieving energy efficiency in buildings is quite important since it significantly contributes to the reduction of energy consumption and leads to better utilization of existing energy resources. This paper investigates and identifies a set of passive design strategies of building shape and proportion, orientation, envelope materials, glazing that helps in minimizing the energy consumption of buildings and achieves an energy-efficient building envelope. A set of 51 passive design rules for achieving energy-efficient building envelope in a hot humid climate is induced from a thorough investigation of the related literature. An interdependency matrix that represents the consequential effects and embodiment among these rules is established. The paper introduces an interdependency analysis of passive design strategies for energy-efficient building envelope leading to the identification of both the influential and interdependency levels among the induced rules. The obtained results are expected to be beneficial to building designers during the conceptual designing of buildings to better achieve energy efficiency.