Towards productivity indicators for performance-based façade design in commercial buildings

Abstract Decision-making in the facade design process has a significant influence on several aspects of indoor environment, thereby making it a complex and multi-objective optimisation process. There are two principal barriers in the process of indentifying an optimal facade solution. Firstly, most existing indoor environmental evaluation methods do not account for all the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) aspects relevant to facade design. Secondly, the relationship between the physical properties of a particular facade design option and the resulting economic benefits accrued during its service-life is unknown. In this paper, we introduce the bases for establishing relationships between occupant productivity and the combinatorial effects of four key facade-related IEQ aspects, namely, thermal comfort, aural comfort, visual comfort and air quality, on occupant productivity. The proposed framework's potential is tested against seven existing experimental investigations and its applicability is illustrated by a simple facade design example. The proposed approach ultimately aims to provide a quantitative economic measure of alternative facade design options that would be applicable to early design stage. Aspects of the work that require further experimental validation are identified.

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