Author(s)

HAIBIN ZHANG, YIN PAN & LIXIONG WANG

Abstract

The article presents a new methodology for optimising building plan shapes which are from the actual constructions to improve the annual building energy performance for residential buildings. Moreover, the study addresses an important issue concerning the identification and the setting of a set of simple and concise variables that can be used during the conceptual design stage of residential buildings.

The annual energy consumption of residential buildings in Tianjin, China, was dynamically simu- lated using Design-builder software. By collecting a large number of residential design cases, building energy consumption of residential buildings per unit was analysed based on several common plan shapes. The results indicate that, firstly, rectangular residential buildings (the length faces south) have the lowest energy consumption; secondly, with the increase in building height, residential energy consumption decreases and then increases; thirdly, the relationship between the shape factor and energy consumption of residential buildings is uncertain due to the thermal action of solar radiation. 

Keywords

building energy consumption, building height, plan shapes, residential buildings, shape factor, solar radiation.