Journals Proceedings

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to address the challenges of quantifying the sustainability of contemporary building façade systems and to establish performance assessment methods. The analysis work is based on the case study of high-rise integrated towers located in two different climate zones in accordance with ASHRAE 90.1. One of the case study buildings is Aurora Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia located in Climate Zone 1A, and the other building is New York Times building in New York City located in Climate Zone 4A. The research utilized the integration of BIM (building information modeling) and energy simulation tool to facilitate workflow of 3D modeling and energy performance verification of building facades. The analysis focused on three areas: heat gain, daylighting control benefits and solar energy potentials from building facades. The analysis results reveal that shading devices of both integrated towers contribute to reducing heat gains by approximately 50% compared to the building without shading devices. Integrating daylighting control along the building perimeters reduces artificial lighting load by 80% compared to the building without daylighting control. Photovoltaic (PV) integrated shading devices can provide the solar energy potential of 1%~5% of total electricity usages depending on climate zones. Integration of BIM and energy simulation tool provides timely efficient energy verification and offers a powerful framework toward solving many problems in contemporary building’s sustainability.