Evaluating the Envelope Performance of Commercial Office Buildings in Cities

Abstract

Over the past decade, the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon and its corresponding issues and mitigation strategies have become a main research topic in the area of urban climatology and building science. However, there have been few studies that have extended this representation to performance at the macro level. An effective urban climate tool should integrate UHI prediction models with building performance, so that mitigation strategies can be evaluated effectively. This thesis shall present a methodology for evaluating the building performance of offices in cities while taking into account its surrounding morphology. The indices that are used to evaluate performance include solar radiation gains through glazing and conduction heat gains (through opaque walls, fenestration and roofs). This thesis also presents a method for morphing maximum, minimum and average temperatures (the output of air prediction model STEVE) into a typical 24 hour profile for use in building energy simulation program.