L'impiego degli strumenti per l'analisi delle prestazioni energetiche degli edifici nelle prime fasi del processo progettuale. Using energy building design tools in the early design stages

Il presente studio e' rivolto alla comprensione del ruolo che le analisi delle prestazioni energetiche degli edifici hanno nello studio e nella pratica della progettazione architettonica. In accordo con i principi fondamentali della Progettazione Ambientale si sostiene che aspetti come le prestazioni termiche, il comfort acustico, i livelli di illuminazione naturale, siano di fondamentale importanza nella progettazione di tutti gli edifici e che debbano essere valutati gia' nelle prime fasi del processo di progettazione. In tal senso, gli strumenti di simulazione e analisi delle prestazioni energetiche sono, oggi, in grado di supportare i progettisti nelle prime fasi del processo. Con l'obbiettivo di sperimentare rapidamente gli effetti energetico-prestazionali gia' delle prime rudimentali soluzioni architettoniche in base all'orientamento, ai materiali, dimensioni e distribuzione delle aperture, dispositivi di ombreggiatura, ecc; gli strumenti di analisi e di simulazione possono accompagnare, con rapidi e semplici riscontri, il processo di progettazione sino all'individuazione della soluzione formale e funzionale del progetto. L'integrazione, sin dalle prime fasi, di veloci ed efficaci analisi avra' come risultato non solo un miglioramento delle prestazioni energetiche finali dell'edificio, ma permettera' di conoscere e valutare gli effetti e le conseguenze di ogni singola scelta progettuale e comprendere cosi' le ragioni della prestazione energetica finale stessa. The aim of this study is the understanding of the role that building energy performance has in the study and practice of building design. According to the main principles of the Environmental Design, it argues that conditions such as thermal performance, acoustic comfort, lighting levels, are of fundamental importance in the building design and that these aspects should be considered at the very earliest stages of the design process. Now, energy building design tools are able to support designers in the early design stages. The aim is to allow the designers to begin with rudimentary forms, experimenting with effects of orientation, materials, window size and distribution, shading systems, etc. Energy building design tools can follow, quickly and in a smart manner, the design process until the final functional and formal solution of the project. Integrating, fast and efficient, energy performance analysis into the initial stages of design, will not only improve the whole energy building performance, but allow to understand the effects of each design decision and, thus, to understand why building will perform in this way. The aim of this research is to discuss the role that building performance modeling and simulation plays in the study and practice of Architecture. It argues that energy performances and indoor comfort levels are of fundamental importance in the design of all buildings and should therefore be considered by the design architects at the very earliest stages of the design process. This work basically agrees with the proposition that design is no longer dominated by physical structure thinking but by performance and system based concerns. However, is possible to recognise the need to find appropriate criteria, which are directly related to design actions, to evaluate performance and therefore effectively relate design decisions to simulation results. It is believed that the best way to set up a conversation between designers and simulationists isn't to swing between the two points of view but to establish a unified framework for discussion disconnected from any specific tool or performance target. The state of the art presented by SERI (Sustainable European Research Institute) in 1985 acknowledged the fact that a comprehensive design process for energy efficient buildings was nonexistent due to complex and case-by-case interactions between the weather and the building surroundings, usage, client preferences, etc. and this view is still valid today. The challenge of reducing energy consumption as a new design issue is still there in terms of architecture. The difference between 1985 and today is that ''environmentally friendly'' components and simulation tools to evaluate building performance are now quite well developed, but much is still to be done with regards to the overall building context. In either case the identified need is to deal with the building as a whole not by assemblage of components. We are now in an age where building performance targets will not only be set but will be explicitly measured as well, so architects who do not integrate creativity and rational technology risk becoming purely professional specifiers of ''environmentally friendly'' components that might even influence the overall performance of a building depending on the overall context they are put into. It seems to be a contradiction to think that Architecture is not making it happen, and it is the aim of this study to understand why and to start a discussion about a possible way to overcome this problem. The starting point is a review of the methods currently used to analyse simulation tool results, as well as the methods used to integrate simulation tool results into the design process. This research try to illustrate the main trends and to identify the overall reasons for this integration and to propose to integrate simulation tools into the design process by setting up a common framework.