USING COMFORT CRITERIA AND PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS TO DRIVE PASSIVE BUILDING DESIGN

We present a case study of the bioclimatic design of a passively-ventilated office building in a hot and humid region. A novel adaptive, locally-orientated comfort criterion, the UTCI, was used as a key metric. The design process was a hybrid of parametric assessment and manual design. Bioclimatic features assessed in this fashion cover massing, facade design and particularly shading configuration, where parametric analysis achieved a design that blocks 100% of direct solar gain. Post-occupancy evaluation was conducted to compare the actual conditions with the predictions.