Hospital Solar Design
A large, new hospital building located on an existing healthcare campus in Southern California called for a high-performance facade design to meet sustainability standards and reduce pressure on an energy-efficient active chilled beam system in the patient rooms. The building’s plan called for an East-West orientation, creating a long South facing facade, which was the driver of the solar design. The design approach utilized genetic algorithms (GA) at different scales throughout conceptual and schematic design.
Work completed at CO Architects.
Massing Solar Optimization
This is a tool with three elements: a parametric building massing designed to keep approximate proportions and the same area on each floor, an environmental simulation computing solar incidence, and an evolutionary solver that drives the massing parameters.
The tool settles on an optimal building shape and orientation, given some constraints, that minimizes solar gain on the glassy vertical surfaces of the building.
Eventually, the known location of a large elevator and stair tower was incorporated into the GA solve, as well as further constraints in the building massing, such as vertical walls.
Optimized form meets planning realities
Facade Shading
Once the massing was settled, solar gain could be evaluated and designed for at the scale of individual rooms and windows. The large, south-facing facade in this project had access to the best views from the site, calling for large windows in the patient rooms. Different shading device shapes and locations were investigated, along with glass types, to minimize solar heat gain in the rooms while retaining access to views and daylight.
No shading
1 ft horizontal shade
3 ft horizontal shade
5 ft horizontal shade
