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326 | ChApter 9 ConCeptual Design anD Design analysis

orientation is inappropriate for the geography. The appropriateness of any of these individual
strategies and the benefits depend on building type and climate.
Revit software has similar characteristics. Because it is a parametric modeler, all the parts are
interrelated. Understanding and capitalizing on these relationships typically takes numerous
iterations that span multiple projects. Optimizing the integrated strategies and technologies
for a high-performance design requires an understanding of how they work together to deliver
the best potential. That is where Revit comes in—allowing the ability to iterate and analyze
faster than in a more traditional process. The process is built on the following methodology for
reducing the energy consumption of buildings:
◆ ◆ Understand climate.

◆ ◆ Reduce loads.
◆ ◆ Use free energy.
◆ ◆ Use efficient systems.

Bad Modeling has Bad Downstream effects

like poor ecology, poor modeling can have a negative impact downstream on team members
and project stakeholders. if you are choosing to use your model for sustainable design analysis,
remember that the more accurate you are in your modeling, the more accurate your results will be.
Conversely, a poorly assembled model will deliver inaccurate results. if you do not establish the
proper materials in a daylighting model, for instance, you will not get the right reflectivity and
therefore your daylighting study results will be inaccurate. if rooms and volumes are not established
properly within the model, your energy performance calculations will be inaccurate. These faulty
results may prompt you to make changes in your design that are incorrect or unnecessary.

It is a good idea to establish early on in your modeling process which sustainable design
analyses you will be performing based on your model geometry. It is much easier to set the
model up for successful analysis when you begin than it is to go back and have to make
significant changes to the model to perform analysis.

Creating a Conceptual Mass
In order to begin performing any kind of analysis you first need a building design. In the
previous chapter, we discussed how to make and schedule building massing using different
methods. In this chapter, we’re going to step through one more method of conceptual massing
in order to generate building geometry and use that to understand the sustainable design tools.
You’re first going to create an adaptive component. This type of family can be inserted into
a mass in order to modify its shape, either by application of parameters or by being pushed
and pulled in the view window. It will serve as a sort of skeleton, or rig, to drive the geometry
in a more fluid way. In the twisting tower form exercise from the previous chapter, you used
a simple square form that was tapered and twisted. In this chapter’s massing exercise, you
will create a slightly more complex plan profile, but—more importantly—that profile will be
dynamically controlled by four vertical splines instead of simply twisting the plan shape.

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