Developing a Framework for Pre-Design Process Simulation for Green Buildings

There is an increasing awareness towards the construction of sustainable green buildings. Green rating systems worldwide, such as LEED, are providing standards to aid in the construction of green building. During the pre-design phase of building projects, the designer evaluates various LEED credits in order to achieve maximum levels of certification considering project characteristics and owner requirements. This study proposes a simulation framework representing the LEED pre-design evaluation process to provide a decision support tool for the designer. The simulation control module is designed to regulate the overall process of green building predesign, which mimics linear evaluation of LEED credits in eco-charrette meetings. This framework will give the designer the power to investigate various what-if scenarios of different input combinations and the impact of his/her decisions on the building sustainability certification level.