Geometric Aspects of Assessing the Anticipated Energy Demand of a Designed Single-Family House

Abstract

Many factors affect energy demand, and knowing their impact is very important for being able to design a low-energy building. In this group of factors, there are those that cannot be changed and improved after the building is constructed, so taking them into account when choosing a project is important for energy savings. This group includes geometric parameters. We propose a geometric method of assessing the energy demand of a single-family house. The idea is to predict the level of energy demand by calculating the values of simple geometric parameters in the first stage of design. Based on the analysis of 30 realistically designed single-family houses, we show that the geometric indicators expressed by the base area Af, and perimeter P at a fixed building wall height h, perfectly characterize the amount of energy, both usable and final. Moreover, we show linear relationships between the nominated A/V and non-nominated EWA/FA, RCcd compactness ratios. This relationship allows one indicator to be measured with another. As a result, we show how a designer can use a simple calculated index RCcd to find out the level of energy demand.