Design Performance Modeling

The building design and construction industry is becoming ever more attuned to high-performance outcomes. Design teams and clients alike are becoming sophisticated with regard to building science and energy conservation measures. Consequently, there is a growing expectation that project teams leverage energy modeling to go beyond oversimplified rules-of-thumb toward optimized building solutions grounded in performance-driven outcomes and an integrative design process.

Understanding the potential for energy modeling to impact change in the built environment and better serve clients, Browning Day has positioned itself to provide leadership in energy modeling to both clients and the broader design community alike.

Increasingly, energy modeling – once the purview of engineers late in the design process – is being utilized as a decision-making tool from conceptual design through construction. An emerging marketplace of accessible software tools is liberating energy modeling opportunities for the entire design team. Thanks to these platforms, any designer can compare the performance of various design options and refine strategies. This kind of early-stage energy modeling – often referred to as design performance modeling – is simplified through basic forms, generalizations, and gross approximations, which makes it markedly different from the highly detailed comprehensive modeling effort typically executed near the end of the design process for green building certification or energy code compliance. As part of an integrative process, design performance modeling provides teams with a dynamic opportunity to compare the relative performance of different options at the earliest stages of design, when most of the major decisions are made and the consequences of significant changes are minimal.

As part of our design process, Browning Day implements a degree of design performance modeling on most architectural and interior design projects as deemed appropriate for the scope of the work. Predicted energy performance is cataloged in the AIA 2030 Design Data Exchange (DDx), through which aggregated results position the firm for marked performance improvements across the firm’s entire architectural portfolio over time.

Browning Day also engages the local design community through professional organizations, speaking engagements, published works, and various other outlets.