Energy simulation in passive design: Tools for considering the invisible

This paper discusses the teaching of building energy simulation as an architectural tool in a semester-long introductory building simulation seminar for graduate architecture students. Coursework required students to propose a design parti which provided thermal diversity and delight through passive design, and then required quantitative demonstration of achievement of design intentions through use of an hourly thermal simulation program (Energy Plus with Open Studio). Therefore rather than using energy simulation to describe a project, students uses the program iteratively to develop a desired thermal performance in the proposed building. The seminar taught building simulation as a means to develop intuition about design's impacts on energy usage and user thermal experience. The requirement for specific, measurable results from passive strategies fundamentally developed the ability to conceive of and implement low-energy designs. It situated simulation not as an end in itself, but as a means to an architectural end, and as a means to energy literacy.