Building Shape that Promotes Sustainable Architecture. Evaluation of the Indicative Factors and Its Relation with the Construction Costs

ESTEVES, MATIAS; MERCADO, MA. VICTORIA; GELARDI, DANIEL; MERCADO, MA. VICTORIA; AESTEVES, ALFREDO; BAREA, GUSTAVO; AESTEVES, ALFREDO; BAREA, GUSTAVO; ESTEVES, MATIAS; GELARDI, DANIEL

Architecture Research

Scientific and Academic Publishing

Lugar: California; Año: 2018 vol. 8 p. 111 - 122

2168-507X

Abstract The energy that the building sector consume including both, the production and operation of buildings are directly proportional to the shape and the thermo-physical properties of the building envelope. The shapes that the architect decides on influences the costs of the construction as well as the energy demands for the life-cycle of the building. The present paper analyse four factors indicated by the bibliography to measure efficiency of the shape of the building. These relate different building variables: Envelope Area of Building (Ae), Conditioned Volume (Vc), Floor Area of Building (Ac), Perimeter of Building (Pb). The four factors studied are: Compactness Factor (Ae/Vc); Characteristic Length (Vc/Ae); Compactness Index (Pb/Pc) and Shape Factor (Ae/Ac). This paper also explores the relationship between the SF (shape factor) and the cost of the construction of the building in relation to floor area, where a high degree of correlation is found, high R2 (