Design of a building structural skin using multi-objective optimization techniques

Abstract

Multi-disciplinary System Design Optimization was used to design the geometry and to select the materials for the structural facade of a building. A multi-objective optimization model was developed, capable of optimizing the design of the facade on the basis of a lighting analysis of the interior, of a thermal analysis of the cooling loads corresponding to the skin configuration, and of a finite elements analysis of the supporting structure. The system also considers the need for transparency in the facade due to view requirements of the occupants, and the cost of cladding materials. A scalarization approach to MDO, via utility functions, was chosen, and the overall objective function was optimized using Genetic Algorithms.