Converged solar reflection resulting from the curved façades of mid-rise and high-rise buildings has proven to be a uniquely dangerous phenomenon, yet increasingly common. The "death ray" incident at 20 Fenchurch St (the "Walkie Talkie" Building) in London in 2013 was mirrored by a similar occurrence at the Amsterdam University Medical Center (AMC) in 2021, where parts of a car melted from the intense heat produced. This reoccurrence raises a fundamental question as to why this problem keep happening. Several factors may contribute: past studies focused on isolated instances, many building engineers and architects are unaware of the risks, and numerical reproduction of this phenomenon involves numerous parameters and complex scripting.
This thesis aims to provide an algorithm to accurately reconstruct the converged solar reflection phenomenon numerically by analyzing various input parameters, such as the geometry of a façade, the nonlinear reflection rate of glass panels, and the effect of anisotropic sky models. To ensure the validity of the model, on-site solar irradiance measurements were conducted in the parking lot of the AMC building. Additionally, the program was used to reenact the phenomenon at the Walkie Talkie building before improvements to its façade.
Results indicate that the three-dimensional problem can initially be approached with a two-dimensional model using horizontal cross-sections of the façade. The angles at which the most intense focal points occur in both the 3D and 2D models of the AMC building correspond to each other, at 15.24 and 23.04 degrees from the optical axis of the façade (solar azimuth angles of 147.34 and 139.54 degrees from the north). The study also concludes that under the same conditions, replacing a quarter-circle-shaped curved façade with a parabolic-shaped curved façade would significantly worsen the effect, potentially leading to five times higher converged solar reflection on the ground.
In the case of the AMC building, the highest recorded irradiance during measurement was 4834 W/m². This value differed by only 13.45% from the 3D model using the Reindl sky model, which showed 4184 W/m². Conversely, the conventional isotropic sky model produced a larger difference of 23.68%. For the 20 Fenchurch St building, the Reindl sky model also produced more intense results compared to the isotropic model, with the focal point intensity reaching up to 6271 W/m² on August 29, 2013. However, limited access to accurate three-dimensional models and details of the surrounding area may have affected the results.
The study also examined the systematic error due to mismatched curvature of the glass panels with the building's curvature. This mismatch caused irradiance variations, increasing by up to 23.52% at one time and decreasing by 13.09% at another, indicating no constant increase or decrease on the intensity of the focal point.
In conclusion, this thesis successfully captures various variable inputs to recreate an accurate converged solar reflection phenomenon in both the AMC and the "Walkie Talkie" buildings. It integrates these variables into one continuous script without the need to switch between different software, providing a comprehensive tool for assessing and mitigating this dangerous architectural flaw.

Building envelopes are extremely significant in providing adequate indoor environment. They have tremendous impact on the energy requirements of buildings. The design methodology associated with building envelopes primarily addresses optimization for improving indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency of the buildings. This process does not account for the variance between occupant preferences and their importance on the various indoor environmental quality domains. The design of a building envelope has been found to significantly impact the well being of building occupants. This research proposes a user-centered design approach that evaluates the factors influencing occupant comfort and preferences. To achieve this, facade user-archetypes are employed to personalize building shading systems for users.

The multi-domain impact of building envelopes and external shades is studied to determine the environmental domains associated with shading systems. A classification scheme is developed for shading systems on the basis of their operation, placement, interaction and permeability. Next, shading system parameters are evaluated through geometry, materiality and control to understand which design parameters have the highest influence on occupant comfort and energy performance. To accurately capture the multi-domain influence of shading systems, the shading systems are simulated within a model space using the EnergyPlus and Radiance engines. The simulation results are stored in a data-set that cross evaluates shading system performance across 8 orientations and for occupants at specific spacing from the window.

A systematic literature review is conducted to identify factors impacting occupant preferences and current clustering methods for user archetypes. Based on this, an occupant preference framework is created and used to design a questionnaire. The questionnaire is distributed to office workers and individuals in different settings to evaluate their preferences. The responses received from the questionnaire are analysed using correlation and ANOVA test is used to evaluate which occupant characteristics show a higher correlation to certain preferences and environmental preferences. Based on the results, feature set iterations are developed which are processed further for dimensionality reduction. The feature set that captures the maximum occupant characteristics with a reliable explained variance is clustered using hierarchical clustering and K-means clustering algorithms.

The clusters resulting from the analysis form the archetypes, which are then utilized in design scenarios. The weights and preferences of the archetypes are incorporated to determine the most suitable shading system for the occupants. Scenarios are developed to use supervised / semi-supervised learning methods to predict the archetype of new users based on existing archetypes formed.

The findings demonstrate a high accuracy of the archetypes in recommending shading systems based on the assigned environmental importance and visual preferences of individual users. The research highlights that each user has unique preferences, which can lead to different design recommendations based on their responses. Furthermore, the research showcases the practical implementation of archetypes in designing spaces and emphasizes their potential application in future facade design and control systems.

Climate extremes are becoming increasingly frequent and intense worldwide, with greater pressure on ecosystems, the built environment, and humankind. Heat waves, in particular, are overheating indoor spaces and thermal comfort as one of the major comfort requirements of buildings is disrupted or, in the most extreme situations, lost. In extreme cases, this can lead to life-threatening circumstances and explains the high morbidity and mortality during past heat wave events. It is crucial to urgently develop a more climate-resilient built environment, that can effectively respond to the future climate hazard of heat waves. Hereby, the building envelope has a key role to mitigate the impact of the exterior environment on the occupants’ indoor comfort. Accordingly, exploring possibilities of façade design for “future-proof” buildings is important to reduce health risks and improve the daily quality of life. However, the lack of comprehensive research on assessment methods for evaluating the influence of façade design on building thermal resilience proves the current challenges of implementing the concept of “resilience” in a practical manner.
This research aims to improve the design process of retrofit options, increasing thermal indoor comfort during heat waves, and enhancing long-term building thermal resilience. It includes the development of resilience indices, based on the assessing different stages of thermal resilience during extreme heat periods. By conducting a systematic literature review focusing on thermal resilience terminology and corresponding assessment methods, the study identifies limitations and gaps in current research. A novel method is proposed, which incorporates future climate scenarios and multiple resilience indicators. While most existing research solely relies on the measurement of a single indicator to measure thermal resilience, this thesis demonstrates the importance of combining multiple resilience indicators to comprehensively assess the influence of façades on building thermal resilience. The proposed framework aims to be universally applicable and adjustable, while assessing the short- and long-term impacts of retrofit interventions on the performance of the façade. The resulting index visualizes how various façade retrofit variables can influence thermal resilience at the building level, which provides a deeper understanding of dependencies and thus enhances improved decision-making during the development of façade retrofits.

This thesis concerns the application of different multi-objective optimization (MOO) methods and strategies for finding the optimal envelope for a given building plot and lighting performance indicators. More specifically, the PV potential and daylighting potential of the building are maximized using different optimization solvers. Auxilliary objectives are introduced to constrain the model to a certain compactness and size. The method utilises an existing data framework called TopoGenesis and solves the problem using the PyGmo library.

A ray tracing is used to find all possible collisions between the objective test
points and the building mass and environment. The problem is first presented as a standard integer programming problem, but solving this problem is not feasible if complexity needs to be kept at a reasonable level. An alternative method of continuous optimization is therefore proposed that uses (meta)heuristics to find an optimal solution for maximizing the objective functions. The occupation status of the massing is used as inputs for the decision variables.

After the application of this method on small scale toy problems, a few of the
design options are selected and evaluated by their performance indicators, as well as the measure with which the option makes sense from a more traditional design perspective. The comparison of the performance and results of both methods give insight into the recommended workflow, settings, and pitfalls for finding an optimal solution to a multi-criteria design problem with visibility objectives. From the initial results, the Non-Sorted Genetic Algorithm seems to be the best option for solving these types of problems, and the PV potential objective is validated. The daylighting potential objective performs less satisfactory and suggestions are made on alternative approaches for this metric.

The EU is committed to reducing the energy used and Co2 produced by 2050. Every component plays an important part in building an energy efficient building. This thesis looks at P.V. integrated shading devices.

Shading devices are designed to block the excess solar radiation coming into the building to reduce the energy load of a building. This surface can be utilized to generate electricity by adding P.V. panels. P.V. panels are more efficient if they track the sun’s movement to increase the amount of solar radiation falling on the surface. The existing solar tracking devices fail due to multiple gears and the load of the panel on the rotational device.

To tackle this problem heliotropic plants were studied. Heliotropic plants follow the sun’s movement to receive more solar radiation for photosynthesis. The internal mechanisms and forces of a sunflower (heliotropic plant) that cause this movement was analysed through an experiment and digital image correlation. The analysis showed that the sunflower’s stem utilizes water to expand and contract the sides of the stem in a diurnal pattern so that the stem can track the sun. This expansion and contraction curves the stem to move it 14 degrees which is sufficient to increase the solar radiation on the plant.

This property of expansion and contraction was taken forward to design a sun tracking P.V. integrated shading to produce more energy. The expansion and contraction of the device were enabled by utilizing segments that were moved by piezo electric actuators. The Piezo electric actuator uses the energy generated from the P.V. panel and converts it to mechanical energy which enables the rotation of the device.

To find the angle for rotation a simulation was made to find the angle at which the P.V. panel produces the most energy and the angle at which the shading device reduces the load on the heating or cooling device. The device is designed to track the change in the sun's altitude as this rotation produces the most energy for a P.V. panel and a shading device. The device responds to the change in altitude four times a year as this corresponds to the seasons to which the shading device rotates.

There were two simulations made for the energy saved by the P.V. integrated shading device. The first simulation was for the Netherlands, factoring the energy saved by the shading device and the energy losses by the mechanical parts the device produces 196kW/ year and reduces the heating and cooling load by 16%. In Abu Dhabi, the same device produces 777kW/ year which reduces the cooling load by 15%.

The typical solar energy potential simulation workflows used in the AEC industry require an abundance of information regarding the detailed geometry and materialization of the design. These requisites render them incompatible with early-stage design decision-making pertaining to form-finding. By performing solar energy potential simulations at the pre-conceptual design phase, the necessary time for later-stage environmental assessments and design improvements is reduced considerably, while building designs with high performance but low environmental footprint are attained.

This research proposes a computational framework to navigate voxel-based morphologies of building envelopes in a performative design space. It investigates a generative workflow through an embedded multi-criteria optimization of solar-related indicators, which are mapped in a solar energy potential field. The formulation of this field consists of an a priori assessment of the solar energy potential in every discrete volumetric unit (voxel) and a vectorized description of the interdependency of them. The astronomical size of this solution space renders the use of metaheuristic methods more appropriate. More specifically, a subtractive strategy that incorporates an MCDA approach is being applied in order to reach user-defined optimization targets. The novelty and potential of the proposed methodology lies in streamlining the early decision making process for designers and architects and expanding the morphological possibilities. Through this framework, the performative design space is effectively navigated and nearly optimal solutions are generated, to act as suggestive mechanisms for informed architectural decisions.