Carbon Neutral Design Metrics: Introduction - AN EVOLUTION IN PROGRESS

Much of the work of this first round of case study projects has been in testing out various formulations of typical building parameters and performance measurements, seeking a final list of metrics that is both concise and telling. The goal of this search is that the final CND Protocol Metrics will provide a short list of values that allow a firm or a group of students to evaluate their own work, and that translate directly into design targets in units commonly understandable by the various disciplines of the design team.

The metrics that are illustrated in this draft are our second iteration. The next page provides a glimpse of the direction of the third iteration, illustrating further simplification and reordering in terms of level of effort required for data collection. The goal is a system that is adaptable to everything from a quick snapshot to the most in-depth post-occupancy research.

Consider the well-designed high performance buildings recognized annually in the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards. Why do these buildings perform well? What aspects of design and system integration, knitted with response to climate and program result in solutions that require a fraction of the resources compared with buildings designed just to meet code?

The CND Building Characterization Protocols seek to build a data-base of common design variables to both frame that question and to begin to suggest answers.

The basic premise of the CND Case Study Protocols is to build a record of these case studies from information commonly available in a set of working drawings (with a few key variables found in the specifications) + the typical data contained in a year’s utility bills. The resulting profile both highlights and helps to identify critical building design variables and seeks to provide a common foundation for more in-depth case study efforts and other educational uses to build upon.