The Impact of Making Design Decisions During the Conceptual Design Phase
This study uses cove.tool to highlight the impact of orientation on energy use intensity (EUI) and daylight quality in a typical medical clinic building. EUA Architects, in collaboration with RTM Engineers, took steps to evaluate their design decisions with data and contribute to the global effort to mitigate climate change. EUA and RTM leveraged cove.tool's teams and chat features to bring in key decision-makers early on in the design phase, as well as cove.tool's optimization to find the most cost-effective way to meet the project requirements while still maintaining the integrity of their design.
This case study informs the design process by providing a quantifiable example that demonstrates EUA’s commitment to sustainability while bringing value to its clients. More specifically, the outcome will help inform early design decisions and recommendations regarding building orientation and site design. These recommendations will give tangible reasons for recommending site plan options and order of magnitude cost implications associated with the options. Aside from EUA's commitment to reducing the carbon footprint and mitigating climate change, the data collected in this study will also become a guide for future projects and help with making impactful data-driven design decisions that can save money and time on many future projects while educating architects on design best practices.
