Analysis and comparison on the potential of low-carbon architectural design strategies

Abstract The adoption of low carbon design strategies in the conceptual design phase has significant influence on the ultimate building performance (e.g. energy consumption and carbon emission). Taking an office building in Shanghai as reference, this paper analyzes and compares the carbon reduction potential of several passive and active design strategies (i.e. natural ventilation, daylighting, shading, passive heating, photovoltaic power, wind power, green plantation) which are closely related to architectural morphology in the conceptual design phase. The results show that photovoltaic has the highest potential of strategies examined, while natural ventilation is the best passive design choice. And the effect of passive heating and wind power is minimal. These findings offer architects scientific suggestions on the low carbon strategies selections in the conceptual design.