integrated design approach

Net-zero energy building (NZEB) is thought to be the building of choice, but in practice, is also synonym  to high investment cost. It is, therefore, very important to investigate if the amount of the additional capital investment could be recouped from the energy saving (or generation). The investigation is particularly meaningful for industrial halls for the great energy saving potential (with respect to the high energy demand) and the ready energy generation possibility (due to favourable building geometry).

Architectural design is becoming each day a more complex process while it seeks to embrace thevarious aspects of sustainability. The way how the buildings are affected by their own shape andmaterials, how the urban environment is affected by it and how this will affect the building, becomes acritical issue of the design process for sustainable architecture. The architectural design processshould be dynamic and look holistically at all building technologies and systems, including the urbandimension.