Optimizing Building Layouts for Proper Self-shading: A Computational Approach

— Self-shaded buildings receive great attentions especially in high-rise building in hot climate zones. This paper introduces a novel optimization approach for reforming high-rise building layout shapes (BLSs) towards better self-shaded alternatives for a given shape, along with the determination of different treatments for optimizing a given shape using shape grammar theory; their performance have been simulated by Autodesk Revit. Variables considered during the generation process include different treatments, range of treatments’ ratios and orientations along with controlling shape area and circumference if required. High-rise buildings in Egypt are used to demonstrate/validate the approach applications. The study results, through many applications, show the generation possibility of better self-shaded BLSs along with controlling previous variables when required. This optimization has been also tested from energy consumption perspective through 12 alternatives, and the usefulness of the approach has been validated through a conducted survey on different architects. This approach can help architectural designers in achieving self-shaded BLSs for their design cases which cannot be handled directly via single simulations.