energy
Design for building performance
We use climate-responsive design to optimize form, orientation, and the building envelope from the start. Passive strategies such as daylight access, façade design, and natural ventilation reduce energy demand and enhance comfort. This approach lowers future costs and allows performance comparisons early in the design process.
Why energy matters
Buildings with high energy demand are more expensive to operate, less comfortable to use, and more vulnerable to future regulation. For investors and long-term building owners, energy performance directly affects total cost of maintenance budgets, and long-term asset value.
From a legal perspective, the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Dutch BENG (Bijna Energie Neutraal Gebouw) standards mandate strict energy performance criteria. Designing with energy in mind early on helps avoid late-stage compromises, oversized HVAC systems, or expensive retrofitting. It supports both design quality and regulatory compliance, and gives architects more agency in shaping how buildings perform in the real world.
What energy track is about
This track focuses on reducing a building’s operational energy demand by designing in direct response to local climate conditions. Rather than treating energy as a system to be added later, it promotes shaping the architecture, massing, orientation, openings, shading, based on how the building will interact with sun, wind, and temperature over time.
The core of this approach is climate responsive design: using passive strategies to minimize energy demand from the outset. That means placing windows to maximize daylight without overheating, designing facades that respond to solar gain, enabling natural ventilation, and optimizing the form factor of the building.
In design practice
To do this well, architects can use energy modelling as a design tool, not only for compliance, but for exploration, learning and working with design scenarios. Early-stage tools like Autodesk Forma, Rhino + Ladybug/Honeybee, or simple shadow studies can guide key decisions. As the design evolves, these simulations can be refined and used to iteratively test against energy targets or comparison for optimization and improvement.