Exploring the Ecological Design of Office Building Envelopes

Abstract

In the whole life cycle of a building, carbon emissions from the operation phase are dominant and play a key role in the country's total emissions. Therefore, reducing carbon emissions in this phase is crucial for environmental protection. Especially for office buildings, optimizing envelope design and improving energy efficiency are effective means to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. Therefore, this study aims to explore the ecological design applicable to different components of office building envelopes through classic examples of excellence in energy efficiency. The evaluation standards of China, the United States and the United Kingdom are selected, and the differences and similarities of the evaluation standards are tabulated to assess the impact of different evaluation standards on green buildings. This paper concludes that a generalized building envelope design methodology can be explored through a comprehensive study of key elements such as high-performance curtain walls, eco-materials and innovative technologies, shading, ventilation and lighting design, and by combining the comparison of energy efficiency before and after retrofitting, detailed data and design detail analysis in specific cases. This paper can provide a feasible and effective program for the ecological design of office building envelope.