Computer graphics is often used to visualize complex imagery for the
film and game industries, however, computer graphics can also be used
to solve a diverse set of transdisciplinary problems. In this talk, I
will introduce research that bridges building energy modeling and
simulation and computer graphics. Buildings are a leading contributor
to total energy consumption in the United States –responsible for
over 48 percent of the total energy use in our country. Architecture,
engineering, and construction (AEC) is currently a 10 trillion dollar
industry and one of the top consumers of raw materials. I’ll talk
about our recent projects that focus on modeling and simulating
responsive architecture and approaches to retrofitting through
numerical modeling and simulation to provide collaboration tools to
the design process. I will introduce our first principle physics-based
approach to energy and light simulation that produces more informed
design choices to architects and engineers and show how computer
graphics has been formalized to conduct basic research in building
science. The design, analysis, and construction of sustainable
buildings require an unprecedented degree of technical sophistication
that demands a new transdisciplinary synthesis of engineering,
architecture, and social science.