Development of The Urban Surface Management Software for PVS and Stormwater with Connectivity to Urban Modeling Interface

As green technologies are becoming more frequently integrated into the architectural design, there is a growing need for tools to support architects conducting environmental analyses. Especially in urban-scale analyses, green technologies such as photovoltaics (PVs) and green roofs have led to significant electricity production and reduction in carbon emissions. PVs have developed from applications of different scales, and now are a major source of electricity. Another way of managing urban areas is Low Impact Development (LID). Especially important is the potential of horizontal surfaces in urban areas, which comprise the largest portion of surfaces useful to green technology. For example, roofs represent up to 32% of the horizontal surfaces in built-up areas (Frazer, 2005), and thus are related to potential energy fluctuations and water management. In practice, it is currently quite difficult to simulate or predict the benefits and overall effects of deploying PVs because most urban-scale modeling tools provide only limited functionality when applied to green technology. This research has developed urban analysis add-ons for Rhinoceros and Grasshopper that address green technology such as PVs and LID and investigated their potential benefits. By including a case study of proposed tools with connectivity to umi (Reinhart, 2013), this research offers an important urban-scale implementation of green technology.