Site Analysis Metrics
Site analysis is an important tool for building designers to help guide the form and orientation of their designs to take optimum advantage of whatever amenity and resources are availabe. As the design develops, site analysis becomes even more important as a means of demonstrating compliance with building codes and meeting the energy efficiency and sustainability criteria set by clients and/or regulatory bodies. As with most building performance analysis though, there is no single metric that will solve all your design problems. Instead, you typically have to compare multiple metrics on each design iteration and try to make the best set of compromises for both your building and the impacts it will have on those that surround it. The aim of this article is to outline the range of site analysis metrics that can be computed and to loosely group them based on their input requirements.