80. Design Process and Building Simulation

In the beginning of mankind’s architectural history the resulting form was basically distinguished by the style, the material to be found near the construction site and finally the laws of physics—as by try and error the constructive systems had been developed. Over the time, other components have been added; the form finding process of architecture has been changed especially by the advancing technology and the possibility to mathematically foresee the physical outcome. Today simulation is able to very realistically calculate building performances, such as the thermal behaviour. Among many other components, laws and legislative restrictions emerge to cope with the development of societies and their ever-growing need to organize their cities. Nowadays, modern law-making is trying to deal with one of the major concerns for the future of our species: the lack of resources to sustain the world population with its 7 billion people. The conservation of energy sources around the world is playing a major rule, as fossil resources are soon to be exhausted and atomic power generation is in the hand of only a little number of states. Further, the production of electrical energy via carbon or oil is named one of the main responsibilities for air pollution and climate change. In Brazil the concerns started in the 1980s, with the oil crisis, but have been carried on to become part of the legislation only in the 1990s. In February of 2010 a proposal to evaluate the energy efficiency of buildings called Label PROCEL has been published.