Enhancing Energy Efficiency of High-Rise Buildings through Generative Design of Balcony Configurations

The building sector, responsible for about 40% of nonrenewable energy use and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, urgently needs architectural strategies that integrate energy efficiency goals with aesthetic design. In our urbanizing world, vertical cities offer sustainability solutions, but balancing comfort and urban life fulfillment remains a challenge. Balconies, modern equivalents to courtyards and gardens, have gained recognition for improving indoor quality, ventilation, thermal comfort, and well-being. This study develops a framework for automatic balcony generations in high-rise buildings, incorporating user-defined inputs such as building geometry and specific balcony characteristics such as area, dispersion, and orientation. Employing the generative tool, users would be able to identify optimal designs with minimum total thermal load and enhanced annual thermal comfort ratio (%). Applied to a 20-story case study building in Tehran, Iran, this study evaluates the impact of balcony design on thermal loads and comfort across 797 scenarios. The results show that thermal load is influenced by balcony area ratios, vertical dispersion, and orientation. Energy savings of up to 22% are possible with the suggested balcony designs. This research highlights the importance of balcony design in urban architecture and offers insights for architects to balance sustainability with aesthetic aspects.