This work aims to apply parametric design in order to minimize the embodied greenhouse gas emissions and operational energy in a zero emission building in Oslo, Norway. An original generative workflow based on parametric design was developed in the Grasshopper environment to conduct energy analyses such as solar radiation and daylighting, and environmental impact analysis, in order to evaluate the embodied and operational greenhouse gas emissions of the building. The workflow was generated in order to parametrically control several building features while varying the building shape, the dimensions of construction components and the quantity of materials. The process leads to the generation of shapes with the least environmental impact. The workflow allows the modification of the initial shape of the Base Case by running iterative simulations through the Galapagos and Octopus evolutionary solvers. For each stage of the shape's optimization, through passive and active strategies, the embodied emissions and energy balances were estimated in order to evaluate how the building design would vary in terms of energy and environmental impact and to identify the implications for the design. This paper shows how design options with low levels of embodied emissions can be generated and optimized automatically, and also demonstrates how a parametric design approach provides the designer with suggestions of low-impact solutions, which can then be integrated and considered early in, and throughout, the design process in a holistic manner.

A case study to evaluate the occupants' satisfaction in relation to two different control strategies (fully automatic and manual) for blind and ceiling lights use in cell offices was carried on in Trondheim, Norway. A group of 11 participants with varying age, gender, and ethnicity, used two test cells of a laboratory as a workspace primarily carrying out office tasks at a personal computer for a total of 19 calendar days. The participants were asked to answer a computer-based questionnaire for reporting their perceived thermal and visual comfort. Concurrently, measurements of the indoor operative temperature, illuminance level, and operation of windows, blinds, and ceiling lights were registered. Results shows that the use of the automatic control strategy led to a higher visual discomfort, which in addition led to a higher thermal discomfort, despite this last not caused by a higher average operative temperature.

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This paper analyses and compares the embodied and operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of two nearly Zero Energy Buildings, a student housing building in Trondheim, Norway, and a residential building in Växjö, Sweden. The student housing in Trondheim, Moholt Allmenning Tower B, is a 9storey tower composed of cross laminated timber (CLT) panels and concrete floor slabs with a total heated floor area of 3801 m 2. The apartment building in Växjö, House A, consists of 8 floors composed of glued laminated timber (glulam) beams with a wood-cassette floor, and concrete slabs with a total heated floor area of 3483 m 2. The results show that the use of CLT has the largest reduction of total GHG emissions due to substituting concrete elements in the structural frame. The comparative assessment of the external wall and the internal floor constructions shows that the use of CLT adds marginal GHG emissions per unit of area of component. The calculation of operational GHG emissions shows that the use of the Nordic electricity mix disfavours the fullelectric energy system of Moholt Allmenning Tower B, in contrast to the district heating used in Norra Vallen Building A.