Enriching the Parametric Vocabulary of Urban Landscapes A framework for computer-aided performance evaluation of sustainable development design models

Abstract

Three decades past since the adoption of sustainability rating systems (SRS) by the Architecture Engineering and Construction industry (AEC) as standard methods for sustainable development evaluation. Nevertheless, these methods still suffer from a low adoption and implementation rate due to their manual, labor-intensive, expert dependent, and time-demanding process. The partial success of urban development evaluation puts forth the question: Are there faster, more accurate quantitative methods for advancing sustainability evaluation? The paper describes a prototype workflow for evaluating the performance of urban landscape design in a single digital workflow, based on ecological key indicator criteria. Grasshopper and Python parametric platforms were used to translate the criteria into quantitative spatial metrics. This study demonstrates optimized biomass measurement in two urban scales in line with the SITES rating system for landscape development: (XS) site development and (XL) neighborhood scale. The measured biomass density is used as a positive indication of ecosystem services capacity in the development site. The framework's quantitative workflow contributes to additional spatial feedbacks compared to the original numeric-based rating system method. Through these, composition and configuration metrics such as ecological connectivity, edge contrast, and patch shape can be visualized, measured, and compared. The metrics, which indicate performance characteristics of the design, generate new opportunities for data-rich sustainability evaluations of urban landscapes, using a single computer-aided workflow.