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Volume 40, Issue 3 (2025)
GeoRes 2025, 40(3): 253-265 |
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Received: 2025/06/9 | Accepted: 2025/08/16 | Published: 2025/09/1
Received: 2025/06/9 | Accepted: 2025/08/16 | Published: 2025/09/1
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Hosseini Z, Mofidi Shemirani S, Labib Zadeh R. Water Performance Optimization of Typical Residential Apartments in Tehran. GeoRes 2025; 40 (3) :253-265
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1- Department of Architecture, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Architecture and Urban Development, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Architecture and Urban Development, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract (338 Views)
Aims: The exponential increase in water consumption during the construction and operation phases of residential apartments in Tehran has led to critical water use conditions in the city. Accordingly, this study aims to optimize the geometrical characteristics of a typical residential apartment based on building water performance to inform urban-scale planning strategies.
Methodology: The research method combines building water performance modeling and simulation with regression modeling and optimization analysis. The simulation tools include Python programming and the Ladybug Tools plugin within the Grasshopper visual programming environment. Two optimization processes were conducted, each with 9,000 models generated across 300 generations, resulting in a total of 18,000 simulations.
Findings: Based on the dual optimization tests, the study achieved reductions of up to 53.98% in embodied water of construction materials, 56.76% in construction-phase water consumption 54.29% in operational water use, and 46.51% in mechanical systems water demand by altering spatial layout parameters of the apartment. The results indicate that east-west elongation of the residential unit on an equal building footprint, reduction of interior space area and height, placement of the vertical circulation core in the southeast, and positioning the living room on the west side with a north-south elongation significantly improve building water performance.
Conclusion: The spatial layout characteristics of residential apartments, in a complex and multidimensional model, have a significant impact on building water performance and, consequently, national water consumption. The proposed generative design model can reduce more than 50% of residential apartment water consumption from material production to the operation phase, thereby contributing to environmental, economic, and social sustainability, as well as promoting sustainable urban development.
Methodology: The research method combines building water performance modeling and simulation with regression modeling and optimization analysis. The simulation tools include Python programming and the Ladybug Tools plugin within the Grasshopper visual programming environment. Two optimization processes were conducted, each with 9,000 models generated across 300 generations, resulting in a total of 18,000 simulations.
Findings: Based on the dual optimization tests, the study achieved reductions of up to 53.98% in embodied water of construction materials, 56.76% in construction-phase water consumption 54.29% in operational water use, and 46.51% in mechanical systems water demand by altering spatial layout parameters of the apartment. The results indicate that east-west elongation of the residential unit on an equal building footprint, reduction of interior space area and height, placement of the vertical circulation core in the southeast, and positioning the living room on the west side with a north-south elongation significantly improve building water performance.
Conclusion: The spatial layout characteristics of residential apartments, in a complex and multidimensional model, have a significant impact on building water performance and, consequently, national water consumption. The proposed generative design model can reduce more than 50% of residential apartment water consumption from material production to the operation phase, thereby contributing to environmental, economic, and social sustainability, as well as promoting sustainable urban development.
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