A Review of Integrated Design Process for Building Climate Responsiveness

In recent years, increasingly prominent energy and environmental problems have pushed for higher requirements for buildings’ energy saving. According to the conventional energy-saving design method, the cooperative operation between architects, structural and equipment engineers and other professionals cannot run smoothly, so the energy-saving and emission reduction efficiency of the whole building cannot be improved effectively. The integrated design process (IDP) is a systematic method, which is applied in the scheme design stage and according to which the multi-level design factors of cities and buildings are considered comprehensively. It provides a concrete path of multi-specialty collaborative operation for the building’s climate responsive design. In this article, the development, operation process, software platform, evaluation and decision-making methods of the IDP are reviewed in a comprehensive manner. Finally, the prospect of IDP applied to the climate responsive design of buildings is analyzed, and some suggestions for future development are put forward. The IDP framework proposed in the research can provide a reference method for architectural climate responsive design practice and help formulate the future policy of energy-saving design.