Early option appraisal
Compare glazing, facade and assembly options while the design is still flexible.
Use cases
Carbon, energy and comfort evidence for early design decisions.
Use CASCA where options need to be compared before facade systems, assemblies and performance assumptions are fully fixed.
Design projects
Compare facade and glazing options before specifications are fixed.
Use parametric option studies to compare whole-life carbon and occupied comfort across competing facade choices. CASCA helps teams see which options improve one domain while creating trade-offs elsewhere.
Client and team workshops
Use clear visual outputs to discuss carbon, energy and comfort trade-offs with non-specialists.
Design review
Bring option evidence into review meetings before decisions become difficult to change.
Facade and envelope teams
Connect facade choices to whole-life performance consequences.
Use CASCA to test how glazing, build-up, shading and room assumptions affect whole-life carbon, operational energy, thermal comfort, acoustical comfort and visual comfort.
Facade decisions with visible consequences
Facade and envelope choices rarely affect only one metric. CASCA keeps performance domains visible together, so a lower-carbon option can be reviewed alongside energy, comfort and acoustic or visual implications.
This supports early-stage facade strategy before detailed modelling, procurement or specification work narrows the design space.
Research
Run repeatable scenario studies across carbon, energy and comfort.
Use CASCA to test controlled changes in glazing, construction, location, weather, gains and comfort criteria. Each scenario is assessed on the same basis, making it easier to compare outcomes and explain performance relationships.
Scenario testing
Study how changes in design assumptions affect whole-life carbon, operational energy and comfort outcomes.
Sensitivity studies
Identify which inputs have the strongest influence on performance, such as glazing type, build-up, orientation or occupancy assumptions.
Method comparison
Use consistent outputs to compare calculation approaches, assumptions and benchmark cases.
Teaching
Teach performance trade-offs through live option studies.
CASCA helps students understand how early design choices affect whole-life carbon, operational energy, thermal comfort, acoustical comfort and visual comfort together.
Baseline option: compare the starting design against lower-carbon and comfort-led alternatives.
Example exercise
Glazing and facade trade-offs
Students begin with a baseline room, then change one or two assumptions such as window-to-wall ratio, glazing type or shading strategy. They compare how the performance balance changes across the five CASCA domains.
Set a baseline
Define location, orientation, room size, construction, glazing and gains.
Change one variable
Test a lower-carbon facade, a comfort-led option or a different glazing strategy.
Explain the trade-off
Use the radar chart and output graphs to justify which option performs best overall.
Studio design reviews
Compare facade, glazing and material choices during tutorials or design reviews without waiting for specialist modelling.
Carbon and energy modules
Use whole-life carbon and operational energy outputs to explain embodied versus operational impacts.
Comfort and daylight exercises
Show how orientation, window-to-wall ratio, glazing and shading affect occupied room conditions.
Scenario-based assessment
Ask students to change one assumption and explain how the performance balance shifts.
