Michele Pescatore, Carol Fanjul, and Christophe Gilbert will present “Empowering architects through early-stage environmental intelligence” at the CDFAM – Computational Design Symposium in Barcelona on April 8–9, 2026.
The relationship between early design decisions and environmental performance is well known: choices made even before project development begins determine the vast majority of a building’s performance trajectory. What is less often accounted for, however, is that environmental performance analysis tools are generally designed for later design stages. They require detailed BIM models, expert-level parameterization, and significant setup time. By the time results are available, the project has often already evolved, meaning the analysis describes a version of the project that no longer exists.
At AIA Life Designers, we are addressing this issue through a simulation-based workflow implemented as a Revit plug-in, built on Rhino.Inside.Revit, Grasshopper, and the open-source ecosystems Honeybee and Ladybug. This tool provides simplified yet technically grounded environmental indicators—envelope performance, site permeability, carbon impact estimates, solar analysis, and daylighting—directly in real time within the architect’s working environment, at a stage where they can genuinely influence design decisions. The goal is not to replace formal engineering analyses, but to bring environmental feedback earlier into the process, where its impact is greatest.
Our presentation will include a live demonstration of the tool as well as several case studies from real projects developed by AIA in France and Italy. It will cover both the technical aspects of implementation and the concrete outcomes of integrating this type of computational environmental intelligence into everyday architectural design practice.
CDFAM Barcelona is a two-day symposium dedicated to computational design methodologies, simulation-driven engineering, and artificial intelligence in architecture, engineering, and software development. If environmental performance, BIM-integrated computation, or performance-based design are part of your practice, join me at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park on April 8–9.
Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eVxSXxDu