This paper summarizes a methodological approach for incorporating sustainable principles and the appropriate use of simulation tools into the design process. The work was completed in a year and a half of cumulatively coordinated courses taught at California Poly Pomona. Architecture students learned to use simulation tools to optimize the design for optimal indoor temperature, daylighting levels, and airflow. Throughout the process, environmental simulations and consequent design changes were carried out, informing one another in an iterative, integrated design process. The students designed low-income housing and other buildings for disaster-stricken Haiti using a unique honeycomb panel system made from recycled paper that is prefabricated and assembled in Haiti exclusively with Haitian labor. Methodologically, students learned an environmental simulation workflow to assess the design for human comfort. The primary goal of the simulation efforts was to make appropriate and timely improvements to the designs for thermal comfort where cost and simplicity are primary constraints.
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