Investigating the Relationship between Energy Consumed in Activities and the Spatial Enclosure Component to Improve the Quality of Architectural Design Process

A high-quality design of space-based activity is one of the major concerns in architectural planning, and for this, many standard spatial references have been codified to help coordinate both functions and structures. The level of the enclosure, one of the components affecting the definition and understanding of space, plays an effective role in organizing space and its utility by emphasizing dimensions fit and the correct distance of its constituent elements. However, the level of enclosure and an explanation of relevant issues have been less focused attention in architectural studies, with the concepts of this field found only in urban engineering. This study aimed to create a quantitative method to estimate the optimal spatial structure dimensions and the level of enclosure. Also, the study sought to examine the relationship between the mass-space system and activity energy. This research was applied in terms of objective and correlational in terms of nature and method. Consistent with the research process, data were quantitative, and the sources which estimated the energy consumption of the activities were used. Available dimensional standards were also used to determine the optimal size of the spaces under study. Since this study examined such factors as space volume, area, and the number of users of the space, and their relationship with the number of calories consumed in that space, the relationship between calories consumed per minute and area with the component of space volume was 98% and the relationship between calories consumed per minute and area 92%. Furthermore, quantitative formulas to recover space volume and area to calculate the calories consumed in space were demonstrated in this study.