A Proposal for Building Envelope Retrofit on the Bonaventure Hotel: A Case Study Examining Energy and Carbon

A unique building in downtown Los Angeles has been selected as a testbed for various hypothetical studies of facade replacement strategies, for energy and carbon control. The main objective of this study is to analyze the energy performance of an existing building, retrofit its facade, consider CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and enhance environmental sustainability. Embodied carbon, facade limitations, and combinatorial iterations were all design suggestions in the Revit to IES-VE simulation. Over 300 facade retrofit alternative studies have been completed for this research, comparing a variety of horizontal louvers, vertical fins, brise soleils, and overhangs. This study proposes and analyzes a small set of design alternatives for the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.