Experimental Infrastructure Design for Energy-Independent Car Park Building Based on Parametric Photovoltaic Facade System

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a new architectural model that responds to environmental pollution. The subject of this study is infrastructure buildings related to automobiles, which cause environmental pollution. Parking facilities accommodate several vehicles, necessitating the design of large-scale parking infrastructure. In this study, the parametric design of an energy-independent building was developed targeting the facade of a large-scale parking facility. As basic research for the development of the parametric design, a parking building was planned toward the optimization of parking space. Based on this basic research, a kinetic photovoltaic facade was developed to achieve optimal renewable energy generation from the perspective of eco-friendly architectural design. Energy simulation using building information modeling (BIM) on the kinetic photovoltaic system developed in this study over a period of one year resulted in the generation of a total of 692,386 kWh·year⁻¹. The novelty of this study is the development of a kinetic photovoltaic facade that is oriented according to the optimal tilt angle every month, focusing on the infrastructure. The significance of the kinetic photovoltaic system lies in the fact that it not only maximizes the efficiency of renewable energy generation but also presents a new architectural design model.

1. Introduction

Rapid climate change, caused by environmental pollution, threatens the survival of Earth. Climate change is rapidly altering human living spaces, and humans are seeking multifaceted solutions to cope with these changes. The construction industry is a major source of environmental pollution on Earth [1,2]. This sector accounts for a quarter of global CO₂ emissions and more than one-third of the total energy consumption [3,4]. Carbon dioxide emitted from buildings is accelerating global warming and causing rapid climate change worldwide [5,6,7]. The construction sector, directly linked to environmental pollution, seeks ways to reduce the large amount of energy it currently consumes and to produce clean energy within buildings that does not cause environmental pollution. The architectural field’s response to reduce such environmental pollution is not limited to individual buildings but is expanding to a citywide scale [8,9,10].

Manmade climates are designed to reduce urban pollution and create sustainable cities. The concept of a manmade climate is a new way of thinking about climate regulations targeting cities [11,12]. This concept began with considerations of the internal and external environments of the buildings that comprise a city. Since then, it has expanded to encompass research on the scale of an entire city, not just individual buildings, for a sustainable urban environment. Currently, the concept of a man-made climate is being integrated into smart city planning. Various IoT-based technologies are being applied to urban planning to concretize the concept of a man-made climate in smart cities [13,14]. Representative research on manmade climates related to outdoor spaces includes controlling air and water pollution in urban areas using digital sensors and regulating traffic volume according to air pollution levels [15,16]. Examples of manmade climates related to indoor spaces include automatically adjustable sunshades for optimal indoor environments and automatic air circulation devices that respond to indoor air pollution levels [17,18]. However, these studies, which are based on the concept of a manmade climate, have limitations in immediately improving the urban environment due to the rapidly increasing rate of Earth’s environmental pollution. In response to these urban realities, immediate measures are being taken to incorporate the concept of a human-made climate. The most visible anthropogenic climate policy targeting large cities is related to vehicles in urban areas. These policies aim to reduce the density of vehicles in cities by charging congestion fees for vehicles entering the cities. Immediate improvements in the urban environment are expected by reducing the density of vehicles in city centers. Since 2003, London has been the first city in the world to impose a congestion charge of GBP 5 for vehicles entering the city center, and most recently, New York introduced a USD 15 congestion charge for vehicles entering Manhattan beginning in June 2024 [19,20].

The significant discrepancies between the proposed ideal urban planning for sustainable development and the actual outcomes after implementation are due to various social and spatial factors. This study pursues empirical research by applying the concept of a manmade climate to improve specific urban environmental problems. It aims to develop new climate-based architectural designs to address the environmental problems caused by automobiles among various urban issues. Based on the analysis of case studies conducted thus far, new climate-based architectural designs have been implemented as buildings that incorporate new technologies. Buildings respond to various climate changes through interactions between their interiors and exteriors. Buildings have a significant influence on the urban environment, not only as single objects but also as compositions of various buildings. Consequently, buildings within a city play an essential role in establishing its cultural, social, and urban environments through their connections with their surroundings. Accordingly, this study aims to advance urban design through architectural innovation. The core aim of this study was to utilize urban buildings, streets, and natural conditions as design elements from an environmental perspective to develop new architectural designs.

The architectural design proposed in this study targets car park buildings in downtown areas. Car park buildings are important infrastructures that accommodate a large number of cars before they enter the city and are utilized to solve parking problems in the city center. The improvement of the urban environment through the suppression of vehicle activity in these car park buildings is an indirect design strategy from an environmental perspective. This study developed a design that produces renewable energy by utilizing solar energy as a direct design strategy. A kinetic photovoltaic facade system that moves according to sunlight is being developed to maximize the efficiency of renewable energy generation. The moving facade design proposed in this study will become a new research model in the field of self-sufficient-energy architecture.

This study used a BIM-based parametric design. A parametric algorithm was developed such that the various variables required in the research process were reflected in the design. Because this study pursues empirical research based on the concept of a man-made climate, it also considers environmental variables for sustainable architecture. The parametric design of this study is novel in that it develops not only an architectural design but also an environmentally friendly architectural model.

2. Background

2.1. Notion of Manmade Climate

The concept of a manmade climate, which first emerged in Europe in the early 20th century and centered on Germany, aims to control the urban environment through buildings during the urbanization process [21]. This concept applies to regulating the climate of not only external spaces but also internal spaces. Furthermore, the target of climate regulation is not just a single building but also the entire city. In particular, cities, which are residential spaces for many urban residents, are composed of various buildings. To control the urban climate, plans should be made that consider the entire urban system rather than a single building. Work on manmade climates, which is based on an understanding of these complex urban systems, is carried out through interdisciplinary exchanges in various fields, such as climatology, architecture, urban planning, and ecology.

The concept of a manmade climate in architecture was proposed by the Bauhaus and the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), a group of modernist architects, in the early 20th century. They proposed “light, fresh air, and space” as the three essential elements for architecture and sought to control the climate of urban spaces beyond the interior spaces of buildings [22]. Modernist architects have proposed the development of immediate empirical models of technology-integrated architecture that apply the concept of a human-made climate. The concept of a manmade climate, ideally presented by modernist architects, began to be implemented as a specific project in the 21st century. This architectural implementation of the 21st-century manmade climate concept is not the result of inheriting the intellectual architectural concepts of modern architects but rather a response to serious climate change caused by environmental pollution. Global warming and the Anthropocene have sparked new architectural interest in the concept of climate determinism [23]. Architecture is being gradually developed to control unexpected natural phenomena.

A concrete example of an empirical study that implemented the concept of a manmade climate in the 21st century is the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED), a housing complex built in Beddington, England, in 2000 [24]. BedZED was created with the goal of developing a housing complex that does not use fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas, as energy sources. The city aims to be carbon-free by not using fossil fuels; to this end, the buildings that make up the residential complex utilize renewable energy, and an energy-independent model has been introduced for transportation. Residential buildings have adopted energy-saving architectural designs. Passive energy building design methods utilizing building orientation and insulation, and active energy building design methods that generate energy from solar panels and steam have been developed. In addition, a car-sharing system was implemented to minimize the traffic demand within the complex, and auxiliary facilities, such as parking towers for storing shared and electric vehicles, were installed. BedZED was the first project to establish the concept of a manmade climate for eco-friendly architecture and cities. Recently, with the advancement of IoT technology, the concept of a manmade climate has been expanded and applied to the construction field. Recently, futuristic architecture and cities have been designed using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze massive amounts of IoT data. The purpose of a city that combines IoT and AI is to create an optimal natural environment for human survival beyond the efficiency of city operation [25,26,27].

These urban spaces that incorporate digital technology advancements are called “smart cities” and are being created in cities around the world. In Korea, where the IoT infrastructure is best established, a smart city has been under construction in Sejong City since 2018, with a goal of completion by 2030 [28]. The future city values pursued by Sejong City’s smart city are summarized as dematerialization, decentralization, and smart technology [29]. To realize these future city values, the architectural field is applied to the mobility field, which plays an important role in urban infrastructure. The most significant feature of Sejong City’s smart city plan, especially in relation to mobility, is that it is based on shared cars. All the individuals entering Sejong Smart City park their cars in large parking towers and use self-driving cars, shared cars, or bicycles to travel around the city. The mobility concept of Sejong Smart City is significant in that it expands the concept of a manmade climate from being limited to the natural environment to a philosophical concept of coexistence with civil society.

This study focuses on the concept of mobility, which is an important element in smart city planning. Among the various elements that comprise the concept of mobility, the car park building is the subject of our investigation. The car park building developed in this study was designed with the following objectives. First, it is necessary to secure the maximum space possible for the facility considering the space constraints of an urbanized area. Second, the car park building was planned as an energy-self-sufficient model incorporating shared mobility and an empirical research model that implements the concept of a man-made climate in terms of environmental conservation through renewable energy generation. The concept of man-made-climate-based parking buildings will be introduced in future urban redevelopment and city planning endeavors and will play a key role in smart city infrastructure.

2.2. Car Park Building as an Infrastructure Design

Automobiles are the most essential elements in modern society, as they are the primary means of personal and material transportation. A critical awareness of automobiles in architecture was theorized by 20th-century modernist urban planners and architects. These modernist architectural thinkers recognized automobiles as a key element of urban development, not merely as a means of transportation. As a result, they predicted that more cars would flow into the city center, leading to the construction of various road networks and the planning of spaces to accommodate cars. In the era of modernist architecture, parking lots were often planned using pilotis structures on the ground floor of buildings. Consequently, the ground level became a space occupied by vehicles rather than pedestrians. The automobile-first policies of these modernist thinkers resulted in the pollution of urban environments. The greenhouse effect, which is currently the primary cause of rapid climate change, is primarily due to excessive carbon emissions from automobiles. Electric vehicles (EVs), which do not emit carbon, are increasingly used to reduce the greenhouse effect. However, as of 2022, EVs accounted for only 14% of the market, while gasoline-based carbon-emitting vehicles still dominate [30]. There has been a global movement to curb the demand for carbon-emitting cars, particularly those entering large cities. Individuals who want to enter the city must change their means of transportation to shared cars or electric cars and cannot enter the city directly using their own cars. Large-scale parking buildings are planned to accommodate cars that cannot enter the cities. Parking buildings, which play a role in these important urban infrastructures, are also being actively introduced into “pedestrian-friendly cities” that are being developed for environmental protection and healthy cities [31,32]. The concept of walkable cities aims to maintain protective levels of health throughout the life cycle through low-impact development, transit-oriented development, and car-free cities [33]. To promote public transportation within the city and create a car-free, pedestrian city, residents are encouraged to limit their use of personal cars as much as possible. A route was planned that does not rely on cars as much as possible, based on a 400 m walking radius for individuals [34,35]. Outside the walkable radius, cars are stored in parking buildings to travel to other cities. Today, parking buildings are more than simple structures that accommodate vehicles; they are integrated with new IoT-based smart technologies and serve as important urban infrastructure for each city as a test bed for shared mobility [36].

2.3. Parametric Design in Architecture

The architectural design process involves a series of interactions. At each stage of the design process, architects face new challenges and find ways to address them, ultimately producing innovative and final results for a single building. Architects currently use computer programs to design buildings. Despite the usefulness of these programs, designing a single building requires complex and interactive processes. This reciprocal process implies that the design is performed while considering various variables in the design process. Owing to the development of computer programs, complex relationships between variables for architectural design have been established and implemented in final buildings. Parametric design software was used to establish the relationships between various variables in the architectural design process.

In parametric computer-aided design software, a parameter is substituted into an equation to determine the final value. The extended concept of parameters for architectural design is not fixed but rather represents a range of possibilities for obtaining a final value [37]. Architectural designs based on this extended parameter concept have the advantage of producing various design results even with only a few controlled parameters. The representative software for parametric design systems includes Grasshopper for Rhino and Dynamo for Revit. Parametric designs in architecture are divided into propagation- and constraint-based systems [38,39]. Propagation systems compute from the known to the unknown using a dataflow model, whereas constraint-based systems solve sets of continuous and discrete constraints [40]. Architectural designs using propagation systems produce unpredictable results by inputting various variables into a constructed parametric algorithm. On the other hand, a constraint-based system involves constructing an algorithm for the geometric components of a building [41]. The algorithm based on the constraint-based system completes the final building by responding to the constraints of the elements that comprise the building. This study used a parametric design based on a constraint-based system. The shape of a building changes in real-time according to the variables and constraints. Particularly, constraints applied to parametric design algorithms are diverse, including design information such as the dimensions of the shape and the latitude and longitude of the location where the building will be constructed, the sun’s elevation angle, and a specific period. Parametric design simplifies the design process and saves time and effort using rational techniques. Complex geometric problems can be solved using automated processes and algorithms to evolve the design models. Parametric design implements a building that changes instantly according to various variables in a three-dimensional virtual space, which not only minimizes problems that may occur at actual construction sites but also increases the completeness of the building. A two-stage parametric design was used in this study. First, a parametric design related to the shape of the building was conducted. The algorithm for parametric design utilizes Autodesk’s Revit and the Revit plug-in software, Dynamo. Second, renewable energy generation was simulated by targeting the designed building. This study was conducted on the design of a self-sufficient-energy building based on solar energy, and a simulation of renewable energy generation was performed using the Revit plug-in software, Insight.

3. Methodology

This study consisted of four stages. First, a car park building was planned as the architectural design progressed. The design aimed to maximize parking efficiency, assuming it was built on land of a specific size within the city center. Second, scientific information related to an urban climate was compiled. To develop a solar-based self-sufficient building design, climate information regarding the latitude and longitude of the target area where the parking structure would be built was investigated. Third, architectural simulations were conducted using design programs. The simulation was implemented through a parametric design based on building information modeling (BIM) in a virtual three-dimensional space. The parametric design was performed using Autodesk’s Revit 2023 program [42]. A parametric design using Revit was implemented with Revit’s plug-in software, Dynamo, and Insight [43,44]. Dynamo software builds algorithms for parametric designs. The built algorithm allows the variables input by the designer to be immediately reflected in the design. During the architectural design process, various parameters, such as the size, type, and color of the materials, were incorporated into the design of the building in real time through an algorithm built using Dynamo. This algorithm not only enables the immediate incorporation of changes into the architectural design based on the modification of specified variables but also allows new variables that need to be considered during the architectural design process to be easily reflected in the design. Insight is an algorithm used in PV-based renewable energy simulations. The amount of renewable energy generated by the PV system was derived by inputting the variables of the location of the target site and the period of the simulation into Insight. This study developed a parametric design using the Dynamo and Insight plug-in software for Revit. Dynamo is responsible for optimizing the architectural design, and Insight is responsible for simulating renewable energy generation. The parametric design constructed in this study establishes a method that combines architectural design and energy simulations to derive an optimal architectural design. The final stage of this study involved evaluating the architectural design developed through parametric design from a sustainable architectural perspective. An evaluation was conducted on a car park building based on a parametric design from the perspective of environmental and architectural design (Figure 1).

4. Design

4.1. Car Park Building Design to Optimize Parking Efficiency

The car park building, the subject of this study, was planned to accommodate approximately 200 vehicles. Parking buildings built in the city center must be able to handle a specific amount of parking demand and, as they are buildings with multiple floors, must secure a large number of parking spaces. The basic plan of a car park building is divided into floor and cross-section plans. First, the floor plan was based on the size of a car and the dimensions of a car’s turning radius. The standard parking space in the floor plan of a car park building is 2.5 m wide and 5 m long, which are the specifications for one vehicle, with 6 m between parking spaces to allow for vehicle movement in both directions. Second, the cross-section plan of the car park building ensures that the minimum floor height for vehicle movement is 2.6 m, which is the height of one floor of the car park building. The design of a car park building that secures approximately 200 parking spaces is in progress based on the basic dimensions of the floor plan and cross-sectional plan of such a building.

When planning a car parking space, the most crucial aspect is the means of vehicle movement that connects each floor. Assuming that vehicle ramps, which are commonly used in parking buildings, are placed on each floor, a four-story building is planned on a site area of 1904 m² (68 m long, 28 m wide) to accommodate approximately 200 vehicles, as assumed in this study. If people move around the car park building using elevators and stairs and vehicles move around each floor using semicircular curved ramps, the car park building can accommodate 208 vehicles (Figure 2). The semicircular curved ramp shown in Figure 2 is the most important design element for vehicle access to each floor of the building. However, the parking efficiency is reduced because parking spaces are not secured in areas where curved ramps are installed. This study aims to overcome the shortcomings of parking ramps and develop an architectural plan to optimize parking efficiency, which is the primary goal of car park buildings.

The parking efficiency optimization design pursued in this study aims to secure the maximum number of parking spaces within a limited area. To increase parking efficiency, this study planned to use each floor as a ramp instead of using circular ramps, which serve only as vertical vehicle paths. The design of each floor connected to the top floor at a constant slope provides a vertical path for vehicles to move to each floor via the sloped floor, while also offering parking spaces on the same sloped floor. This design allows for simultaneous movement and parking of vehicles through coexisting parking spaces in the vehicle’s vertical movement line. The parking lot floor slope was planned to be 2.5%. The building floor was designed to slope at 2.5% to meet the 3% barrier-free design standard. If the floor slope is less than 3%, there is no need to install rest areas every 10 m for pedestrians using wheelchairs [45]. The building floor, sloped at 2.5%, provides ease of movement for people using wheelchairs without the need for assistance, aligning with barrier-free design principles. From an architectural perspective, the entire floor was constructed with a 2.5% slope without a flat rest area for wheelchair users in the middle of the ramp, simplifying construction and achieving a high level of completion. The vertical circulation of the car park building for the general public consists of elevators and stairwells located on the south and north sides of the center of the building. Each stairwell, placed centrally in the building, ensures convenience for users and complies with building codes for fire prevention by being located within 40 m of any parking space [46]. In the event of a fire, an escape distance of up to 40 m must be secured from anywhere inside the building to a vertical staircase to facilitate quick evacuation. Based on these guidelines, this study designed a floor plan that complied with fire regulations by setting the longest escape distance to a direct staircase at 39 m. As a result of planning a four-story car park building with a 2.5% slope, a total of 216 parking spaces were secured (Figure 3). The car park building with the entire floor sloped, as shown in Figure 3, secured eight more parking spaces than the car park building with a vertical vehicle movement line planned using a semicircular curved ramp, as shown in Figure 2. Ultimately, the car park building developed in this study, where each floor is planned to have a 2.5% sloped ramp, has higher parking efficiency than the car park building where semicircular curved ramps are placed on each floor.

4.2. Kinetic Photovoltaic Facade System

To increase the energy self-sufficiency of a car park building, photovoltaics are installed on the building facade. Photovoltaics are located on the east, west, and south sides, excluding the north, where there is no direct sunlight. The vertical spacing of the photovoltaics on the southern building facade is 650 cm to avoid shadow interference between the panels. The standard size of a single photovoltaic panel is 20 cm in width and 100 cm in length. Photovoltaic panels of this standard are placed on an area measuring 68 m in width and 13 m in height on the south facade of the building (Figure 4).

The photovoltaic system is designed to move monthly according to the optimal tilt angle (β) to maximize the efficiency of renewable energy generation. Equation (1) is a formula that derives the optimal tilt angle of the photovoltaic depending on the latitude of the target location [47]. β represents the optimal photovoltaic slope value, φ is the latitude of the study area, and a₁ and a₂ are coefficients derived from the solar declination determined monthly according to the Earth’s latitude.

β = a₁ + a₂ × φ

(1)

This study was conducted in Seoul, the capital of South Korea (φ = 37.5). The optimal tilt angles (β) from January to December according to Equation (1) are as shown in

Table 1. Optimal tilt angle from January to December in Seoul, the study area.

Month	Solar Declination (deg)	Coefficients		Optimal Tilt Angle (deg)
		a1	a2	β
January	−21.269	31.33	0.68	56.8°
February	−13.289	16.25	0.86	48.5°
March	−2.819	6.80	0.84	38.3°
April	9.415	−6.07	0.87	26.6°
May	18.792	−14.95	0.87	17.7°
June	23.314	−19.27	0.87	13.4°
July	21.517	−15.65	0.83	15.5°
August	13.784	−4.23	0.75	23.9°
September	2.217	6.42	0.77	35.3°
October	−9.599	15.84	0.83	47.0°
November	−19.148	23.61	0.84	55.1°
December	−23.335	30.56	0.76	59.1°

.

The car park building has a total of four floors, with the east and west facades each measuring 28 m in width and 13 m in height. The size of the photovoltaic to be placed on the east and west building facades is the same as that placed on the south side (20 cm wide and 100 cm long) and is placed vertically in a unit module 1 m wide and 1.3 m long on the exterior wall of the building (Figure 5, left). To maximize the generation of renewable energy from photovoltaics, first, photovoltaics are placed according to the monthly optimal tilt angle (β) derived by Equation (1). Second, the photovoltaics should be tilted towards the south at an angle of α to ensure maximum exposure to direct sunlight (Figure 5, right).

The angle α, at which the east and west photovoltaics are tilted toward the south by the optimal tilt angle, was derived by a parametric algorithm built with Dynamo (Figure 6). The angle α of the southward direction was input as a variable of the algorithm, and the amount of renewable energy generated by photovoltaics placed on the south and west facades was measured using Insight, a renewable energy generation simulation software.

As a result of the simulation, α was derived, which generated the most renewable energy (

Table 2. South-facing tilt angle (α) for optimizing renewable energy generation for photovoltaics in the east and west.

Month	East Facade	West Facade
	α	α
January	20°	30°
February	30°	30°
March	30°	40°
April	50°	60°
May	60°	70°
June	60°	70°
July	60°	70°
August	50°	60°
September	40°	50°
October	30°	40°
November	30°	40°
December	30°	30°

).

4.3. Energy Generation Simulation of Kinetic Photovoltaic Facade System

To measure the amount of renewable energy generated from the facade of a car park building, a photovoltaic system designed for energy optimization was implemented in a virtual three-dimensional space. The specific photovoltaic energy simulation process is as follows: first, the building and photovoltaics were placed using Revit software to construct a physical building environment. Second, we built an algorithm to implement a moving photovoltaic system using Dynamo, a plug-in program for Revit software. The algorithm designed with Dynamo is based on a constraint-based system, which creates a final structure by applying different constraints to the elements comprising the building. The algorithm was designed to adjust the photovoltaic by inputting the optimal tilt angle monthly on the south, east, and west facades of the car park building. Third, we measured the amount of renewable energy generated on the three sides of the building. To conduct a solar-energy-based energy generation simulation, we utilized Insight, a plug-in program for Revit software. A virtual space environment was established to run the energy generation simulation. The study location was Seoul, and the research environment was set for the period from January to December 2023. The period for which the photovoltaics were exposed to sunlight was set from 6 AM to 8 PM. Figure 7 shows an example of a simulation of energy generation from kinetic photovoltaics attached to the facade of a car park building in March 2023. The energy generation simulation results for March 2023 show that the building facades with the highest energy production were south-facing, west-facing, and east-facing, in that order.

A simulation of solar energy generation using BIM was conducted for a car park building in Seoul for one year, from January to December 2023. As a result, 692,386 kWh·year⁻¹ of energy was generated from a photovoltaic area of 2034 m². The energy generation efficiency was lowest in July (25,856 kWh·month⁻¹) and highest in March (83,348 kWh·month⁻¹) (

Table 3. Energy generation from kinetic photovoltaics in 2023.

Month	Optimal Tilt Angle	Total Surface Area	Energy Generation
	β	m−2	kWh·Month−1
January	56.8°	2034	52,658
February	48.5°	2034	62,146
March	38.3°	2034	83,348
April	26.6°	2034	67,087
May	17.7°	2034	47,541
June	13.4°	2034	43,238
July	15.5°	2034	25,856
August	23.9°	2034	64,638
September	35.3°	2034	75,991
October	47.0°	2034	69,612
November	55.1°	2034	52,416
December	59.1°	2034	47,855
	Total		692,386 kWh·year−1

).

5. Results and Discussion

This study was conducted to construct a building in a virtual space and simulate the production of solar-based renewable energy. The research measured the amount of energy generated by kinetic photovoltaics placed on three sides of a car park building to be built in Seoul, excluding the north side, over one year through 2023. A car park building was selected as the research subject because such buildings are an essential urban element for the operation of a city. Car park buildings require an economically efficient design that accommodates the maximum number of vehicles in a limited urban space and a creative architectural design that goes beyond the functional aspect of simply storing vehicles and blending in with the urban landscape. First, we planned to construct the entire parking lot floor as a ramp, instead of a large ramp for the vehicle traffic line connecting each floor of the building, for an economical architectural design. The results of the floor plan of the car park building demonstrate that the plan in which the entire floor of the building was composed of ramps secured more parking space than the plan that included a large vehicle ramp. This is a basic study on architectural design, focusing specifically on creating an optimal design for a parking lot in an urbanized space. If we assume that an actual parking space is to be built based on the results of this study, various variables involved in the construction process, such as the construction manpower and budget, should be considered in the parametric design established in this study. Second, photovoltaics were applied to the building facades for creative building design. Car park buildings have the advantage of being able to attach large photovoltaics because they do not require an interior-to-exterior view or the creation of a large building facade. The photovoltaics to be attached to the building facade were planned to move according to the optimal tilt angle every month. Based on the floor plan and facade plan of the car park building, this study implemented the building and the photovoltaic facade in a virtual space using BIM and then simulated renewable energy generation. To increase energy generation efficiency, photovoltaics were placed on the south, west, and east facades, excluding the north. The research site for the simulation was Seoul, and the period was limited to January–December 2023. As a result, the lowest energy generation (25,856 kWh·month⁻¹) was recorded in July, and the highest energy generation (83,348 kWh·month⁻¹) was recorded in March. The total energy generated in 2023 was 692,386 kWh·year⁻¹. In South Korea (the research site), the energy generation efficiency is the highest when the installation angle of the fixed photovoltaic is 30° [48]. In this study, a photovoltaic fixed at a 30° angle was installed on the facade of a car park building, and a simulation was conducted by setting the exposure period to 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day from January to December 2023. As a result, a total of 595,593 kWh·year⁻¹ of renewable energy was generated. Ultimately, the energy generation efficiency of the kinetic photovoltaic facade developed in this study, which moves according to the optimal tilt angle every month, was proven to be high.

Assuming that LED streetlights (60 Wh·h⁻¹) installed in the city center operate for 12 h a day, the 692,386 kWh·year⁻¹ derived from this study can supply electricity to a total of 2634 streetlights.

6. Conclusions

Rapid climate change, caused by environmental pollution, poses a threat to human survival worldwide. Cities, as centers of production where many people live, play a crucial role in the global environment. Improving the urban environment is an immediate alternative to solving the problem of climate change. From this perspective, this study targets parking structures related to automobiles, which are significant sources of pollution in urban environments. Parking structures control the flow of cars in city centers and play a key role in eco-friendly urban planning, such as in pedestrian cities. In addition to the indirect environmental benefits that these parking structures provide by controlling the number of cars, this study proposes a direct alternative for environmental conservation by planning parking structures as self-sufficient energy models. To develop self-sufficient-energy buildings, this study planned to install photovoltaics on the building facade to generate renewable energy in addition to its role in architectural design. The originality of this study lies in the fact that the photovoltaic, which produces solar-based renewable energy, was designed to move according to the optimal tilt angle every month. Firstly, moving photovoltaic systems can maximize renewable energy generation compared with fixed systems in terms of renewable energy generation efficiency. Secondly, from an architectural design perspective, kinetic photovoltaics installed on the exterior walls of buildings can be applied as elements of architectural design. The building facade challenges the conventional idea that it is a fixed architectural element, and various fluid building facades can be applied to architectural design. Additionally, as photovoltaic materials are diversified, the kinetic facade developed in this study can be diversified by utilizing various colors and transparent photovoltaics. Kinetic photovoltaics installed on the exterior walls of buildings have the advantage of maximizing renewable energy generation because they utilize not only the rooftop but also the wide exterior walls of buildings.

The kinetic photovoltaic facade system proposed in this study will provide basic research data for self-sufficient-energy building models and new architectural design fields. However, a mechanical system for moving the photovoltaic panels was not proposed in this study. Future research is planned to develop manual or automatic systems to drive kinetic photovoltaics. For the automatic system, the amount of self-energy required to operate the kinetic photovoltaic system was measured and compared with the total renewable energy generated throughout the building. A comparative analysis of the energy required to operate a kinetic photovoltaic system and the total amount of energy generated from the building facade is important for determining the final energy generation efficiency of the kinetic photovoltaic system. It is also necessary to specify the photovoltaic model used in this study. If experiments are conducted using photovoltaics optimal for the climatic conditions of the research site and the intended use of the building, more accurate data can be obtained. Future studies should be conducted in collaboration with computer and new materials engineering. Since this is an architectural study targeting parking buildings, research on the experiences of users in parking lots is also important. In particular, this study planned for the entire building floor to be sloped to optimize parking space. A study on the spatial satisfaction of pedestrians (especially wheelchair users) moving through the space will be conducted in the future regarding the use of public facilities planned with ramps.

The infrastructure-based architecture developed in this study has the potential to develop not only specific research results in response to environmental pollution but also architectural design fields and various interdisciplinary studies.