The influence of Spatial Volume on building performance in Sports Arenas

In 2020 the global construction sector accounted for 37% of CO2 emissions. In China, carbon emissions from the operation of public buildings accounted for 42% of total emissions from building operations. As large-scale public buildings, sports arenas significantly impact these emissions throughout their lifecycle. Improving energy efficiency in sports arenas is crucial for meeting carbon reduction targets.

However, simulating energy consumption in sports arenas is challenging due to factors like temperature stratification in large single-floor spaces, varying operational conditions, and high computational demands, making conventional design parameters like the shape coefficient unsuitable. Although spatial volume is a crucial factor influencing the performance of sports arenas, as evidenced by practical experience, it has not received significant attention in design practices and remains under-researched in systematic studies.

This study establishes a series of prototypical models for sports arenas with varying seating capacities based on case studies, exploring the correlations between seating capacity and spatial volume in large and medium-scale sports arenas (3,000–10,000 seats). Using the arena prototypical models, the study employs Ladybug-Honeybee and Pachyderm tools to analyze the relationships between spatial volume and arena performance, including heating and cooling energy consumption as well as acoustic reverberation time. Additionally, the study accounts for temperature stratification in large spaces by utilizing a stratified block model for simulation.

Our findings reveal a linear correlation between spatial volume and seating capacity. In case models, the average per-seat volume (Vseat) is approximately 15.8 m³ per person. In standard reference models, arenas with a rectangular contour exhibit a smaller spatial volume than those with a circular contour, with Vseat values of 13 m³ and 16.3 m³ per person, respectively. An average volume formula, V=14.66N−11129 (where N represents the seating capacity and V is the spatial volume in m³), is proposed for estimating reference spatial volumes.

Energy simulations show a strong correlation between spatial volume and energy consumption, with a proportional increase in heating and cooling energy as spatial volume grows. Besides, a stratified block model indicates that spatial volume significantly impacts cooling energy consumption. Additionally, a strong correlation was demonstrated between spatial volume and acoustic reverberation in sports arenas with rectangular contours (r = 0.87, p < 0.01) and circular contours (r = 0.93, p < 0.001).

These results highlight the potential for architects to control the performance of sports arenas more effectively by manipulating spatial volume during the initial design phase, thereby enhancing both energy efficiency and acoustic quality.