The envelope shape, the most salient design characteristic in a building, has significant influence on its energy
performance. However, in the early design stages, when the envelope shape is defined, energy performance
information is normally nonexistent, due to modeling for energy simulation being a time-consuming task,
frequently overlooked at this phase. This paper presents a methodology to assist design decisions regarding
the building envelope shape considering its implications on energy performance. Basically, this methodology
involves a flexible design system, to generate alternative envelope shape designs, with integrated energy simulation,
to calculate the energy demand of each design. Shape grammars are particularly suitable to encode
architectural design systems, given their ability to encode compositional design principles. Their downside
is the complexity in developing computer implementations. This methodology converts a grammar into a
parametric design system and is illustrated with an application to the grammar for Frank Lloyd Wright's
prairie houses.