<![CDATA[Building envelope decisions made during early design stages strongly affect construction expenditure, operational energy demand, and occupant comfort, yet available evaluation tools often treat these criteria separately. This study addresses the lack of a simple cost-sensitive decision-support metric for prioritising envelope alternatives before detailed design. It develops a Cost-Comfort Optimisation Indicator (CCOI) and tests it through DesignBuilder v2025 parametric simulations for a two-storey 750 m² office shoebox model in New Delhi’s composite climate. A one-variable-at-a-time approach assessed four wall assemblies, five glazing types, and eleven window-to-wall ratios from 20% to 70%, using annual comfort hours, cooling energy, and envelope construction cost as inputs. Results show that the super-insulated wall assembly achieved the highest wall-category performance, with 7,677.5 comfort hours, 157,210 kWh cooling energy, INR 3,318,800 envelope cost, and CCOI of 0.864. Double grey argon glazing ranked highest among glazing options, reaching 7,688 comfort hours, 163,942 kWh, and CCOI of 0.856. Most WWR increases above the 30% baseline produced negative CCOI values, indicating inefficient cost-performance trade-offs. The framework supports cost-conscious envelope selection, improves infrastructure efficiency, reduces energy-related operating burdens, and strengthens urban economic resilience through better resource allocation in growing cities.]]>
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