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Multi-Objective Techno-Economic Optimization of Design Parameters for Residential Buildings in Different Climate Zones

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Usman

    (Automation and Energy Systems, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany)

  • Georg Frey

    (Automation and Energy Systems, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany)

Abstract

The comprehensive approach for a building envelope design involves building performance simulations, which are time-consuming and require knowledge of complicated processes. In addition, climate variation makes the selection of these parameters more complex. The paper aims to establish guidelines for determining a single-family household’s unique optimal passive design in various climate zones worldwide. For this purpose, a bi-objective optimization is performed for twenty-four locations in twenty climates by coupling TRNSYS and a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-III) using the Python program. The optimization process generates Pareto fronts of thermal load and investment cost to identify the optimum design options for the insulation level of the envelope, window aperture for passive cooling, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), shading fraction, radiation-based shading control, and building orientation. The goal is to find a feasible trade-off between thermal energy demand and the cost of thermal insulation. This is achieved using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) through criteria importance using intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The results demonstrate that an optimal envelope design remarkably improves the thermal load compared to the base case of previous envelope design practices. However, the weather conditions strongly influence the design parameters. The research findings set a benchmark for energy-efficient household envelopes in the investigated climates. The optimal solution sets also provide a criterion for selecting the ranges of envelope design parameters according to the space heating and cooling demands of the climate zone.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Usman & Georg Frey, 2021. "Multi-Objective Techno-Economic Optimization of Design Parameters for Residential Buildings in Different Climate Zones," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-30, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2021:i:1:p:65-:d:708347
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Méndez Echenagucia, Tomás & Capozzoli, Alfonso & Cascone, Ylenia & Sassone, Mario, 2015. "The early design stage of a building envelope: Multi-objective search through heating, cooling and lighting energy performance analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 577-591.
    2. Yuang Guo & Dewancker Bart, 2020. "Optimization of Design Parameters for Office Buildings with Climatic Adaptability Based on Energy Demand and Thermal Comfort," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-23, April.
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