Multi-Objective Optimization of the Envelope of Building with Natural Ventilation

Krzysztof Grygierek,Joanna Ferdyn-Grygierek

doi:10.3390/en11061383

Krzysztof Grygierek, Joanna Ferdyn-Grygierek

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en11061383

Copy DOI

Journal: Energies	Publication Date: May 29, 2018
Citations: 38	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Silesian University of Technology

Abstract

A properly designed house should provide occupants with the high level of thermal comfort at low energy demand. On many occasions investors choose to add additional insulation to the buildings to reduce heat demand. This may lead to overheating of the building without a cooling system in summer periods (these prevail in Poland). Additionally, it affects the deterioration of thermal comfort, which can only be improved by increasing ventilation. The paper presents the multi-objective optimization of the selected design parameters in a single-family building in temperate climate conditions. The influence of four types of windows, their size, building orientation, insulation of external wall, roof and ground floor and infiltration on the life cycle costs and thermal comfort is analyzed for the building without cooling. Infiltration changes during the simulation and is controlled by a special controller. Its task is to imitate the behavior of occupants in changing the supply airflow. Optimal selection of the design parameters is carried out using Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) by coupling the building performance simulation program EnergyPlus with optimization environment. For the single-family house, optimal values of design variables for three different criteria are presented.

Highlights

Due to the population growth, urbanization and industrialization energy consumption is rapidly increasing
This study considers optimization of chosen design parameters in a single-family building with natural ventilation in Polish climate conditions
Only the natural ventilation controller was optimized. It was checked how much ventilation is affected by the hours with thermal discomfort (Hdis) and Life cycle cost (LCC) values in case of the unchanging building structure, and to what extent thermal comfort conditions for the reference building with constant and variable ventilation can be met

Summary

Introduction

Due to the population growth, urbanization and industrialization energy consumption is rapidly increasing. The building sector plays an important role in this regard. The largest contributors to high energy consumption in buildings are heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems [6,7,8]. While the heating demand can be effectively reduced by better thermal insulation of a building, cooling plays a more significant role in the overall energy demand of buildings [9]. The energy conservation in buildings has become an important part of national energy strategies in multiple countries [10]. This led to the development of building energy efficiency regulations. These regulations introduce a minimum of energy efficiency requirements that need to be met by all new buildings and retrofitted buildings [11,12]

Methods

Results

Conclusion