Multi-objective optimization of building envelope components at the preliminary design stage for residential buildings in Turkey

This paper focuses on the multi-objective optimization of building envelope parameters in order to enhance the energy and economic performance of buildings. The study carried out for the climates zoned as; cooling dominated and heating dominated. All possible solution scenarios (more than 13 million) that might be encountered in practice, were included in the optimization process. Two conflicting objectives were pursued: to minimize overall thermal energy need and to lower the initial investment cost of the building envelope. NSGA-II genetic algorithm was implemented via developed code in Matlab environment and convergence time of that was shortened. Pareto-Front solutions were presented for two provinces (Osmaniye and Erzurum) of Turkey and life cycle costs of the Pareto-Front solutions have been compared, after the envelope optimization process. The results clearly showed that, the appropriate selection of the building envelope parameters at the preliminary design stage could significantly reduce life cycle cost, beside providing better solution options for zero energy buildings.

Automated summary

This study focused on multi-objective optimization of building envelope parameters to enhance the energy and economic performance of buildings, with experiments conducted in two provinces of Turkey showing that correct selection of parameters at the preliminary design stage can significantly reduce life cycle costs and provide better solutions for zero energy buildings.