Optimal scheduling of modernization measures for typical non-residential buildings

Existing non-residential buildings account for a significant proportion of the energy consumption of the European building stock. Modernizing these buildings can significantly contribute to declared emission reduction targets. Modernization measures are rarely realized in the life cycle of buildings but have longterm effects on their energetic performance. Therefore, it is not only essential to identify future-oriented modernization measures but also to schedule them over the life cycle of a building. For this purpose, we present a mixed-integer linear program that schedules measures for a building energy system including envelope and supply system. The program determines not only the optimal combination of modernization measures but also the respective optimal point of time when each measure shall be realized. A multi-objective optimization is conducted to minimize carbon emissions and net present value. Thermal demand profiles serve as input for the optimization model and are calculated preliminary using dynamic simulations. Constraints and boundary conditions are specified separately for each prospective year of the schedule's time horizon. Results showed that the constitution of a building energy system changes several times throughout a schedule. Determined Pareto-efficient solutions reveal that carbon emissions could be saved more cost-efficiently than with approaches without scheduling. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Modernizing existing non-residential buildings can significantly reduce energy consumption in the European building stock and contribute to achieving emission reduction goals. The use of a mixed-integer linear program helps determine the optimal combination of modernization measures and their timing, with multi-objective optimization aimed at minimizing carbon emissions and net present value.