Multi-objective optimisation of building form, envelope and cooling system for improved building energy performance

This research integrates cooling systems as a variable in the multi-objective optimisation of building form and envelope design in the early design stages. The integration is achieved by 1) using a simplified calculation that requires minimal form, envelope and systems data for calculating the energy consumption of the cooling systems, and 2) optimising the cooling energy consumption by selecting the most efficient system automatically. The benefit of the integration is demonstrated in a case study using daylight as a second, potentially conflicting objective. The optimisation result is manually clustered and compared. The comparison reveals that the use of an efficient cooling system has the potential to achieve better trade-offs between the two conflicting objectives. These trade-offs are valuable information for designing the building form and envelope in the early design stages.