MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION OF BUILDING ENVELOPE, LIGHTING AND HVAC SYSTEMS DESIGNS

This paper proposes a computational building design support framework. The framework evaluates and optimizesbuilding envelope systems, electrical systems and HVACsystems simultaneously with the assistance of a newly developed EnergyPlus component cost database. The integrated building system evaluation could potentially revealthe trade-offs among different building systems and helpclients and design teams a gain better understanding ofhigh performance designs. A case study based on a real office building is presentedto demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework. EnergyPlus v8.3 was used as the building performance evaluation tool. The NSGA-II multi-objective optimization algorithm was employed for acquiring the best design combinations. Results obtained from the optimization processproved that buildings with high performance componentswill present savings for both first and operation costs.Trade-offs between the first cost and operation costs fordifferent designs were also discussed within five selectedoptimized cases.