Economic Viability Assessment of Active Building Envelope Systems

Active Building Envelope (ABE) systems represent a new thermal control technology that actively uses solar energy to compensate for passive heat losses or gains in buildings or other enclosures. As a result, these systems are expected to eliminate the need to supply electricity to operate conventional air-conditioning systems and/or non-renewable energy sources to thermally condition buildings or other enclosures. This paper presents new findings pertinent to the development of ABE systems. Specifically, in this paper, we investigate the economic viability of ABE systems. A preliminary cost model of the ABE system is developed that combines individual cost models of its components. Different configurations of ABE systems, each comprising different heat absorbing component, are examined. The configuration that requires the least power unfortunately also results in the highest cost. A multi-objective optimization tool is used to resolve the trade-off between the power and the cost of ABE systems. Based on these optimization results, direction for future work is suggested. This paper represents an important step forward in obtaining a cost-effective ABE system that will provide an attractive alternative to current approaches.