Cost-optimal renovation solutions to maximize environmental performance, indoor thermal conditions and productivity of office buildings in cold climate

Abstract

The paper presents cost-optimal renovation solutions and economic viability of different renovation measures to maximize environmental performance, thermal comfort conditions and productivity of workers in office buildings built in the late 1970s and 1980s in cold climate regions. The study also analyzes optimal combinations of renovation measures and HVAC system set points to maximize thermal comfort conditions and productivity of the building users. The productivity loss caused by unfavorable indoor thermal comfort conditions was integrated in the LCC analysis (15-year life-cycle period) of the study using an appropriate method to estimate the amount of lost performance of workers caused by the productivity loss. Simulation-based multi-objective optimization analysis was used as the research method of the study. Environmental impact of the renovation measures was studied by assessing the CO2 emissions of the delivered energy consumption. The results demonstrate that as high as 65% return on investment and 63% reduction in the CO2 emissions of operation can be achieved in owner occupied office buildings, when both the energy efficiency and the thermal comfort conditions are cost-optimally improved simultaneously. According to the results, the cost optimum energy production system concept is a ground source heat pump system used for combined heating and cooling.

Building Retrofitting through Coupling of Building Energy Simulation-Optimization Tool with CFD and Daylight Programs

“…For example, Djuric et al [5], Rabani et al [6], Karaguzel et al [7], Chantrelle et al [8] and Ferrara et al [9] conducted a single objective optimization and considered the retrofitting costs or the building energy use (the two latter studies) as the objective. Several studies such as those of Mangnier and Haghighat [10], Harkouss et al [11], Asadi et al [12], Niemelä et al [13], Wu et al [14], Hamdy et al [15], and Palonen et al [16] conducted multi objective optimization to improve building performance. The objectives in the aforementioned studies dealt with building energy use, CO 2 emissions, investment and operational costs, and thermal comfort indexes such as predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD), predicted mean vote (PMV), and discomfort hours.…”

“…Until now, various tools and software packages have been developed for the optimization of building performance. With respect to building energy simulation (BES), EnergyPlus [7,[25][26][27], TRNSYS [8,11,12,30], and IDA-ICE [13,15,28,35] were widely applied. Moreover, Radiance software was employed for daylight simulations in several studies [18][19][20].…”

“…Regarding optimization tools, several algorithms, software systems, and platforms have been commonly integrated with building performance tools. For example, GenOpt [5][6][7]29], MOO [31,36], GAMS [37], jEPlus [25][26][27], Rhinoceros [38], MATLAB [15,39,40], non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA II) [13,28,35], and CPLEX algorithm [14,41] are among the widespread optimization tools and platforms. A recent study has shown that the integration of artificial neural networks such as Multilayer Feedforward Neural Networks (MFNN) with metaheuristic algorithms such as NSGA II and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) can minimize the computation time [42].…”

The Effect of Deep Energy Retrofit on The Hourly Power Demand of Finnish Detached Houses

“…In the Finnish context, energy retrofits have been examined for apartment buildings [10,11], where both primary energy demand and CO 2 emissions could be significantly reduced cost-effectively, especially using heat pumps, but also including improvements to the building envelope. In Finnish office buildings CO 2 emissions could be cost-effectively reduced by 50% while preserving thermal comfort [12]. In Finnish detached houses [13] life cycle costs and CO 2 emissions could be most effectively lowered by deep energy retrofits in buildings with direct electric or oil-based heating.…”

Comparative Analysis for Renovation of an air Heating and Cooling System from a Romanian Administrative Building

“…Until now, numerous studies have been realized on the following related subjects, such as: simultaneous heating and cooling [1], comparison between different systems for buildings heating and cooling [5], energy efficiency for achieving a sustainable development [2], [6] or promoting the usage of renewable energy sources for buildings heating and cooling [3]. Besides these aspects, account must also be taken of the financial part directly related to the investors in the rehabilitation of the cooling and heating installations and the buildings in general [4], [7], [8].…”