Sensitivity analysis of energy performance and thermal comfort throughout building design process

Abstract

In a traditional building design process (TDP), design variables are fixed sequentially, as opposed to integrated design process (IDP) which tends to avoid sequential design phases to create more sustainable buildings. First, a reference building is introduced and an energy model based on TRNSYS is presented to determine the energy consumption and comfort in the building. The model is validated based on energy bills, certified simulations and literature. Then, the paper performs an extended sensitivity analysis (SA) of 30 design variables with respect to different performance criteria related to energy consumption and comfort, based on a TRNSYS model. Three SA techniques were used, namely standard regression coefficients (SRC), partial rank correlation coefficients (PRCC) and Sobol indices. Results show that all three techniques yielded a similar ranking of the importance of the variables for most model outputs. Interactions between variables were identified with second-order Sobol indices. In the second part of this paper, a traditional design framework was adopted in which sets of variables were fixed sequentially. A SA was performed at each phase of the process, assuming fixed values for parameters chosen in previous design phases. Results show that fixing variables during the phases of a traditional design process tends to reduce the probabilities of finding low-energy consumption designs. Moreover, the influence of some variables was found to change during the design phases.

Optimising Window Design on Residential Building Facades by Considering Heat Transfer and Natural Lighting in Nontropical Regions of Australia

“…Optimal window design attributes have been plotted using parallel coordinates to display a clear design trade-off, see Figure 15, where solution A, B, C and D are represented using different colours. An illustrative design of each optimal solution was reinstated in the case study model, and Revit Insight [87] was used to run an energy simulation to validate each scenario. The energy simulation results have been displayed in Figure 16.…”

“…The energy simulation results have been displayed in Figure 16. An illustrative design of each optimal solution was reinstated in the case study model, and Revit Insight [87] was used to run an energy simulation to validate each scenario. The energy simulation results have been displayed in Figure 16.…”

A new design exploring framework based on sensitivity analysis and Gaussian process regression in the early design stage

“…The importance of each parameter helped designers to make decisions in the latter stage. Nguyen and Reiter (2015), Rivalin et al (2018) and Gagnon, Gosselin, and Decker (2018) compared several SAtechnics applied to building energy performance assessment. Linear regression was reported not good enough by most researchers.…”

Performance of a sequential versus holistic building design approach using multi-objective optimization

“…In Ref. [6], Gagnon et al have used sensitivity analysis techniques to observe the influence of design variables on building performance over the different stages of a design process. The results showed that fixing variables in the early stage reduces the probabilities of finding low-energy consumption designs in the end.…”