Thermal comfort and energy performance improvement by optimization of shading devices using improved Battle Royal algorithm

Abstract

China's building energy consumption accounts for 27.5% of China's total energy demand. This amount is increasing because of the considerable increase in the rate of household equipment mostly in air-conditioning systems. In this study, the TRNSYS simulation tool and improved Battle Royal optimizer (IBRO) is coupled for energy optimization of the building based on the simulation to study the impact of the overhangs optimization. The thermal comfort enhancement is evaluated in three case studies of three different weather conditions in China. To validate the achieved results, a comparison of the optimum values with benchmark cases is performed with consideration of heating and cooling demands, and yearly discomfort percentage. According to the achievements, an improvement can be seen in the comfort level. Also, the cooling demand is decreased by 4.2% for Shanghai. K E Y W O R D Sadaptive model, thermal comfort, improved Battle Royal optimizer, simulation-based optimization, thermal comfort, TRNSYS INTRODUCTIONBuildings use more than 30% of the overall energy demand worldwide, with estimates for increases in this portion because of urbanization, changes in weather conditions, and further living comfort standards. 1 In China, the rate of urbanization has been increased from 37.7% to 55.0% from the year 2001 to 2014. 2 Generally, the building's energy consumption is defined by the behavior of occupants, size of the building, climate, interior environment, building performance, building envelope, and service systems of the building. 3 Designing energy-effective buildings is essential. For achieving energy-savings in buildings, energy-effective strategies can be performed. [4][5][6] The equipment rate in heating and cooling devices is multiplying, then, the consumption of energy for heating and cooling is increasing. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Application of outer shading devices can be an efficient policy to decrease the cooling demand because it can keep the building from overheating from the solar resource through fenestrations in hot weather conditions. 13 Different papers have studied the shading devices' impact on enhancing the thermal operation and the comfort level of occupants in the literature. For example, in Reference 14, the impact of shading devices on the occupants' thermal comfort in a cross-ventilated office case for altering interior airflow speeds in hot seasons has been studied. The results indicated that the element placed on the façade and geometry are two important factors that affect the performance of shading devices on the occupants' thermal comfort.In Reference 15, a BIM-based technique has been proposed to give an automatic evaluation of the envelopes OTTVs of an office building. In this paper, developed visual scripting and BIM are integrated to obtain physical and thermal properties to confirm the calculation of thermal transfer amount. 16 This system gives a useful decision support system for decision-makers 17 to choose a proper material of envelope to obtain an optimal OTTV to optimize the en...

Minimizing Single-Family Homes’ Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Life Cycle Costs: An Improved Billiard-Based Optimization Algorithm Approach

“…Energy consumption is increasing worldwide [1]. This causes some problems, such as serious environment-related effects, exhausting energy sources, and supply shortages [2].…”