Alexandria Engineering Journal (Dec 2018)
The parametric based optimization framework daylighting and energy performance in residential buildings in hot arid zone
Abstract
This research aims at investigating the potentials of parametric design optimization process over the residential building to achieve more sustainable design as well as the computational design methodology in the design process to activate the role of the computer in the design process not just as a drafting or visualization tool. It also investigates the essentiality of computational design and the state of art computer tools like Grasshopper, Octopus, Energy plus, Open studio, Radiance and Daysim in achieving an optimized parametric design. A residential building consists of five stories is studied to find the best parameters which lead to the optimum performance in daylighting and energy performance. Building parameters such as WWR, construction material, glass material, shading device configurations are optimized through closed-loop framework which consists of three main portions; Parametric modelling which depends on Grasshopper software, building performance simulation is performed via Ladybug and Honeybee plugins which depend on Radiance and Daysim in daylighting simulation while uses EnergyPlus in energy simulation, and genetic algorithm which is performed via Octopus plugin. The generations of solutions formed in Octopus are studied one by one to clarify by how much there is development in optimization process and when the optimization is ended. Also, the optimum solution is illustrated in addition to the best daylighting and energy performance ones. Keywords: Building optimization, Parametric design, Genetic algorithms, Building performance simulation, Daylighting, Energy modelling