Genetic Optimisation of Indoor Environmental Parameters for Energy Use And Comfort – A Case Study for Cool-Humid Climate

An office building was designed and built according to state-of-the-art design and energy management principles in 2008. Despite the expectations of high building performance, the owner was facing high utility bills and low user comfort in his building which is located in Budapest, Hungary. The objective of the project presented in this paper was to determine the optimal indoor environmental parameters and HVAC control scheme both from the energy use and the indoor thermal comfort point of view taking into consideration occupant behaviour patterns experienced in the building. Four different types of office rooms were investigated with different orientation and façade type. Simulation-based optimisation assisted the process and helped consultant engineers to undertake building management system fine-tuning tasks. The method applied includes the use of dynamic multizonal (nodal) energy simulation software, with optimisation plugin using NSGA-II genetic algorithm method. As a result, the pareto front of optimal indoor environmental conditions (setpoints), control schedules and principles could be determined for each office type ensuring highly energy-efficient operation and high comfort levels. At the end, results were compared with European comfort standard recommendations as well.