Energy Performance Optimisation of a Single Dwelling Archetype Targeted to ZEB in the Earthquake Zone

A single dwelling archetype design subjected to be constructed in Gaziantep City to provide accommodation for the earthquake victims was researched in this paper. It is aimed to find out the optimum building orientation, window-to-wall ratio, and aspect ratio as design variables to achieve Zero Emission Building target. In this regard, the GenOpt Optimisation tool was coupled with the EnergyPlus simulation tool to run the simulations and optimise proposed design scenarios. A threshold value for primary energy use based on the EPBD recommendation document as a guide was improved to determine ZEB design scenarios. It is evident from the 56.43% primary energy use difference between the lowest and highest energy performance among design scenarios that optimum design variables are highly effective in terms of energy efficiency. Besides, 82 design scenarios achieving the ZEB threshold were elaborated from the design variables’ point of view that rectangular forms and low WWRs are optimal for the selected region.