Multi-objective Optimization Approach for Envelope Design in Naturally Ventilated Building of Jaipur City: A Case Study of Residential Building

This paper investigates the socio-economic performance of a commonly constructed envelope design in Jaipur city (India). A multi-objective optimization approach was used to investigate thermal and visual performance and construction cost by evaluating various envelope possibilities. A residential apartment building in a semi-arid composite climate (Köppen Climate Classification: Bsh) of Jaipur, India is selected for the purposed methodology investigation. Various scenarios of walls, roofs, glazing assemblies window-to-wall ratio (WWR), and orientation were optimized with the genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with the Design-Builder tool. The present optimization was conducted in two phases: In the first phase, unmet hours (thermal uncomfortable hours) and initial construction cost were assessed across 99,792 different energy efficiency measures, and eight Pareto solutions were identified. The second phase assesses the reliability of Pareto solutions in terms of visual comfort using Rhinoceros tools coupled with Grasshopper software. Furthermore, the author also investigated the individual effect of walling and roofing assemblies on thermal comfort. Moreover, identify the indoor operative temperature boundaries and plot the psychrometric chart on which occupants feel thermal comfortable in a naturally ventilated building. This research reveals that a robust optimal Pareto solution reduces unmet hours and initial cost by 12.40 and 38.62%, respectively, and enhances visual comfort compared to worst-case design solutions.