This work aims at developing a closed-form correlation between key building design variables and its energy use. The results can be utilized during the initial design stages to assess the different building shapes and designs according to their expected energy use. Prototypical, 20-floor office buildings were used. The relative compactness, footprint area, projection factor, and window-to-wall ratio were changed and the resulting buildings performances were simulated. In total, 729 different office buildings were developed and simulated in order to provide the training cases for optimizing the correlation’s coefficients. Simulations were done using the VisualDOE TM software with a Typical Meteorological Year data file, Kuwait City, Kuwait. A real-coded genetic algorithm (GA) was used to optimize the coefficients of a proposed function that relates the energy use of a building to its four key parameters. The figure of merit was the difference in the ratio of the annual energy use of a building normalized by that of a reference building. The objective was to minimize the difference between the simulated results and the four-variable function trying to predict them. Results show that the real-coded GA was able to come up with a function that estimates the thermal performance of a proposed design with an accuracy of around 96%, based on the number of buildings tested. The goodness of fit, roughly represented by R2, ranged from 0.950 to 0.994. In terms of the effects of the various parameters, the area was found to have the smallest role among the design parameters. It was also found that the accuracy of the function suffers the most when high window-to-wall ratios are combined with low projection factors. In such cases, the energy use develops a potential optimum compactness. The proposed function (and methodology) will be a great tool for designers to inexpensively explore a wide range of alternatives and assess them in terms of their energy use efficiency. It will also be of great use to municipality officials and building codes authors.
Skip Nav Destination
e-mail: raed.bourisli@ku.edu.kw
e-mail: adnan.aleanzi@ku.edu.kw
Article navigation
November 2011
Research Papers
Closed-Form Correlation of Buildings Energy Use With Key Design Parameters Calibrated Using a Genetic Algorithm
Raed I. Bourisli,
Raed I. Bourisli
Mechanical Engineering Department,
e-mail: raed.bourisli@ku.edu.kw
College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University
, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait
Search for other works by this author on:
Adnan A. AlAnzi
Adnan A. AlAnzi
Department of Architecture,
e-mail: adnan.aleanzi@ku.edu.kw
College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University
, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait
Search for other works by this author on:
Raed I. Bourisli
Mechanical Engineering Department,
College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University
, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait
e-mail: raed.bourisli@ku.edu.kw
Adnan A. AlAnzi
Department of Architecture,
College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University
, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait
e-mail: adnan.aleanzi@ku.edu.kw
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Nov 2011, 133(4): 041005 (9 pages)
Published Online: October 11, 2011
Article history
Received:
April 16, 2010
Revised:
March 12, 2011
Online:
October 11, 2011
Published:
October 11, 2011
Citation
Bourisli, R. I., and AlAnzi, A. A. (October 11, 2011). "Closed-Form Correlation of Buildings Energy Use With Key Design Parameters Calibrated Using a Genetic Algorithm." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. November 2011; 133(4): 041005. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4004272
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
Mass Flow Control Strategy for Maximum Energy Extraction in Thermal Energy Storage Tanks
J. Sol. Energy Eng (December 2025)
Exergy Optimization of a Hybrid Multi-Evaporative Desalination Plant Powered by Solar and Geothermal Energy
J. Sol. Energy Eng (June 2025)
Correlation for Maximum Heat Transfer Between Fluidized Bed and Its Wall and Application to Solar Power Plants
J. Sol. Energy Eng (June 2025)
Related Articles
Genetic Algorithms for Optimization of Building Envelopes and the Design and Control of HVAC Systems
J. Sol. Energy Eng (August,2003)
Data-Driven Energy Efficiency and Part Geometric Accuracy Modeling and Optimization of Green Fused Filament Fabrication Processes
J. Mech. Des (April,2020)
Synthesis of Compliant Mechanisms for Path Generation using Genetic Algorithm
J. Mech. Des (July,2005)
General Correlation of Building Energy Use Via Hybrid Genetic Programming/Genetic Algorithm
J. Sol. Energy Eng (August,2018)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Energy Consumption Simulation and Energy Conservation Measures for Typical Public Buildings in Chengdu
International Conference on Green Buildings and Optimization Design (GBOD 2012)
Power-Efficient Multicast Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing Protocol
International Conference on Electronics, Information and Communication Engineering (EICE 2012)
The Design and Implement of Remote Inclinometer for Power Towers Based on MXA2500G/GSM
International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology, 3rd, (ICMET-China 2011), Volumes 1–3