Optimising a building’s design to maximise its thermal efficiency can be a complicated and time-consuming task. Furthermore, designers may not have the technical capability to devise an optimisation algorithm for each project. This paper proposes a practical comprehensive framework to provide designers with quantified information during a house’s construction to maximise its energy-saving potential.
In this study, the developed framework was applied to a real-life case study to demonstrate its practicality. The architectural plan of a case project under construction in Sydney, Australia, was modelled in Autodesk Revit software. The case project was selected, as it was deemed a common new residential structure in Sydney. Based on existing literature and specifications of the building, 15 design elements with significant impacts on energy consumption were optimised using Building Energy Optimisation software to yield the lowest thermal load. The optimised solutions were then simulated using the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme to validate their thermal performance.
The experimentation results indicate that the methodology can provide different sets of solutions, showing thermal load reductions between 25.59% and 32.64% across several different design scenarios. Widespread adoption of this methodology may foster the creation of more thermal-efficient residential building designs.
The proposed framework provides a user-centric method for designers to make informed decisions to increase the thermal efficiency of residential buildings. Decoupling the optimisation and energy rating software provides a degree of validation. Additionally, local energy rating systems ensure location-based applicability. Energy-efficient design ultimately helps homeowners reduce energy costs and their environmental footprint.
