An Efficient Strategy to Improve Office Buildings’ Energy Efficiency and Occupant Comfort: Using PVSD for On-Site Electricity Generation
Publication: ASCE Inspire 2023
ABSTRACT
Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) have become popular in recent years. Their availability and economic benefits to reduce the buildings’ net energy demand are studied in the literature. Photovoltaic integrated shading devices (PVSD) are one of the major components among BIPVs. However, only a limited number of studies investigated them for office buildings in humid subtropical climates. Therefore, this paper presents an investigation into the optimization of PVSD for an office building in Atlanta, GA. Shading depth, number of slats, shading angle, and PV ratio design variables are used to find their optimum combination to reduce building energy consumption, improve occupant comfort, and increase electrical energy generation. Ladybug tools are used for energy and daylight simulation, and the NSGA-II algorithm together with the Pareto frontier is applied for multi-objective optimization and to determine the optimum models. The results benefit architects, engineers, and decision-makers in support of cost-effective decarbonization strategies for existing/new buildings.
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ASCE Inspire 2023
Pages: 239 - 249
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Published online: Nov 14, 2023
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