Abstract

High-performance façades, such as switchable glazing, have the potential to provide an optimal balance of performance, whole-life cost, and environmental impact, by responding to the variations in the outdoor environments and occupants’ requirements. The major barrier to devising an optimal façade solution is the evaluation of the true values of alternative façade designs. Moreover, the lack of a systematic automated process makes the design process a time-consuming trial-and-error process.

Qian’s research focuses on developing a multi-objective selection and design optimisation system, which integrates accurate simulation, systematic parametric analysis and automatic design optimisation. A comprehensive list of design criteria are populated, grouped, and linked to form three main objectives: social value, economic value, and environmental value. They form the basic elements of whole-life value (WLV). The talk will describe the validation of a building energy simulation model and a prototype multi-objective optimisation engine, and will illustrate their use on a simple façade design case.