Building Design Optimization to Enhance Thermal Comfort Performance: A Case Study in Marrakech Region

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the thermal performance of buildings in the hot semi-arid climate of Marrakech, Morocco. An actual building is adopted as a case study, and it is designated as a classroom building. Therefore, the total discomfort hours TDh during the full occupied hours is chosen as the objective function to be minimized. TDh is simulated using the building performance simulation program TRNsys coupled with the generic optimization tool GenOpt. A set of design variables (continuous, discrete) is selected to assess their influence on the objective function and to find their optimal set for the studied building and under the considered climatic condition. The results show that the optimization led to a reduction of the annual thermal discomfort index TDI from 51% in the case of the original design building to 31% by using the resulting optimal set of design variables.