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W. Parys:
"Cost optimization of cellular office buildings based on building energy simulation";
Supervisor, Reviewer: H. Hens, A. Bultheel, D. Saelens, L. Helsen, S. Proost, Q. Chen, J. Hensen, A. Mahdavi; KU Leuven, 2013; oral examination: 2013-04-12.

The overall aims of this research are the definition of the economically optimum office building configuration for a given cellular office building and a quantification of the costs of the measures taken to lower the energy use beyond this optimum. The research scope is limited to medium-sized cellular office buildings in a temperate climate. A bi-dimensional optimization is performed targeting minimum net present cost from a microeconomic viewpoint and minimum annual operating primary energy use. The optimization variables are the building envelope properties, the lighting system properties and the HVAC system selection. The primary energy use consists of the heating, cooling ventilation - and associated auxiliary - and lighting energy use, all calculated ith dynamic simulations. An empirical, building specific model for the building use incorporating adaptive behaviour is used to establish the internal boundary conditions for the energy calculations. Passive cooling through night ventilation and window operation is included as an option in the optimization process, for which the building design requirements are determined based on an extensive uncertainty analysis. The results show that the minimum net present cost is found for building designs with an average U-value of 0.60 W/m²K and meaures to limit the solar heat gains. Daylighting, decreasing the average U-value to 0.35 W/m²K and increasing the air tightness are shown to significantly lower the energy use at a limited additional cost.

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Optimization, energy use, costs, office buildings, behavioural model, passive cooling, HVAC system analysis