A simulation-based optimization method for cost-optimal analysis of nearly Zero Energy Buildings

• We build a simulation model of a real high-performing French single-family house.
• We define design options as parameters and create the related cost functions.
• We set up a simulation-based method for minimizing the global cost function.
• The more efficient the energy system, the more cost-impacting the envelope design.
• The current French regulatory limits allow designing a cost-optimal building.

This study was developed in the context of new challenges imposed by the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD) and its supplementing regulation. The aim is to find the cost-optimal level for the French single-family building typology, while providing an effective method to deal with a huge number of simulations corresponding to a large number of building configurations. The method combines the use of TRNSYS, dynamic energy simulation software, with GenOpt, Generic Optimization program.The building that was taken as a reference is a real low-consumption house located in Amberieu-en-Bugey, Rhône-Alpes, France. The model was created and calibrated in TRNSYS and the energy efficiency measures, concerning different technologies for envelope systems and technical systems, were set up as parameters in GenOpt. After a research on the French market, a cost function was created for each parameter and the global cost function (EN15459 Standard) was taken as objective function for the optimization. The particle swarm optimization algorithm was used to minimize the objective function and find the cost-optimal building configuration within the current regulatory framework.