A design methodology for the economic design of vaccine warehouses in the developing world

This paper describes a methodology that aids in the design of economically feasible Net Zero Energy (NZE) vaccine warehouses for the developing world. The methodology used a simulation-optimization approach to combine an optimization technique with two simulation software programs in order to determine the cost optimal design solution. To test its effectiveness, a case study building of a vaccine warehouse using typical Tunisian construction was analyzed for two construction techniques, five climates, and three photovoltaic panel prices in order to gain insights on the economic space of the optimal solution. The optimization results were used to provide generalized climatic recommendations for all of the building parameters studied and showed that by investing in better construction materials, the annual energy use can be cost-effectively reduced by 50% compared to current construction practices. The proposed methodology can efficiently and effectively aid in the design of an economically feasible Net Zero Energy vaccine warehouse for the developing world. Its use in practice may be of great relevance as the results showed, on average, a $42,000 differences between an economically efficient and economically inefficient NZEB in terms of initial investment cost.