Construction of Building an Energy Saving Optimization Model Based on Genetic Algorithm

Introduction

With the improvements on the socio-economic level, the modern construction industry has exhibited major development. The construction industry accounts for a large proportion of China’s overall energy consumption, which is also continuously increasing. This consumption has a huge negative impact on the national economy. Sustainable development is not only the future direction of the construction industry but also a sustainable development direction to establish an energy-efficient construction industry. With advancements on the socioeconomic level, a contradiction emerges between building energy consumption and the indoor thermal adaptability of humans. In this regard, building energy requirements should be scientifically and reasonably reduced while meeting indoor comfort. On this basis, the energy-saving issues of buildings should be considered based on their inherent thermal behavior and through full use of pollution-free energy-saving and environmental protection measures such as solar energy and natural ventilation. In addition, it is indispensable to achieve energy savings and consumption reductions for air-conditioning, refrigeration, and heating. Building energy efficiency not only reduces energy consumption but also involves using local materials as energy-saving materials. This approach will reduce shipping and building costs, strengthen the performance of the enclosure structure, improve the efficiency of solar energy use, and achieve building energy conservation. When considering building energy efficiency, architects should reflect its effectiveness indicators in the overall planning and design of the building. These measures include the thermal indicators of the enclosure structure and the CO₂ emissions throughout the building’s life cycle. Published literature demonstrates very well that choosing appropriate building materials can effectively reduce building energy consumption. At present, the energy-saving potential and impacts of buildings in China are not so good as those in developed countries. The indoor thermal comfort is also not satisfactory. Therefore, effectively implementing building energy conservation measures in China is imperative. Because genetic algorithms have better global search function and lower auxiliary information requirements, this study analyzes the optimization measures of building energy conservation through genetic analysis of algorithms.

In the experiment we conducted, the heat transfer coefficients of the exterior windows and exterior walls of the building envelope were taken as variables in the building energy conservation model. We then compiled the main optimization program and subprograms using MATLAB. We used a genetic algorithm to study the optimized building energy consumption, average number of votes predicted mean vote (PMV), and building envelope structure cost. In the process of building enclosures, the heat transfer coefficient of exterior walls in different areas is the lowest, and the absolute heat transfer coefficient of the enclosure structure is the lowest. In addition, the heat transfer coefficient of external windows and walls can provide some references and guidance for the optimal design of building energy conservation measures in cold regions and warm winter and hot summer regions. This information will also be beneficial for the research and implementation of building energy-saving models. Cao et al. (2017) studied and reported the corresponding meteorological parameters of different climatic regions; they researched meteorological factors that represent the foundation for the energy conservation design of buildings and the corresponding air-conditioning system operation. By investigating outdoor microclimate mitigation, Castaldo et al. (2018) designed a multiscale, microclimate improvement method and carried out microclimate simulations of the building’s thermal behavior in local areas. Based on their obtained results, they reported that inter-building scale analysis can reduce the impact of microclimate on building energy consumption (Castaldo et al., 2018). Berardi et al. (2017) demonstrated that phase change materials can be applied to allow heat capacity enhancement for building envelopes to reduce the cooling needs of buildings and improve indoor thermal comfort. Kim et al. (2017) also found that efficient HVAC equipment and fluorescent lighting systems can effectively cut energy use in complex and large buildings.