Parametric optimization of daylight, thermal and energy performance of middle school classrooms, case of hot and dry regions

In school buildings, especially learning spaces, good daylight and thermal conditions are important to promote the educational process, as unsatisfactory comfort levels can reduce physical and intellectual performance for both teachers and pupils. However, achieving successful classroom designs is rather complicated, as it requires the balancing of various interrelated factors, which is particularly challenging for hot and dry climates. In recent years, major improvements have been made in building optimization methods, and genetic algorithms used to search for high performing design solutions have shown their efficiency in solving such complex problems. This study shows how such an approach can be applied to optimize the thermal, lighting and energy performance of a middle school classroom in a hot and dry climate. Using a parametric approach and evolutionary multi-objective computation via Octopus plug-in for Grasshopper, various windows-to-wall ratios, wall materials, glass types, and shading devices were combined, to derive potential solutions that achieve a good balance between daylight provision and thermal comfort, while ensuring low energy consumption. The results show that improvements in useful daylight illuminance, adaptive thermal comfort and energy efficiency could be achieved through modification of building envelope parameters. Solutions for different building orientations are explored, providing recommendations for window-to-wall ratios in school buildings in a hot and dry climate. The results demonstrate how an optimization methodology can be used in the early stages of the building design process to understand how the building envelope can be tailored to ensure good building performance, both in terms of comfort and energy performance.