Energy - Comfort - Environment: What matters most? A multi-criteria assessment of a residential apartment

Abstract

In this study, a multi-criteria assessment approach is performed for a residential apartment located in Athens, for a combination of different energy systems, building envelope and shading systems. 24 alternative cases in total are fully simulated via EnergyPlus software aiming to the calculation Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in terms of energy consumption for heating and cooling, thermal comfort, visual comfort and environmental impact. The results of KPIs are fed to a decision-making process that takes into consideration the preferences of stakeholders. The optimum solution is selected by the use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In the most optimum scenario, the potential of primary energy savings and CO2 emissions are approximately 35% while the discomfort hours for thermal and visual comfort are respectively 17% and 67% less than the cases with the worst comfort conditions. The results suggest that such a multi-criteria assessment approach can be useful at an early stage of building design or renovation in order to better inform decisions and avoid sub optimizations.