Optimization of geometry of horizontal roof overhangs during a summer season

Abstract

© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. This paper presents the simultaneous optimization of the depths of the horizontal roof overhangs for the design of a residential summer house for house operation during summer season in Belgrade, Serbia. The overhangs facing south, east, and west are made by using reinforced concrete. The two objective functions are used such as (1) minimizing the sum of the primary operative energy consumption during the overhang life cycle and the embodied energy in the roof overhangs and (2) maximizing the ratio of the annual primary operating energy saving and the annualized embodied energy of the applied roof overhangs. For the optimization, the Hooke-Jeeves method is used, and the EnergyPlus software is used to simulate energy behavior of the house. The research showed that two different optimizations gave different results. However, if the house is not used during the same time for which the overhangs are optimized, there is a slight increase in primary energy consumption, although the operative energy consumption may be lower.