EASI RBD-FAST: An efficient method of global sensitivity analysis for present and future challenges in building performance simulation

Abstract The objective of this study is to investigate the capabilities of different global sensitivity analysis methods applied to building performance simulation, i.e. Morris, Monte Carlo, Design of Experiments, and Sobol methods. A single-zone commercial building located in Florianópolis, southern Brazil, was used as a case study. Fifteen inputs related to design variables were considered, such as thermal properties of the construction envelope, solar orientation, and fenestration characteristics. The performance measures were the annual heating and cooling loads. It was found that each method can provide different visual capabilities and measures of interpretation, but, in general, there was little difference in showing the most influent and least influent variables. For the heating loads, the thermal transmittances were the most influent variables, while for the cooling loads, the solar absorptances stood out. The Morris method showed to be the most feasible method due to its simplicity and low computational cost. However, as the building simulation model is still complex and non-linear, the variance-based method such as the Sobol is still necessary for general purposes.

Download Full-text

Sensitivity analysis of design parameters of envelope enclosure performance in the dry-hot and dry-cold areas

Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences ◽

10.2478/amns.2021.2.00033 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Pingan Ni ◽

Wanjiang Wang ◽

Hanjie Zheng ◽

Wensi Ji

Keyword(s):

Sensitivity Analysis ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Building Performance ◽

Connection Weight ◽

Performance Simulation ◽

Building Performance Simulation ◽

The North ◽

Analysis Process ◽

Simplified Calculation ◽

High Degree

Abstract In a bid to quantify the sensitivity of envelope enclosure’s design parameters in the dry-hot and dry-cold areas and to provide a reference for the local building performance design, this paper uses ANN modelling which combined with the improved Garson algorithm to calculate the connection weight sensitivity (CWS), the first-order sensitivity (RBD-S1 and DMIM-S1) and the global sensitivity (DMIM-delta) of the design parameters. These parameters were calculated by using different methods in SALib. Through the verification and analysis of the sensitive result, the applicability of the CWS and DMIM-delta was confirmed. Among the design parameters involved in this study, the sum of the sensitive values of S-D, S-N and S-A exceeds 60% in each performance label, and the sum of the sensitive values of WWR_S and WWR_N exceeds 20%. The performance design of envelope enclosure in this area requires applying reasonable shading components and appropriate optimisation of the North and South of WWR. After the sensitivity analysis process, the calculation efficiency of the model can be improved as far as possible without reducing the accuracy of the model in the later simplified calculation and multi-objective optimisation. The building performance simulation model has a high degree of non-linearity, and the interpretability of the model can be enhanced through the sensitivity analysis process. Although the internal calculation process is unknowable, the perception of the results caused by the input parameters is significantly enhanced.

Download Full-text