Selection of passive energy consumption optimisation strategies for buildings

Abstract

Passive energy consumption optimisation strategies are apt solutions to tackle the negative impacts of buildings on people and environment. However, the existence of numerous criteria has made the selection of suitable passive strategies very challenging and complicated, which is perhaps the reason for the scarcity of comprehensive studies that simultaneously consider all classes of selection criteria, especially technical, economic, and social ones. This study initially identifies the existing passive strategies and the criteria involved in their identification, weighting, ranking, and selection, with particular emphasis on buildings located in the United Kingdom. Questionnaire survey was utilised for data collection due to the reliance of specific selection criteria, such as “job creation”, on expert judgment. The gathered data were then analysed by the hybridisation of criteria importance through inter criteria correlation (CRITIC) and evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) fuzzy approaches. Based on the obtained results, “reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”, “being environmentally friendly”, “flammability”, and “reduction of energy consumption” were ranked as the most important selection criteria. Consequently, the best and most sustainable passive strategies were concluded to be “improving fenestration design of building, “air tightness improvement of building”, and “optimum design of building's insulation layer”, with final scores of 0.882, 0.876, and 0.828, respectively. The results obtained from this study can have a significant role in sustainable selection of passive energy consumption optimisation strategies for United Kingdom buildings, consequently enhancing the realisation of critical Sustainable Development Goals, especially “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.