Optimization of air-conditioning load for a residential building using Taguchi method

Abstract

Economic growth has been raised in many countries in recent years, prompting people to seek out human comforts. For human comfort, residential buildings consume a significant amount of energy for air-conditioning systems. Building materials are the most significant factor in deciding the air-conditioning load. In this research work, a typical residential flat model is prepared using AutoCAD software and the building energy simulation is done for this model using hourly analysis program software. The results obtained from the building simulation are optimized using the Taguchi method. For optimizing the air-conditioning load, five influencing factors such as the overall heat transfer coefficient of wall (A), thickness of roof insulation material (B), heat transfer coefficient of window glass (C), bypass factor (D) and cooling coil supply temperature (E) of air-conditioning equipment at three levels are selected. For the experimental tests, an orthogonal L27 arrangement is chosen for experimental trials and in every trial, air-conditioning load of the typical residential flat has been calculated. After that, using Minitab 17 statistical software, the signal-to-noise ratios are obtained for different factors by selecting smaller-is-better option. After studying the response table for Taguchi tests, the optimum levels for all five factors are obtained. The analysis of variance method was also used to identify the main factors affecting the results significantly by finding out the contribution of all five factors in percentage. The results indicated that the most efficient set of all five factors is A1B3C1D2E3 and the most affecting factor is the wall material of the residential flat having a contribution of 91.91%.