Algorithmic Planning of Ventilation Systems: Optimising for Life-Cycle Costs and Acoustic Comfort

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel holistic optimisation method for ventilation system design that simultaneously considers life-cycle costs and acoustic comfort, leading to more cost-effective and quieter solutions.

Contribution

It introduces a new mathematical optimisation framework that integrates airflow and acoustic considerations in ventilation system planning, surpassing traditional sequential approaches.

Findings

Holistic optimisation reduces costs by up to 12% compared to sequential methods.

Many silencers can be eliminated with proper fan selection.

The method efficiently computes optimal solutions under multiple load scenarios.

Abstract

The European Union's climate targets challenge the building sector to reduce energy use while ensuring comfort. Ventilation systems play an important role in achieving these goals. During system planning, the primary focus tends to lie on reducing life-cycle costs, including energy and investment expenses. Acoustic considerations which contribute significantly to occupant comfort, are either addressed as an afterthought or overlooked. This can result in suboptimal designs, where silencers are added indiscriminately without properly assessing their necessity. This paper introduces a novel method for optimising life-cycle costs through mathematical optimisation while adhering to predefined noise limits. We propose new model equations with reduce non-linearity better suited for integration into the optimisation framework. Further, they present a comprehensive approach to optimising ventilation systems under multiple load scenarios. Our method surpasses the traditional sequential approach by enabling simultaneous consideration of airflow and acoustics in a single, holistic optimisation step. A case study demonstrates the method's practical application, showing that optimal solutions can be computed efficiently. The results reveal that, with appropriate fan selection, many silencers can be eliminated. Additionally, the method supports decision-making by transparently illustrating the trade-offs between life-cycle costs and noise limits. Notably, while optimal solutions from the sequential and holistic approaches align for most noise limits, the holistic method achieves a 12 % reduction in costs under specific noise constraints. These results demonstrate the benefits of integrating airflow and acoustic design while underscoring the need for further application on more diverse building types and more complex ventilation system configurations.