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Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings Using an Interactive Mathematical Programming Approach

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  • Christina Diakaki

    (School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece
    School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, 26335 Patra, Greece)

  • Evangelos Grigoroudis

    (School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece)

Abstract

Improving energy efficiency in buildings is a major priority and challenge worldwide. The employed measures vary in nature, and the decision analyst, who is typically the architect, the engineer, or the building expert that has undertaken the task to suggest energy efficient solutions, faces a complex decision problem comprising numerous decision variables and multiple, usually competitive objectives. The solution of such multi-objective problems typically involves some sort of objectives aggregation, which reflects the preferences of the involved final decision maker that is the building’s user, occupant, and/or owner. The preferences elicitation, however, is a difficult task, and this paper aims to provide an interactive framework that will allow their consideration in a relatively easy manner. More specifically, a mathematical programming approach is proposed herein, which allows the elicitation and incorporation of the decision maker’s preferences in the decision model via the assessment of his/her utility function with the assistance of the multicriteria decision aid method UTASTAR. To study the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed approach, the case of a simple building is examined as an application example. The study results suggest that the proposed approach is capable of helping the decision analyst to suggest energy measures that satisfy, as much as possible, the decision maker’s preferences, without having to precisely prescribe them beforehand.

Suggested Citation

  • Christina Diakaki & Evangelos Grigoroudis, 2021. "Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings Using an Interactive Mathematical Programming Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-25, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4436-:d:537019
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Sang Hoon & Hong, Tianzhen & Piette, Mary Ann & Taylor-Lange, Sarah C., 2015. "Energy retrofit analysis toolkits for commercial buildings: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1087-1100.
    2. Diakaki, Christina & Grigoroudis, Evangelos & Kolokotsa, Dionyssia, 2013. "Performance study of a multi-objective mathematical programming modelling approach for energy decision-making in buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 534-542.
    3. Diakaki, Christina & Grigoroudis, Evangelos & Kabelis, Nikos & Kolokotsa, Dionyssia & Kalaitzakis, Kostas & Stavrakakis, George, 2010. "A multi-objective decision model for the improvement of energy efficiency in buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 5483-5496.
    4. Karmellos, M. & Kiprakis, A. & Mavrotas, G., 2015. "A multi-objective approach for optimal prioritization of energy efficiency measures in buildings: Model, software and case studies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 131-150.
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