Multi-objective architectural parametric optimization toward decarbonizing building sector - Tabriz city case study

This research aims to optimize residential buildings to minimize thermal discomfort to below 1 %, achieve negative CO 2 emissions, and reduce construction costs while ensuring full electrification and increased grid independence using a combination of sustainable technologies including PCMs, BIPV, and energy-efficient HVAC Systems. The study employs statistical, quantitative, simulation, and optimization methods, including the FDM, regression analysis with LHS, MCDM using the TOPSIS method, and the Sequential Parameter Optimization (SPO) technique. The main findings indicate a reduction in operational CO 2 emissions to −2.597 tonCO 2 /year (means 100 % operationally), construction costs of €75,813.35, and thermal discomfort to (46 h/year) or 95 times reduction in comparison of outdoor discomfort (7211 h/years). The building's total energy consumption is 4.19 MWh/year, significantly lower than the average household consumption in Iran and the USA while generating 8.88 MWh/year of solar energy. The research highlights the feasibility of designing residential buildings that produce more solar electricity than they consume, contributing to the B2DS and offsetting total embodied carbon through negative operational emissions. The key contribution of this paper is the demonstration of advanced optimization techniques and integration of innovative technologies like NonBio-PCMs, Solar-Thermal-Collector-Assisted Heat Pumps (STCAHP), and efficient BIPV systems, offering a sustainable solution for residential building design. The novelty lies in achieving full electrification with significantly lower energy consumption and higher solar energy generation, making substantial progress towards sustainable development goals, and building the decarbonization process. • Aligning the dimensions of sustainable development with optimization and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) criteria in building decarbonization. • Designing buildings with solar generation surplus and injecting it into the grid. • A combination of PCMs (20 %) and glazing (80 %) minimizes CO 2 emissions via BIPV & Trombe-Walls. • To reduce embedded carbon by 304 % the initial cost of Bio PCMs needs to decrease by at least 15 %. • A 20 kWh battery capacity is required for grid independence, but an energy price lower than 0.15 €/kWh results in a negative NPV.