Surrogate model of adaptive thermal comfort of a social housing in the Dominican Republic micro-climates: a predictive approach toward sustainable buildings

ABSTRACT

Adaptive thermal comfort is essential for guaranteeing the well-being of building occupants. Therefore, this study emphasizes its importance and applies advanced computational techniques as a surrogate model and sensitivity analysis for an in-depth analysis of a social housing in the Dominican Republic evaluated under five micro-climates. The methodology includes a computational design with an energetic simulation. An adaptive model was developed following the ASHRAE-55 standard, and an artificial neural network was trained to predict comfort temperature. The results showed that Neiba city, corresponding to a hot semi-arid climate, presented the maximum hours of discomfort (8463), representing 96.6% of the total annual hours with a cooling degree day of 157.5, whereas Constanza city, corresponding to the oceanic climate, reported 2025 hours of discomfort (23.1%) and a cooling degree day of 48. The surrogate model based on artificial neural networks achieved a coefficient of determination of 0.9998, and the sensitivity analysis revealed a more significant influence of radiant temperature (55.96%) over comfort temperature. Finally, this study highlights the significance of adaptive thermal comfort in building design and the potential of surrogate models for energy analysis. Therefore, it is necessary to implement passive strategies to enhance indoor thermal comfort in a sustainable building sector.

KEYWORDS:

• Energetic analysis
• surrogate model
• artificial neural network
• design builder
• adaptive thermal comfort

Acknowledgements

The first author, A.J. Cetina-Quiñones, is grateful to the financial support of CONAHCyT (Consejo Nacional de Humanidades Ciencia y Tecnología) to pursue a Doctorado en Ingeniería opción Energías Renovables in Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán with the CVU: 861995. Also, the first author thanks to Red Iberoamericana de Eficiencia y Salubridad en Edificios (IBERESE 723RT0151) and Red Iberoamericana de Pobreza Energética y Bienestar Ambiental (RIPEBA). Finally, all the authors thank Dr Miguel Aybar-Mejía for his support that allowed to significantly improve this research study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data supporting this study’s findings are openly available in Zenodo at https://zenodo.org/record/8407728, reference number 8407728.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A.J. Cetina-Quiñones

M.Eng. A.J. Cetina-Quiñones is a renewable energy engineer with a master’s degree in engineering in renewable energy from the Faculty of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Yucatan. He has experience teaching at the bachelor and postgraduate levels. He has published several research articles in the prestigious Journal Citation Report with a high impact factor. His current research area focuses on numerical-computational modeling of solar thermal systems through passive techniques to improve their thermal and exergetic efficiency, the application of advanced computational techniques to optimize energetic systems, and the use of multi-dimensional analyses.

A. Bassam

Dr A. Bassam is currently a research professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Yucatan. He is a chemical engineer with a master’s degree in Process Engineering and a PhD in Energy Engineering from the Institute of Renewable Energy at the Autonomous University of Mexico. His general approach is the modeling of energy and environmental systems, specifically the applications of artificial intelligence systems to control and optimize their operating parameters. Dr. Bassam has professional experience in industry and teaching at the bachelor and postgraduate levels. He is a collaborator in different academic research projects and has elaborated as an expert in projects on an industrial scale.

Roberto Eduardo Quintal-Palomo

Dr. Roberto Eduardo Quintal-Palomo, an IEEE member, holds a B.S. degree in electronics engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, an M.S. degree in power and automation from the University of Duisburg-Essen, and a Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronics automation from Wrocław University of Science and Technology. He has been an Associate Professor at the Autonomous University of Yucatan since 2010, and his research interests include electrical machines, power electronics, and renewable energies. He has received scholarships from the Mexican Council of Science and Technology and the German Academic Exchange Service.

Alexis Pérez-Fargallo

Dr. Alexis Pérez Fargallo specializes in energy efficiency and thermal comfort in architecture. He received his PhD from the University of Seville and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Chile. He has published over 30 research papers and recently authored a book on energy efficiency. Dr Pérez Fargallo has also directed and participated in several research projects. In addition to his academic work, he has worked in various roles on architectural projects and given lectures on energy renovation and fuel poverty.