TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of sensitivity analysis in the building performance analysis
T2 - A critical review
AU - Pang, Zhihong
AU - O'Neill, Zheng
AU - Li, Yanfei
AU - Niu, Fuxin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2020/2/15
Y1 - 2020/2/15
N2 - A building system is highly nonlinear and commonly includes a variety of parameters ranging from the architectural design to the building mechanical and energy system. Serving as a powerful tool to understand the complicated building system, sensitivity analysis (SA) has been receiving increasing attention in the recent decade. This review paper focused on the application of SA in the building performance analysis (BPA). First, the existing review papers on the application of SA for BPA were briefly reviewed and summarized. Then, a large amount of recent SA case studies in BPA were reviewed. The critical information regarding the implementation of a SA, such as the sampling method, the SA method, etc., were extracted and summarized. Next, an extensive analysis was performed to evaluate the role of the SA in the BPA. This includes: 1) The typical selection of the input and output parameters for the SA were visualized; 2) The uncertainty level and sampling strategies for the input parameters were investigated; 3) The principles, benefits, and drawbacks of the SA methods were analyzed and summarized; and 4) The various tools used in the SA, including the simulation software, sampling tools, and SA tools were introduced to facilitate the practitioners. Lastly, several conclusions were summarized on the role of the SA in the BPA. Suggestions were also provided to offer practical solutions to the current challenges.
AB - A building system is highly nonlinear and commonly includes a variety of parameters ranging from the architectural design to the building mechanical and energy system. Serving as a powerful tool to understand the complicated building system, sensitivity analysis (SA) has been receiving increasing attention in the recent decade. This review paper focused on the application of SA in the building performance analysis (BPA). First, the existing review papers on the application of SA for BPA were briefly reviewed and summarized. Then, a large amount of recent SA case studies in BPA were reviewed. The critical information regarding the implementation of a SA, such as the sampling method, the SA method, etc., were extracted and summarized. Next, an extensive analysis was performed to evaluate the role of the SA in the BPA. This includes: 1) The typical selection of the input and output parameters for the SA were visualized; 2) The uncertainty level and sampling strategies for the input parameters were investigated; 3) The principles, benefits, and drawbacks of the SA methods were analyzed and summarized; and 4) The various tools used in the SA, including the simulation software, sampling tools, and SA tools were introduced to facilitate the practitioners. Lastly, several conclusions were summarized on the role of the SA in the BPA. Suggestions were also provided to offer practical solutions to the current challenges.
KW - Building energy efficiency
KW - Building energy simulation
KW - Building performance analysis
KW - Sensitivity analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076629649&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109659
DO - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109659
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85076629649
SN - 0378-7788
VL - 209
JO - Energy and Buildings
JF - Energy and Buildings
M1 - 109659
ER -