الفهرس 
Chapter 1 IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The energy sector is always facing huge challenges especially in countries with highly inflated population where the building sector has more pressure to reduce energy consumption. The Building sector has high level of energy consumption caused mainly by the buildings heating and cooling energy demands to satisfy indoor comfort requirements. Reducing both the amount of energy consumed and the life cycle cost is a main challenge for the construction of green buildings. It is evident that sustainable materials have low environmental impacts and need low consumption of energetic resources in addition to its durability and recyclability. Therefore, this study aims to test different sustainable materials available in Egypt for the construction of building envelopes that include local stones and insulation materials in order to achieve savings in energy and total life cycle cost. Also, This study aims to test various building envelopes alternatives to minimize energy consumption and construction cost by using the Genetic Algorithm Optimization ”NSGA-II” for the three major climates in Egypt (Mediterranean, Semi-arid, and arid). The design variables considered include: external wall type, roof type, window to wall ratio, building orientation, HVAC system setpoints, and HVAC operation schedules. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed envelope systems to reduce energy consumption, construction costs, payback period, and the total life cycle cost. The main findings from the GA optimization results approved that the optimum solutions in all climates have successfully balanced the reduction in energy consumption and the life cycle cost. However, the discomfort hours in both Mediterranean and Semi-arid climates have less reduction percentages compared to the arid climate. To achieve more energy-efficiency in buildings with lower construction cost; lower life cycle cost; and enhanced thermal comfort conditions, this study provides guidelines to select optimum design parameters for building direction, cooling/heating setpoints, and window to wall ratio for these various climates.