Targeting modular adaptive façade personalization in a shared office space using fuzzy logic and genetic optimization

Abstract

In shared office spaces, occupants' comfort criteria are limited to locally controlled zones while ambient features of the environment and the potential negative impacts of others' behavior require a well-designed control system, especially over adaptive façade elements. This means setting up control strategies for a wider spectrum of varying comfort perceptions from person to person dictates an approach towards personalizing adaptive facades. Thereby, this research coupled a simulation-based methodology with fuzzy logic and a genetic algorithm to personalize façade modules based on the visual discomfort conditions of the occupants. Results confirmed that increasing the control freedom by personalization accounting for multi-objective criteria including glare, daylight, and view could satisfy occupants from 83% to 100%. Moreover, the proposed façade personalization framework could enhance visual comfort compared with two typical automated Venetian blind controls, significantly. This study provides novel insights for designers and operators to decentralize facades' elements by accepting occupants’ feedback as part of their control loops.