Designing Optimal details of Southern Walls to Reduce Buildings Energy Consumption Using Deep Learning

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Architecture, Bo.C., Islamic Azad University, Borujerd, Iran

2 Department of Computer Engineering, Bo.C., Islamic Azad University, Borujerd, Iran

10.22034/jrenew.2026.246463
Abstract
One of the fundamental challenges in sustainable architecture is reducing energy consumption in buildings. Southern walls play a key role in controlling heat transfer and solar radiation into buildings. This study aims to design optimal materials for southern walls and, using a descriptive-analytical research method, examines the effect of material layers in this type of wall on controlling heat transfer and energy consumption in buildings. In the following study, a southern wall sample with conventional materials was examined for heat transfer using Design Builder software, and once again, the heat transfer of a wall designed with new materials was evaluated. In the designed southern wall, for each layer, several material options have been selected according to thermal and physical criteria; then, using a deep learning model, the optimal combination of materials is determined from the various and pre-selected options by nonlinear examination of the criteria. The results show that the southern wall designed with the novel materials and deep learning has reduced the heat transfer rate from outside to inside by 51.80% and from inside to outside by 34.29% over a period of one year, in accordance with the weather conditions of all seasons of a hot climate, and this reduces the cooling and heating load of the interior space and improves energy consumption.

Keywords


 
[1] M. Niroumand and N. Faramarzi Fard, Investigating the role of green roof in reducing energy consumption of educational buildings (Case study: Hagh Panah primary school for girls in Isfahan city), Journal of Renewable and New Energy, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 139–145, 2021.
[2] M. T. Plytaria, C. Tzivanidis, E. Bellos, I. Alexopoulos, and K. A. Antonopoulos, Thermal behavior of a building with incorporated phase change materials in the South and the North Wall, Computation, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 2, 2018.
[3]  A. K. M. Yahia and M. Shahjalal, Sustainable materials selection in building design and construction, International Journal of Science and Engineering, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 10–62304, 2024.
[4]  N. Amani, Energy efficiency of residential buildings using thermal insulation of external walls and roof based on simulation analysis, Energy Storage and Saving, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 48–55, 2025.
[5]  V. J. Reddy, M. F. Ghazali, and S. Kumarasamy, Advancements in phase change materials for energy-efficient building construction: A comprehensive review, Journal of Energy Storage, vol. 81, p. 110494, 2024.
[6]  L. Goswami, M. K. Deka, and M. Roy, Artificial intelligence in material engineering: A review on applications of artificial intelligence in material engineering, Advanced Engineering Materials, vol. 25, no. 13, p. 2300104, 2023.
[7] W. Li, P. Chen, B. Xiong, G. Liu, S. Dou, Y. Zhan, et al., Deep learning modeling strategy for material science: From natural materials to metamaterials, Journal of Physics: Materials, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 014003, 2022.
[8]  R. A. Kishore, M. V. Bianchi, C. Booten, J. Vidal, and R. Jackson, Enhancing building energy performance by effectively using phase change material and dynamic insulation in walls, Applied Energy, vol. 283, p. 116306, 2021.
[9]  M. Arıcı, F. Bilgin, M. Krajčík, S. Nižetić, and H. Karabay, Energy saving and CO2 reduction potential of external building walls containing two layers of phase change material, Energy, vol. 252, p. 124010, 2022.
[10] B. Lamrani, K. Johannes, and F. Kuznik, Phase change materials integrated into building walls: An updated review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 140, p. 110751, 2021.
[11] A. E. Ahmed, M. S. Suwaed, A. M. Shakir, and A. Ghareeb, The impact of window orientation, glazing, and window-to-wall ratio on the heating and cooling energy of an office building: The case of hot and semi-arid climate, Journal of Engineering Research, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 409–422, 2025.
[12] K. A. Ismail, F. A. Lino, M. Teggar, M. Arıcı, P. L. Machado, T. A. Alves, et al., A comprehensive review on phase change materials and applications in buildings and components, ASME Open Journal of Engineering, vol. 1, 2022.
[13] Y. A. Abera, Sustainable building materials: A compreh ensive study on eco-friendly alternatives for construction, Composites and Advanced Materials, vol. 33, p. 26349833241255957, 2024.
[14] A. Kurdi, N. Almoatham, M. Mirza, T. Ballweg, and B. Alkahlan, Potential phase change materials in building wall construction—a review, Materials, vol. 14, no. 18, p. 5328, 2021.
[15] M. Alegbe, Comparative analysis of wall materials toward improved thermal comfort, reduced emission, and construction cost in tropical buildings, 11th Masters Conference: People and Buildings, 2022.
[16] R. S. Athauda, A. S. Asmone, and S. Conejos, Climate change impacts on facade building materials: A qualitative study, Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 10, p. 7893, 2023.
[17] S. A. Dabous, T. Ibrahim, S. Shareef, E. Mushtaha, and I. Alsyouf, Sustainable façade cladding selection for buildings in hot climates based on thermal performance and energy consumption, Results in Engineering, vol. 16, p. 100643, 2022.
[18] K. Sharifani and M. Amini, Machine learning and deep learning: A review of methods and applications, World Information Technology and Engineering Journal, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 3897–3904, 2023.
[19] K. Choudhary, B. DeCost, C. Chen, A. Jain, F. Tavazza, R. Cohn, et al., Recent advances and applications of deep learning methods in materials science, npj Computational Materials, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 59, 2022.
[20] Ketkar and J. Moolayil, Feed-forward neural networks, in Deep Learning with Python: Learn Best Practices of Deep Learning Models with PyTorch. Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2021, pp. 93–131.
[21] M. Momeni and A. Tanoursaz, Comparison of the impact of external wall materials on thermal comfort of occupants and optimal material selection in hot and semi-arid climates (Case study: Dezful city), Hot and Dry Climate Architecture, vol. 11, no. 17, pp. 211–227, 2023. (in Persian)
[22] C. Piselli, F. Sciurpi, C. Fabiani, C. Carletti, and A. L. Pisello, Experimental and numerical analysis of novel insulation materials for the building wall, International Association of Building Physics. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2024, pp. 418–423.
[23] S. K. Shukla and S. Kaul, Advanced building materials, Thermal Evaluation of Indoor Climate and Energy Storage in Buildings. vol. 1, 2025.
[24] M. Moradi and A. Ameri Siahouei, Evaluating the Role of Building Materials in Energy Consumption of an Educational Space in Tehran, Journal of Renewable and New Energy, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 57-67, 2024. (in Persian)
[25] Garg, V., Mathur, J., & Bhatia, A. (2020). Building energy simulation: A workbook using designbuilder™. CRC Press.

  • Receive Date 11 August 2025
  • Revise Date 22 February 2026
  • Accept Date 13 May 2026