The building envelope of Mediterranean houses: Optimization of mass and insulation

In a series of optimization studies, this article investigated the building envelope of a residential building as to have the most cost-effective and energy-efficient impact on the thermal performance of the buildings in Mediterranean. Building simulations were performed to optimize designs of the components of the building envelope. Specifically, the variables of mass and insulation in combination with other important design variables and parameters and their effect on the thermal response of the building, assessed during both heating and cooling modes, were studied, outlined, and discussed. The performance of the parameters and their efficiency were compared with each other, and their effectiveness was expressed in the constructional aspects for buildings.