Sustainable Renovation of Educational Buildings using Date Palm Fiber Insulation under Csa-Type Climate

Energies and Sustainable Development (E2D) Research Team, Higher School of Technology-Guelmim, Ibu Zohr University, Agadir 80000, Morocco

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of date palm fiber-based bio-insulation material on energy and environmental performance of educational buildings in Meknes (Morocco). A multi-objective optimization was performed to minimize energy consumption, life-cycle cost, and CO₂ emissions with simultaneous consideration for the acceptable indoor thermal comfort. Optimization was performed with the NSGA-II genetic algorithm and dynamic thermal simulations by TRNSYS in a Pareto front of optimal design solutions. Results show that both the thickness and position of the insulation layer are crucial for obtaining high performance. The use of the date palm fiber as insulation material decreases 47% energy consumption per year, reducing the environmental impact greatly. These results reveal the potential of local bio-based materials to support a sustainable and cheap building design adapted to the Moroccan climate.