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Abstract Worldwide, the residential buildings are consuming a considerable amount of energy. The high potential of buildings towards energy efficiency has drawn special attention to the passive design parameters. A comprehensive study on optimal passive design for residential buildings is presented in this paper. Twenty-five different climates are simulated with the aim to produce best practices to reduce building energy demands (for cooling and heating) in addition to the life-cycle cost (LCC). The occupants' adaptive thermal comfort is also improved by implementing the appropriate passive cooling strategies such as blinds and natural ventilation. In this respect, the implemented methodology is composed of four phases: building energy simulation, optimization, Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM), sensitivity study, and finally an adaptive comfort analysis. An optimal passive solution of the studied building indicates the potential to save up to 54%, 87% and 52% of the cooling demands (Qcool), heating demands (Qheat) and LCC respectively with respect to the initial configuration. The obtained optimal passive parameters are validated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL benchmark for low energy building's envelope. Additionally, the integrated passive cooling strategies have demonstrated its competency since it leads to a significant overheating decrease. Highlights • Residential building's passive design parameters are optimized. • Effect of different climates of Köppen Geiger classification is studied. • Thermal comfort and energy performance of the case-studies are significantly enhanced. • Passive cooling strategies lead to adequate thermal comfort and fewer cooling systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooling demand in the building sector is growing rapidly; thermal energy storage systems using phase change materials (PCM) can be a very useful way to improve the building thermal performance. The right use of PCM in the envelope can minimize peak cooling loads, allow the use of smaller HVAC technical equipment for cooling, and has the capability to keep the indoor temperature within the comfort range due to smaller indoor temperature fluctuations. This article presents an overview of different PCM applications in buildings for reducing cooling loads under different climate conditions, and the factors affecting the successful and the effective use of the PCM. Many drawbacks have been found in PCM applications, mainly the intense impact of summer weather conditions over the PCM performance, which prohibits its complete solidification during night, and thus, limiting its effectiveness during the day. Proposed solutions are reviewed in this article. Finally, a topology diagram is presented to summarize the steps leading to an effective use of PCM in building applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]