Appraising the effect of the primary systems on the cost optimal design of nZEB: A case study in two different climates

The work concerns the application of the cost-optimal methodology to a low-consumption French single-family house in order to study how the primary energy system influences the envelope design of a cost optimal nZEB. This is done applying a simulation based optimization method that combines \TRNSYS\ with GenOpt in an iterative process. Four primary energy systems were considered (a gas condensing boiler, a wood boiler, an all-electrical radiator system and a combined reversible air to air heat pump) and the optimization was performed in two different French locations (Amberieu-en Bugey and Marseille).