Parametric design for Net Zero Residential Building in Pakistan

The world's energy consumption is hugely affected by residential and commercial buildings. The building sector accounts for almost 30%–40% of the world's total energy. To minimize this energy consumption and the impact of buildings on the climate, an essential solution is for buildings to attain the Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) status. This research explains the influence of design and parametric variables (Building orientation, Roof Materials, External Walls Materials, shading, glazing, lighting, and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems) on the cooling load of a residential building located in Peshawar, Pakistan (ASHRAE zone 2B) and to achieve the status of Net Zero Residential Building (NZRB). In addition, the rooftop Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems yielded an annual generation of 6727.68 kWh/year, offsetting a substantial portion of the annual demand of 6258.77 kWh/year and moving the building to a net-zero balance. Results indicate that building orientation is the most influential parameter, with a standardized regression coefficient of –0.74 (p = 0.00), confirming its dominant role in cooling demand. The optimized configuration reduced the annual cooling load from 2164.27 kWh/year to 1834.03 kWh/year, representing a 15.25% reduction. The study also determined that building orientation impacts 24.6% of the cooling load, regardless of other design variables, and the least impactful factor on the cooling load is external wall materials, which is 2.9% of the cooling load. This study contributes a region-specific NZRB optimization model that strengthens the literature and provides actionable insights for energy-efficient housing in Pakistan.