冷水厂的设计对建筑能源使用和能源运营成本有很大影响。本文提出了一种用于冷水厂优化设计的设计工具。该工具将系统模型与遗传算法优化解算器相结合，通过找到设计变量（如冷冻水和冷凝器管道直径、冷冻水和冷凝器水温差以及冷冻水供应温度），将生命周期成本降至最低。提出的建模方法依赖于详细的冷负荷分析、水头和能量计算。泵头计算，包括管道、所有配件、阀门和装置，都是通过达西公式实现的- 给定流动参数的Weisbach方程。能量计算是通过使用通用的冷却器、风扇和泵模型来完成的。每小时的冷负荷需要从任何能源模拟软件中获得。该方法在一栋现有的三层88000平方英尺（8175平方米）建筑上进行了测试。采用全建筑能耗模拟模型生成每小时的冷负荷，然后寻找最优设计变量，以最小化全寿命周期成本。测试结果表明，与经验法则或传统设计方法相比，该方法将获得更好的结果。根据项目规格和地点，生命周期成本节约可能高达8%。 引文:ASHRAE Transactions，第123卷，pt。2

Design of chilled-water plants has a very large impact on building energy uses and energy operating costs. The paper proposes a design tool for optimal design of chilled-water plants. The tool that integrates system models with a genetic algorithm optimization solver minimizes the life-cycle cost by finding the design variables such as chilled-water and condenser piping diameters, chilled- and condenser water temperature differences, and chilled-water supply temperature. The proposed modeling methods dependon detailed cooling load analysis and head and energy calculations. The pump head calculations, including piping, all fittings, valves, and devices, are achieved by using the Darcy-Weisbach equation with given flow parameters. The energy calculations are done by using generic chiller, fan, and pump models. The hourly cooling loads need to be obtained from any energy simulation software. The method is tested on an existing three-story, 88,000 ft2(8175 m2) building. A whole-building energy simulation model is used to generate the hourly cooling loads and then the optimal design variables are found to minimize the life-cycle cost. The testing results show this approach will achieve better results than rules-of-thumb or traditional design procedures. The life-cycle cost saving could be up to 8% depending on project specifications and locations.