A novel algorithm for optimal equipment scheduling and dispatch of chilled water systems with ice thermal storage

•Physics-based model for chilled water system with ice thermal storage.•Optimal scheduling and dispatch in a bi-objective formulation using the genetic algorithm.•Balancing constraints are handled using the penalty function method.•Tuning of the penalty factors and genetic algorithm parameters eliminated the premature convergence problem.•Optimal control reduces cost by 11–33% and energy by 1–12% relative to heuristic strategies.