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Integrated platform for whole building HVAC system automation and simulation.

Number: pap. 3120

Author(s) : YANG L., KUANG Y. H., YUAN Y., et al.

Summary

Integrated optimal control strategies can not only reduce the overall building HVAC system energy consumption but also improve indoor air quality to ensure the economical and comfortable daily operation of buildings. However, normally it is hard to quantitatively evaluate the design-intended building HVAC automation system performance before on-site deployment. It is both very complex and time consuming because: 1) significant effort is required to develop the system steady-state or dynamic model from building and HVAC system design specifications that are typically in 2D or 3D drawings; 2) the building HVAC control strategies are designed and implemented in Building Automation System (BAS) that does not readily connect with the building HVAC system steady state or dynamic models for performance evaluation through close-loop simulation. This paper presents the tool chain of an integrated simulation platform for building HVAC system automation and simulation and its implementation in a real use case. Firstly, building information from a Revit BIM model is automatically parsed to a building energy model in EnergyPlus. Secondly, a HVAC system model is quickly populated with a scalable HVAC system library in Dymola. Thirdly, HVAC control algorithms developed in WebCTRL® system, a BAS by Automated Logic Corporation (ALC). Finally, both the building energy model and HVAC system model are wrapped up as Functional Mock-up Units (FMU) and connected through the embedded simulator in WebCTRL to perform close-loop building automation system performance simulation. This platform enables testing of building HVAC control strategies before on-site deployment, which reduces the labor and time required for building HVAC control development-to-deployment process and ensure the quality delivery of complex systems with innovative control strategies. A real case study for a chiller plant system in a hotel building was conducted to verify the scalability and benefit of the developed tool chain. The case study demonstrates the value of identifying both HVAC automation system control design issues and improvement opportunities for integrated optimal controls prior to on-site deployment. Furthermore, this platform can be calibrated with metered real-time data from the specific building HVAC system and serve as its ‘digital twin’ that enables future continuous monitoring and fault detection.

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Pages: 10

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Details

  • Original title: Integrated platform for whole building HVAC system automation and simulation.
  • Record ID : 30024731
  • Languages: English
  • Source: 2018 Purdue Conferences. 5th International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2018/07/09

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