A Wireless Platform for Energy Efficient Building Control Retrofits
Abstract
An advanced energy management and control system in an existing building in the Construction and Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) for Army at Urbana-Champaign (IL) was demonstrated. The medium-size office building underwent a retrofit of the HVAC system and controls employing a technology called optimal Model Predictive Control (MPC) which offers significant potential for saving energy by providing a means to dynamically optimize various sub-systems to take advantage of building utilization and weather patterns, and utility rate structures. A multi-variable optimization problem to minimize energy consumption and cost while guaranteeing zonal comfort over a 3 hour predictive horizon was formulated and solved periodically on line. The algorithms were integrated with the building automation system and evaluated experimentally at the demonstration site. A 45-50% reduction in HVAC system energy use was demonstrated while improving occupant comfort. A 10-15% installation cost reduction was accomplished due to the use of a robust wireless sensor network versus a fully wired network.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA571862
Entities
People
- Draguna Vrabie
- Kenneth Woodworth
- Russell Taylor
- Satish Narayanan
- Shui Yuan
- Sorin Bengea
- Stephen Killough
- Teja Kuruganti
- Wayne Manges
- Yiqing Lin
Organizations
- United Technologies Corporation