"OWLracle" — Predicting the impact of interdisciplinary energy efficiency methods at German universities using BCVTB

Abstract

In a field test at Saarland University, a decision tool named OWLracle has been developed. It supports university managers in comparing benefit and costs of different methods of energy saving. They include building automation as well as economic and psychological incentives. In order to guarantee transferability to other university properties, appropriate typicals are required. To this end, the paper defines common Building Types, Room Types, and User Types, representative of German universities. Furthermore, it introduces a BCVTB-based implementation of OWLracle, integrating Modelica® libraries of Room and User Types and EnergyPlus models of Building Types. 27 combinations of Building, Room and User Type are compared with respect to their total energy consumption.