Optimization of the Heating System Use in Aged Public Buildings via Model Predictive Control

Abstract

This work presents the implementation of a Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme used to study the improvement of the thermal quality in aged residential buildings without any rehabilitation. The controller manages the heating system of an experimentally characterized model of a residential dwelling in a social block built during the decade of the 1960s located in the neighborhood of Otxarkoaga (Bilbao, Spain), so as to obtain an optimal energy efficiency performance. Due to the characteristics of the construction in those days, this kind of buildings suffer problems related to the use of awkward building materials and inefficient heating systems. A comparison with traditionally used ON-OFF hysteresis control is presented in order to demonstrate the energetic improvement provided by the MPC scheme. Besides, the variation of different parameters of the MPC is also studied to determine its influence over the energy consumption and comfort conditions.

Analysis of New Strategies to Reach Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEBs)

“…Santos-Herrero et al [34] identified the factors which have influenced on any building energy system. During the years 2015-2016, some implementations of MPC in different locations and types of building were realized: Carrascal et al [35] in a dwelling building in the Basque Country (Spain), Ascione et al [36] in a residential building in Naples (Italy), Hu et al [37] in a public building in California (USA), Sturzenegger et al [38] in a office building in Allschwil (Switzerland) and Vaccarini et al [39] in a underground station in Barcelona (Spain) using a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to know real data of occupancy, temperature, humidity, etc. … Other example with a WSN is shown by Reena et al [40] by means of sensors and used to control indoor climate in a Building Automation System (BAS).…”

Model Predictive Control with Binary Quadratic Programming for the Scheduled Operation of Domestic Refrigerators

“…With the development of the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) and cloud computing, MPC is increasingly applied to building management and energy systems [16]. In [17], the use of MPC showed improved heating and energy savings in an old residential building, whilst [16] reports on the efficacy of various existing MPC algorithms for heating ventilation and air conditioning systems. In [18], a model predictive controller is developed for a domestic freezer, whilst the work in [19] develops a grey-box model for a domestic freezer and applies MPC to control its power consumption as a demand side management (DSM) application.…”

Model Predictive Control Optimization via Genetic Algorithm Using a Detailed Building Energy Model

“…Gray-box or hybrid models are halfway between the white and black-box models that, thanks to the use of simplified physical models, are able to reduce the training process. The resistance and capacitance models (RC) are the most currently used [33][34][35][36][37]. Li and Wen highlight that one or two weeks are enough to train the data to predict the transient cooling load accurately [13].…”