Authors:

Allen Joseph Vidallon

Date Created:

Not specified

Course Title:

Professor:

Not specified

About Paper:

The temperature inside residential buildings can be predicted with existing software programs such as EnergyPlus and TRNSYS. While these programs provide highly accurate results, they are often unnecessarily complex for preliminary control synthesis and validation. This work aims to develop a low fidelity building model that runs faster than high fidelity models while capturing the dominant dynamics within a building. The model is intended to evaluate candidate control schemes based on energy consumption, HVAC operating cost, and temperature setpoint error. A grey box model is used that incorporates physics-based mass and energy balance equations that account for the various modes of empirical heat transfer within the zone. A residential house that consists of one floor and five rooms acts as the simulated building, where a zonal model approach treats each room as a control volume. The model considers the operation of the HVAC system, the ambient temperature, adjacent zones, and the number of occupants and of appliances within a zone when calculating the corresponding rates of energy transfer. The proposed building model is designed to deliver an accurate temperature prediction for each room in a timely manner. The implementation of the model enables rapid evaluation of HVAC control systems, facilitating reducing energy consumption and operating costs. Keywords: HVAC Control Validation; Grey Box Building Model; Transient Finite Volume Method

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Allen Joseph Vidallon