Real-world implementation and cost of a cloud-based MPC retrofit for HVAC control systems in commercial buildings
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Published version
Author(s)
Bird, Max
Daveau, Camille
O'Dwyer, Edward
Acha, Salvador
Shah, Nilay
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Many businesses are looking for ways to improve the energy and carbon usage of their buildings, particularly through enhanced data collection and control schemes. In this context, this paper presents a case study of a food-retail building in the UK, detailing the design, installation and cost of a generalisable model predictive control (MPC) framework for its Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The hardware/software solution to collect relevant data, as well as the formulation of the MPC scheme, is presented. By utilising cloud-based microservices, this approach can be applied to all modern building management systems with little upfront capital, and an ongoing monthly cost as low as $6.39/month. The MPC scheme calculates the optimal temperature setpoint required for each Air-Handling Unit (AHU) to minimise its overall cost or carbon usage, while ensuring thermal comfort of occupants. Its performance is then compared to the existing legacy controller using a simulation the building’s thermal behaviour. When simulated across two months the MPC approach performed better, able to achieve the same thermal comfort for a lower overall cost. The economic optimisation resulted in an energy saving of 650 kWh, with an associated cost savings of $240 (1.7% compared to the baseline), while the carbon optimisation gave negligible CO2 savings due to the inability of the building to shift heating to low-carbon periods. Findings from this study indicate the potential for improving building performance via MPC strategies but impact will depend on specific building attributes.
Date Issued
2022-09-01
Date Acceptance
2022-06-19
Citation
Energy and Buildings, 2022, 270, pp.1-13
ISSN
0378-7788
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
1
End Page
13
Journal / Book Title
Energy and Buildings
Volume
270
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Sponsor
Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778822004406?via%3Dihub
Grant Number
CEPSE_P85487
EP/W027348/1
Subjects
09 Engineering
12 Built Environment and Design
Building & Construction
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
112269
Date Publish Online
2022-06-27