In the BuildingControls project, we developed control algorithms to operate building HVAC systems efficiently while sacrificing thermal comfort conditions. The designed controller was tested both on simulations as well as a real building in Izmir. The results show that our controller provides, on average, 16% and 18% savings in energy use for heating and cooling modes, respectively. The controller commands available zone thermostats, and avoids expensive hardware changes. Therefore, it is a low-cost solution implementable as a retrofit to existing buildings.
In addition to the HVAC control algorithms, within the scope of the BuildingControls project, we pursued distributed optimization algorithms to vary building electrical loads as a response to load reduction demands. This helps the power grid maintain stability in the case of system faults, high intermittency of renewables, generation failure, etc. When a demand response signal is received, our distributed algorithms assess the status of the building and the environment, and converge to a new optimal load distribution profile for hundreds of buildings using a fast and scalable algorithm. Simulation results suggest that the distributed controller is sufficiently fast (converges in 1.13s for a 1000 building case) in responding to demand response signals, and can reduce total load of the building fleet up to 30%.
The results of the BuildingControls project has been shared with the scientific community through several journal/conference publications and workshop participations. In addition, the researcher reached out to the general public via various high school visits, a workshop for high school students, articles in newspapers, and a talk on MSCA Researchers' Night Event coordinated by the host institution. Within the project, a 3-day workshop on exergy and its applications was organized in August, 2018. This workshop brought together experts from exergy and controls fields as well as practitioners and graduate students from many engineering disciplines, and it created a venue to pursue common research opportunities.
In addition to the scientific research, the project pursued exploitation acitivities with several local companies, and applied to two SME project grants to the “Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)”, one for the development of a demand response program in Northwestern Turkey, and another one on implementation of the optimal control algorithms for residential energy management systems. The commercial potential of the project results were acknowledged by the industrial advisory board of the host institution. An international patent application on “integrated building operation, design and optimization method” has been filed with PCT. The thermostatic HVAC control method developed in the project is at the core of this patent application.
