Scientific and technical challenges associated with optimising energy efficiency in existing buildings are numerous. An EU-funded initiative has developed an innovative simulation-based building control system that will close the gap between a building’s design and its actual operational performance.
Studies have revealed the potential for significant energy savings in buildings by using smart predictive control systems, rather than traditional reactive-based control systems. At present, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) accounts for up to 50 % of building energy consumption. Moreover, analysis of HVAC systems also shows that considerable energy savings can be made by adopting automated fault detection and diagnostics (FDD).
Further details: New approaches for simulation-based building control