01863nas a2200205 4500008004100000245009300041210006900134260000900203520116400212653002401376653001801400653003501418653001601453653002301469100002401492700001701516700001601533700001901549856008901568 2019 eng d00aComparison of MPC Formulations for Building Control under Commercial Time-of-Use Tariffs0 aComparison of MPC Formulations for Building Control under Commer c20193 a
Most medium and large commercial buildings in the U.S. are subject to complex electricity tariffs that combine both Time-of-Use (TOU) energy and demand charges. This study analyses the performances of different economic Model Predictive Control (MPC) formulations, from the standpoints of monthly bill reduction, load shifting, and peak demand reduction. Simulations are performed on many simplified commercial building models, with multiple TOU demand charges, and under various summer conditions. Results show that compared to energy-only MPC, the traditional method for dealing with demand charges significantly
reduces peak demand and owner bill, however, highlight a lack of load shifting capability. A proposed incremental approach
is presented, which better balances the bill components in the objective function. In the case study presented, this method
can improve monthly bill savings and increase load shifting during demand response events, while keeping a similarly low
peak demand, compared to traditional MPC methods taking into account demand charges.
Model predictive control (MPC) for buildings is attracting significant attention in research and industry due to its potential to address a number of challenges facing the building industry, including energy cost reduction, grid integration, and occupant connectivity. However, the strategy has not yet been implemented at any scale, largely due to the significant effort required to configure and calibrate the model used in the MPC controller. While many studies have focused on methods to expedite model configuration and improve model accuracy, few have studied the impact a wide range of factors have on the accuracy of the resulting model. In addition, few have continued on to analyze these factors' impact on MPC controller performance in terms of final operating costs. Therefore, this study first identifies the practical factors affecting model setup, specifically focusing on the thermal envelope. The seven that are identified are building design, model structure, model order, data set, data quality, identification algorithm and initial guesses, and software tool-chain. Then, through a large number of trials, it analyzes each factor's influence on model accuracy, focusing on grey-box models for a single zone building envelope. Finally, this study implements a subset of the models identified with these factor variations in heating, ventilating, and air conditioning MPC controllers, and tests them in simulation of a representative case that aims to optimally cool a single-zone building with time-varying electricity prices. It is found that a difference of up to 20% in cooling cost for the cases studied can occur between the best performing model and the worst performing model. The primary factors attributing to this were model structure and initial parameter guesses during parameter estimation of the model.
10abuilding simulation10ahvac10aModel predictive control10aSystem identification1 aBlum, David1 aArendt, K.1 aRivalin, Lisa1 aPiette, Mary, Ann1 aWetter, Michael1 aVeje, C.T. uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306261918318099https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0306261918318099?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0306261918318099?httpAccept=text/plain02188nas a2200301 4500008004100000245011100041210006900152260001600221520124300237653001701480653002401497653002901521653002501550100001601575700002001591700001501611700001401626700001901640700001601659700001501675700002001690700001801710700001801728700002001746700002001766700001801786856008201804 2019 eng d00aPrototyping the BOPTEST Framework for Simulation-Based Testing of Advanced Control Strategies in Buildings0 aPrototyping the BOPTEST Framework for SimulationBased Testing of aRome, Italy3 aAdvanced control strategies are becoming increasingly necessary in buildings in order to meet and balance requirements for energy efficiency, demand flexibility, and occupant comfort. Additional development and widespread adoption of emerging control strategies, however, ultimately require low implementation costs to reduce payback period and verified performance to gain control vendor, building owner, and operator trust. This is difficult in an already first-cost driven and risk-averse industry. Recent innovations in building simulation can significantly aid in meeting these requirements and spurring innovation at early stages of development by evaluating performance, comparing state-of-the-art to new strategies, providing installation experience, and testing controller implementations. This paper presents the development of a simulation framework consisting of test cases and software platform for the testing of advanced control strategies (BOPTEST - Building Optimization Performance Test). The objectives and requirements of the framework, components of a test case, and proposed software platform architecture are described, and the framework is demonstrated with a prototype implementation and example test case.
10abenchmarking10abuilding simulation10aModel predictive control10asoftware development1 aBlum, David1 aJorissen, Filip1 aHuang, Sen1 aChen, Yan1 aArroyo, Javier1 aBenne, Kyle1 aLi, Yanfei1 aGavan, Valentin1 aRivalin, Lisa1 aHelsen, Lieve1 aVrabie, Draguna1 aWetter, Michael1 aSofos, Marina uhttps://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/publications/prototyping-boptest-framework01796nas a2200157 4500008004100000245006900041210006800110260001200178520127200190100001601462700001801478700002001496700001601516700002401532856008201556 2018 eng d00aWhen Data Analytics Meet Site Operation: Benefits and Challenges0 aWhen Data Analytics Meet Site Operation Benefits and Challenges c08/20183 aDemand for using data analytics for energy management in buildings is rising. Such analytics are required for advanced measurement and verification, commissioning, automated fault-detection and diagnosis, and optimal control. While novel analytics algorithms continue to be developed, bottlenecks and challenges arise when deploying them for demonstration, for a number of reasons that do not necessarily have to do with the algorithms themselves. It is important for developers of new technologies to be aware of the challenges and potential solutions during demonstration. Therefore, this paper describes a recent deployment of an automated, physical model-based, FDD and optimal control tool, highlighting its design and as-operated benefits that the tool provides. Furthermore, the paper presents challenges faced during deployment and testing along with solutions used to overcome these challenges. The challenges have been grouped into four categories: Data Management, Physical Model Development and Integration, Software Development and Deployment, and Operator Use. The paper concludes by discussing how challenges with this project generalize to common cases, how they could compare to other projects in their severity, and how they may be addressed.
1 aBlum, David1 aLin, Guanjing1 aSpears, Michael1 aPage, Janie1 aGranderson, Jessica uhttps://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/publications/when-data-analytics-meet-site01392nas a2200133 4500008004100000245008600041210006900127260002700196520090500223653003501128100001601163700002001179856005901199 2017 eng d00aMPCPy: An Open-Source Software Platform for Model Predictive Control in Buildings0 aMPCPy An OpenSource Software Platform for Model Predictive Contr aSan Franciscoc08/20173 aWithin the last decade, needs for building control systems that reduce cost, energy, or peak demand, and that facilitate building-grid integration, district-energy system optimization, and occupant interaction, while maintaining thermal comfort and indoor air quality, have come about. Current PID and schedule-based control systems are not capable of fulfilling these needs, while Model Predictive Control (MPC) could. Despite the critical role MPC-enabled buildings can play in future energy infrastructures, widespread adoption of MPC within the building industry has yet to occur. To address barriers associated with system setup and configuration, this paper introduces an open-source software platform that emphasizes use of self-tuning adaptive models, usability by non-experts of MPC, and a flexible architecture that enables application across projects.
10aModel predictive control (MPC)1 aBlum, David1 aWetter, Michael uhttp://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2017/BS2017_351.pdf