TY - Generic T1 - The Building Controls Virtual Test Bed – a Simulation Environment for Developing and Testing Control Algorithms, Strategies and Systems T2 - Building Simulation ’07 Y1 - 2007 A1 - Philip Haves A1 - Peng Xu KW - controls KW - development system KW - hardware-in-the-loop KW - testing AB -

The paper describes the design of a Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB), a simulation environment for the development of control algorithms and strategies for the major energy systems in buildings, HVAC, lighting, active facades and on-site generation. The BCVTB is based on the whole building energy simulation program EnergyPlus and includes both the pure simulation and the hardware-in-the-loop methods of implementing the controls. For convenience and scalability, the design of the hardware-in-the-loop interface for supervisory controls uses BACnet rather than the analog interface used for local loop control. The paper concludes with a case study of the use of a prototype implementation of the BCVTB to precommission the building control system for the naturally-ventilated San Francisco Federal Building. A number of problems were found with the control program, demonstrating the value of the precommissioning and the effectiveness of the technique.

JF - Building Simulation ’07 CY - Bejing, China UR - http://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2007/p748_final.pdf ER -