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HVAC Energy Savings and IEQ for Occupancy-Based Control by Side-by-Side Experimental Study

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posted on 2021-06-14, 21:46 authored by Meng KongMeng Kong, Bing Dong, Rongpeng Zhang, Zheng O’Neill
Building sensing technologies have evolved rapidly in the last two decades in aid of monitoring building environment and energy system performance. A series of occupancy sensing systems were developed to track the occupant behavior in the indoor space. Occupancy-based building system control is defined as a control method that adjusts the building system operation schedules and setpoints based on the measured occupant behavior and has been identified as a smart building control strategy that can improve building energy efficiency as well as occupant comfort. Some studies demonstrated energy-saving potential and comfort-maintaining capability from occupancy-based control (OBC). This study adopted a first-of-its-kind side-by-side experimental approach to quantify the performance of the occupancy-based Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system control in commercial buildings. Three state-of-the-art occupancy sensing technologies were integrated into the real-time HVAC system control in this study. Their detection accuracy and its effectiveness on energy-saving and thermal comfort were analyzed. It was found that the OBC can maintain good thermal comfort and perceived indoor air quality with a satisfaction ratio greater than 80%. Although the daily energy-saving by OBC varied with occupancy sensor accuracy and outdoor environment conditions, the weekly averaged HVAC energy saving was between 17-24%.

Funding

Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) DE-AR0001316

History

Email Address of Submitting Author

meng.kong@delos.com

ORCID of Submitting Author

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4451-6482

Submitting Author's Institution

Well Living Lab

Submitting Author's Country

  • United States of America