Using Building Control System for Commissioning

Abstract

This paper summarizes the different approaches developed during Annex 40 (research project of International Energy Agency - Energy Conservation in Buildings & Community Systems ) for carrying out commissioning activities using the control system. During our work we have found that control systems in buildings have the potential to greatly improve the commissioning process. In particular, control systems can be used to carry out automated testing on the energy systems in a building in a systematic way. Technologies for carrying out automated commissioning are still in their infancy and very few tools are available for practitioners to use. However, our work has demonstrated that tools can be built using existing infrastructure at relatively low cost. In many cases, tools are software programs that can be implemented on most microprocessor-based platforms.