Demand-based Optimal Control to Save Energy: A Case-Study in a Medical Center

Abstract

Continuous Commissioning®1 (CC®) strategies include reducing simultaneous heating and cooling, scheduling the facility’s occupancy needs, utilizing free cooling, and minimizing excessive supply air and outside air. Most significantly, this demand based control energy conservation strategy can facilitate mechanical system performance at near optimal conditions through the gradual advancement of control systems and the ability of upstream systems reading the status of downstream systems. This paper demonstrates demand-based temperature, pressure and economizer control by the mathematical optimization methodology illustrated by a case-study, implemented with actual systems in a 1.2 million square foot medical center. Based on the optimization results, the facility saved over 5% total building electricity and over 10% gas consumption in a period of one year while improving thermal comfort.