Sensitivity Analysis with Building Simulations to Support the Commissioning Process

Abstract

Building performance simulations can support the commissioning process of buildings. This paper introduces an approach to implement saving measures using sensitivity analysis with a simulation model and data analysis of measured data from the building. The building that is analyzed is a large non-residential building that was equipped with a data acquisition system. Global sensitivity analysis methods including Monte Carlo (MC) techniques are used to determine the parameters and variables for which the buildings energy consumption is most sensitive to. This information is employed for the optimization of the building operation. Furthermore, the MC simulations are used to quantify the uncertainty of the simulation results given the uncertain simulation parameters or variables. The MC simulations of the building are used to calculate the energy savings for some operational improvements and the corresponding uncertainty. One saving measure was implemented in the real building and the result of the implementation is analyzed using the measured data.