Use of Building Automation System Trend Data for Inputs Generation in Bottom-Up Simulation Calibration

Abstract

Ongoing commissioning based on calibrated energy models is one of the most promising means to improve the energy performance of existing buildings. The bottom-up calibration approach starts the calibration on a zone level before sequentially calibrating the system, plant, and whole-building level models. The hypothesis is that bottom-up calibration can create more reliable and accurate models than those created with existing approaches. The number of candidate measurement points to be considered for analysis and use in simulation is very large. This paper explores automating the process of generating inputs from Building Automation System (BAS) trend data for use in building simulation software. A proof-of-concept prototype called the Automatic Assisted Calibration System (AACS) was created which generated multiple eQUEST inputs from BAS trend data obtained from a case study building.