Simulation of HVAC Local Control Based on Occupants Locations and Preferences

The Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system consumes the major part of energy in buildings. By analyzing the gap between the actual energy consumed and the required energy to satisfy heating/cooling loads, it is estimated that an average of 38% of the energy can be saved with the adoption of more efficient control strategies. Occupancy-driven management has attracted great attention due to the potential energy savings. Therefore, the development and implementation of these strategies are of primary importance. On the other hand, future smart buildings will have the ability to detect and locate the occupants, and adjust the HVAC system to better satisfy their preferences, which is expected to result in considerable energy savings. This paper aims to simulate the energy performance that can be achieved by applying local control of the HVAC system. It proposes an HVAC localized control strategy based on the locations and preferences of occupants in an office open space with multiple zones. In order to evaluate the energy saving after applying the control strategy, DesignBuilder software is used to model one office at Concordia University and simulate its energy consumption.