Modeling and Optimization of Energy Performance for a Water-Cooled Chiller Plant deployed in Multi-story Office Building

Abstract

This study presents an approach to calibrate energy performance model and optimization in control methods of HVAC to influence the annual energy consumption and operating cost savings. Calibration involves iterative improvements to bring model outputs in line with that of the measured date of an existing building. These models provide a means of understanding building operation as well as optimizing performance. Therefore, the study focuses to provide lessons learned and recommends best practices for effective calibration and optimization of water- cooled chiller for an office building located in Bangalore, India. The chiller size is of capacity 425TR with annual cooling energy consumption of 260 MWh. After carrying out 30 iterations in the model the resulted CVRMSE is 5% and NMBE of 1% are achieved. This calibrated model is further taken to find the optimized chiller outlet water temperature on the evaporator side. It is found that by an increase in outlet water temperature to 9°C, the energy savings were found to be 1.2% annually.