Experimental Comparison of Guideline 36 and Legacy Controller Sequences of Operation using Commercial-off-the-shelf Control Software.

Abstract

In this study, we test the performance of Guideline 36-compliant sequences of operation for the air system relative to sequences of operation that predate Guideline 36. For this study, the air system comprises air handling units (AHUs) that serve variable air volume terminal units (VAVs). We present a platform that can be used to study the impact on building operations of changing the control system in a building, while holding constant any other aspect of that building, such as equipment upgrades, internal load variations, and changes to weather. We use the Virtual Cybernetic Building Testbed (VCBT), which contains commercial BACnet-enabled controllers and an operator workstation, as well as the Intelligent Building Agents Laboratory (IBAL), which uses chillers to meet the loads in the AHU-VAV system and can generate repeatable weather conditions and zone loads. These facilities use a hardware-in-the-loop approach, which combines a simulation of a building with hardware. This is the first demonstration of the combined VCBT-IBAL platform, which provides a method to evaluate potential sequences of operation in hardware before deploying them in real buildings.