Comfort and Energy Optimal Control of Heating and Ventilation Systems(CEO-Control)

The topic of this project is model based control of heating and ventilation systems in residential buildings with respect to indoor comfort and optimized energy performance.

For years, in domestic houses, the focus of heating control systems has been on regulating the room temperature to a user defined set-point. Recently the demands to the control systems have changed. More intelligent solutions are requested that controls the comfort of the indoor environment, including temperature, humidity and air quality etc. Furthermore energy efficiency of the heating systems is becoming increasingly important for as well environmental as economical reasons.

Following the demands for a more intelligent control system integrating multiple heat emitters, passive and active ventilation and air conditioning systems for obtaining a high indoor comfort, the project will investigate the following issues: 

1) Indoor environmental comfort: Which parameters are important for the indoor comfort, how are they affected by the heating and ventilation system and how can they be measured and controlled?

2) Multiple heat emitter system: In a house various heat emitters might be installed, electrical heaters, water based heating systems, HVAC systems etc. The heat emitters are characterised by their dissimilarity in dynamics, influencing the indoor environment and the costs of use; hence the following need to be investigated:

How can the various characteristics of the heat emitters and the ventilation systems be exploited in the control system?

How can the heating and the ventilation systems be operated such that a good perceived indoor comfort is obtained without wasting energy (e.g. ventilate while heating etc.)?

Which possible control structures and strategies can coordinate the operation of a number of heat emitters while improving the indoor comfort?

3) Changing operating conditions: How can the operation of the central heat source (heat pump, burner or district heating subsystem etc.) be adapted to the changing needs of the system, such that the total power consumption is minimised?

The central hypothesis of this project is, that the key to obtain both improved indoor environment and reduced energy consumption lies in the combination of recently gained knowledge within indoor comfort and control algorithms combined with advanced sensor technology.

Investigating this hypothesis requires a high technical knowledge on control of combined heating and ventilation systems, and an up-to-date knowledge of control engineering, building physics and indoor environmental comfort. Despite the multidisciplinary contents of this project, it should, however, be emphasised that the focus and work area of this project mainly congregates on control of heating and ventilation systems for residential buildings.