Abstract
A fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) tool is a type of energy management and information system that continuously identifies the presence of faults and efficiency improvement opportunities through a one-way interface to the building automation system and the application of automated analytics. Building operators on the leading edge of technology adoption use FDD tools to enable median whole-building portfolio savings of 8%. Although FDD tools can inform operators of operational faults, currently an action is always required to correct the faults to generate energy savings. A subset of faults, however, such as biased sensors, can be addressed automatically, eliminating the need for staff intervention. Automating this fault “correction” can significantly increase the savings generated by FDD tools and reduce the reliance on human intervention. Doing so is expected to advance the usability and technical and economic performance of FDD technologies. This paper presents the development of nine innovative fault auto-correction algorithms for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning pi(HVAC) systems. When the auto-correction routine is triggered, it overwrites control setpoints or other variables to implement the intended changes. It also discusses the implementation of the auto-correction algorithms in commercial FDD software products, the integration of these strategies with building automation systems and their preliminary testing.
Highlights
Commercial buildings constitute 18% of the U.S primary energy consumption [1] and account for$149 billion in annual energy expenditures [2]
Three commercial fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) providers participating in this research selected a subset of the algorithms that were created by the authors and integrated them into their development product environments for field testing
The implementation process varied depending on the platform, but generally consisted of the following phases: (1) confirm/add two-way communication actions sent by the FDD tool, and (5) commission and test the new system
Summary
$149 billion in annual energy expenditures [2] Much of this consumption is due to operational waste, representing a tremendous potential for savings. Today’s FDD technology has been documented to enable whole building savings of 8% on average, across users [10] These technologies integrate with building automation systems (BASs) or can be implemented as retrofit add-ons to existing equipment, and continuously analyze operational data streams across many system types and configurations. This is in contrast to the historically typical variants of FDD that are delivered as original equipment manufacturer-embedded equipment features or handheld FDD devices that rely upon temporary field measurements
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