Deviation entropy-based dynamic multi-model ensemble interval prediction method for quantifying uncertainty of building cooling load

Abstract

Interval prediction is a promising method that can reveal the uncertainty of building load and has been shown to effectively manage building energy systems. Previous studies focused on improving the performance of three types of generic single models (quantile regression, bootstrap, and lower upper bound estimation models). Multi-model ensemble methods have the advantages of reducing overfitting risk, improving stability. However, in the field of building cooling load interval prediction, there is a research gap that the performance of the multi-model ensemble method has not been conducted extensively. To compensate for this gap, firstly, referring to the information entropy in information theory, we proposed deviation entropy, which is a new concept that can be used to calculate the weight of a generic single model. Based on this, a static multi-model ensemble interval prediction method was developed. Then, we introduced a sliding time window to further upgrade the static method into a dynamic method. Finally, we used actual data to evaluate the performance of the proposed dynamic multi-model ensemble interval prediction method. The study results show that the multi-model ensemble method outperforms traditional generic single model, and the dynamic method can improve the prediction reliability by 8.5% with only 0.76% loss of prediction accuracy.