Energy calibration of HVAC sub-system model using sensitivity analysis and meta-heuristic optimization

Abstract

The calibration of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) sub-systems provides additional information, such as sub-systems performance during operation, and circumvents compensation errors often reported in the literature for the calibration of building energy use. However, only limited details are provided in the literature to proceed with such calibration approach. In this paper, an off line automated calibration approach of EnergyPlus HVAC sub-system models was proposed and tested. The proposed approach consisted of reducing the number of parameters to be adjusted using sensitivity analysis and meta-heuristic optimization for sequential calibrations of HVAC sub-system components. The proposed calibration approach used available trend data and can be adapted to different equipment configurations. The proposed calibration approach was then used in a trial application on a real HVAC system. The results of the trial application showed that a calibrated fan power demand under the ASHRAE Guideline 14-2014 was obtained using the calculated airflow rate from fan laws and the measured mixed and supply air temperatures. The proposed approach provided an interesting perspective for the calibration of highly detailed building energy model (BEM) and went hand in hand with the integration of BEM tools into the operation phase of the building life.