Exploring new techniques for displaying complex building energy consumption data

Abstract

This paper explores advanced data displays which may help building operators better understand complex energy data by enhancing the display of the data with animation (or time-sequencing). Animated displays such as the ones developed in this paper enhance the usefulness of static graphic displays because time and temperature dependent trends can be immediately seen. This is particularly useful for buildings because many of the energy consuming loads are schedule and temperature dependent. There is an increasing need for new display paradigms that can help building operators visually diagnose complex problems that may otherwise not be detected by efficient energy management and control system (EMCS) algorithms. This need becomes even more important during times of a shrinking labor pool as building operators are being asked to perform more complex control and monitoring tasks. In this paper animated displays have been developed specifically for use in viewing building energy data. Several examples are provided from a large engineering center in central Texas where the animated displays make a faulty flow meter easier to diagnose and allow the operator to visually detect simultaneous heating and cooling.