Research Project Attempting to Develop Universal Algorithms for HVAC Energy Efficiency
MADISON, Wis.—The University of Wisconsin-Madison is collaborating with Johnson Controls to create algorithms to help make more efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning control systems for large commercial buildings, according to a university release. Optimization algorithms will be applied to data collected through HVAC systems at various sites, including the Johnson Controls building in Milwaukee. University researchers will use forecasts to make real-time adjustments to heating and control systems. In recent years, it has become easier to acquire the kind of data that work well for control processes, said James Rawlings, Ph.D., the chemical and biological engineering professor who is leading the study. Such data includes energy pricing, weather forecasts, worker hours and the impacts of other potential heat sources in a building. However, he says there is still no standard way to put together an HVAC system for a large building, as even within one building, that system might be composed of many disparate pieces of equipment and several different software control systems. To analyze and control the system as a whole—or optimize heating and cooling across an entire campus—the control framework has to be agnostic to the size and makeup of the system.
