DE-13-C009 -- A New Smart Micro Grid Process Control Strategy: The Human Leading the Thermal Comfort Control ✓ Most Recent

There is a clear need for more sustainable solutions to provide energy within the built environment. A Smart Electrical Energy supplyGrid is being developed by the major Electricity distribution companies to cope with fluctuations in energy generation from the different renewableenergy sources. To achieve improved overall efficiency, the process control of the energy infrastructure in buildings also needs to become smart.Especially of great importance is to take in account the goal of the energy use: human comfort. Many buildings were designed and calculated byadvanced software tools and simulation tools. However in real practice these buildings do not achieve the calculated energy efficiency, but use up to40 to 50% more energy. One of the reasons for the difference between designed performance and real performance is the individual perceived humancomfort of which no real adequate integration into the process control of the HVAC systems exists. Therefore new process control approaches areneeded to implement the real individual perceived comfort of occupants of buildings. A so called Human-in-the-loop process control strategy is beingdeveloped; a strategy to implement individual perceived comfort in the process control loop of HVAC systems. By starting from the humanperspective and use available and new technology, we determined critical performance indicators for the perceived human comfort. To furtheroptimize the performance of these systems, further development was done into use of infra red heating systems for individual comfort control onworkplace level. The results of experiments on the level of workplace were preformed and showed an energy saving potential of around 17% of thenew process control strategy approach for the heating scenarios.