Applying Symbolic Discrete Controller Synthesis Technique for Energy Management and Thermal Comfort Optimization in HVAC Systems

Abstract

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems used in modern buildings are among the largest contributors to energy consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully balance between thermal comfort and energy efficiency when operating these systems. This study proposes a Symbolic Discrete Controller Synthesis (SDCS) approach for HVAC management that simultaneously enforces comfort-band constraints at the supervisory level and optimizes energy efficiency. Unlike traditional continuous controllers tuned per zone, the proposed method coordinates zone-level actuation through discrete power levels and node-level constraints (including an aggregate peak cap), exploiting thermal inertia to redistribute service over time without increasing comfort-band violations. Experimental evaluations on a multi-zone building model demonstrate that the SDCS approach provides comparable small comfort violations and provides superior energy savings when benchmarked against Model Predictive Control (MPC) and traditional Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers. These results highlight the potential of SDCS as a robust and scalable solution for sustainable building management and energy-aware HVAC coordination in multi-zone buildings.