Online Energy Simulator for building fault detection and diagnostics using dynamic energy performance model

Abstract

Faults in buildings systems affect energy efficiency and occupancy comfort. Simulating building behavior and comparing it with measured data allows to detect discrepancies due to faults. We propose a methodology to recursively compare actual data with dynamic energy simulations at different layers of aggregation to reduce the scope in searching for faults through the development the Online Energy Simulator, a tool to set up automated simulations using standard interfaces usable with different building systems and simulation engines. We test our simulator on a real building at the University of Southern Denmark, showing how continuous monitoring allows to quickly detect and identify buildings faults.