A novel method for saving energy of HVAC using autonomous variable air velocity based on thermal comfort

Abstract

The tower building categories used in the energy breakdown are Electric lighting, the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) auxiliary and Office equipment. The HVAC system has the greatest energy saving potential as it is the major energy consumer. It consumes approximately 64 percent of the total building energy. A good HVAC in buildings helps reduce energy use and maintain occupant comfort. To this end, there are many systems and equipment conditions to observe HVAC systems. This paper critically examines indoor climate control technologies to reduce the HVAC system energy. The autonomous variable air volume diffusers are interconnected to simulate the responses of the system. The constrained optimal control problem is formulated and solved for increased operative temperature. The experiment results show that by increasing the operative temperature from 25°C to 27°C, the electrical energy can be saved by 11.64 percent. The proposed method feeds back the output air to input boundary conditions of the same human thermal sensation even though the air velocity distributions in the sections are different from each other. The experiment results also show that the proposed method can maintain the PMV values in an interval of -0.5 to +0.5 at an acceptable air velocity range. © 2011 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.