The first world championship in cybernetic building optimization

Abstract

The World Championship in Cybernetic Building Optimization (WCCBO) was held in 2019 to test participants’ ability to optimize buildings cybernetically. Office buildings with a total floor area of 10,000 m2 were built in cyberspace, one for each of the 33 participating teams. The cyber buildings were controlled by BACnet, and the participants competed to show their operational skills by tuning the HVAC system of their respective cyber buildings online. The ability of optimization was evaluated in terms of both energy consumption and thermal comfort, and their scores were published online in real-time. A total of 339 different operations were tested during the two-month competition period. The top-ranked team succeeded in reducing energy consumption and thermally dissatisfied occupant rate by 12.1% and 21.0%, respectively. In this paper, we report on the examination of the rules and schedule of this championship as well as the analysis of the participants’ scores.