Towards Open Modeling of Building Automation over the entire building life cycle

Abstract

One step towards achieving climate neutrality in cities is to operate buildings energy-efficiently. Building automation systems are a key element in optimizing the operation of modern buildings (e.g., controling HVAC systems and switching lights on/off). However, it is often the case that the actual energy consumption of a building is higher than expected. One reason is that building automation is usually only designed in detail very late during the construction phase of buildings. Consequently, the design assumptions often differ from the actual realization, which leads to operational failures and inefficiencies. As a result, the total savings potential cannot be exploited for time and budget reasons. Hence, building automation should be modeled and tested already in the design phase to avoid insufficiencies in the implementation, resulting in higher operational costs and energy consumption. To address these challenges, we developed a method for platform-independent modeling of the control logic and integrating it into an open data model. This method allows the control logic to be linked to the components and parameters of the building model already in the design phase and throughout the entire building life cycle.