Determination of Effectiveness of Energy Management System in Buildings

Abstract

Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) are computer-based systems that aid in managing, controlling, and monitoring the building technical services and energy consumption by equipment used in the building. The effectiveness of BEMS is dependent upon numerous factors, among which the operational characteristics of the building and the BEMS control parameters also play an essential role. This research develops a user-driven simulation tool where users can input the building parameters and BEMS controls to determine the effectiveness of their BEMS. The simulation tool gives the user the flexibility to understand the potential energy savings by employing specific BEMS control and help in making intelligent decisions. The simulation is developed using Visual Basic Application (VBA) in Microsoft Excel, based on discrete-event Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). The simulation works by initially calculating the energy required for space cooling and heating based on current building parameters input by the user in the model. Further, during the second simulation, the user selects all the BEMS controls and improved building envelope to determine the energy required for space cooling and heating during that case. The model compares the energy consumption from the first simulation and the second simulation. Then the simulation model will provide the rating of the effectiveness of BEMS on a continuous scale of 1 to 5 (1 being poor effectiveness and 5 being excellent effectiveness of BEMS). This work is intended to facilitate building owner/energy managers to analyze the building energy performance concerning the efficacy of their energy management system.