A Building Automation Case Study Setup and Challenges

Smart buildings will play a fundamental role in ensuring comfort while reducing the energy required. However, due to the lack of knowledge about the operation of the smart controllers, the occupants can unintentionally increase the energy spent. Nevertheless, there is evidence that the informed and motivated user will actually cooperate with the system. Some of the issues associated with researching control systems in the context of building automation are difficult to address, because of the chronic lack of effective laboratory settings for experimentation. In this paper, we describe a system representative of the usual complexity found in cyber-physical systems, whose purpose is to address the needs for experimenting with building automation, with a focus on control systems and gamification. Designed with pragmatic concerns, this system presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities to research a new generation of software control systems, and supporting interfaces, that leverage the occupants’ behaviour.