Control-oriented archetypes: a pathway for the systematic application of advanced controls in buildings

While the potential of model-based control is recognized, the development of reasonably accurate models for control applications remains a challenging, cumbersome and time-consuming task. This paper proposes a systematic and generalizable approach – based on low-order control-oriented thermal network (RC) archetypes – for the development, testing and implementation of readily scalable control solutions for buildings. These archetypes, focusing specifically on control applications, can significantly facilitate assessing the effect of control strategies on energy efficiency and load management. Furthermore, this approach can also be used for characterization, design and testing of simple retrofit strategies. The utilization of RC-based archetypes for common types of zones (such as those heated/cooled with forced-air or radiant systems) is proposed. These simple models (often 1st to 4th order models suffice), can also be used for the control of residential buildings. For larger buildings, zonal models can be combined to form whole building models.