MODEL-BASED THERMAL LOAD ESTIMATION IN BUILDINGS

Understanding and optimizing the energy performance of a building requires insights into the dynamics of thermal loads at a variety of spatial scales within the building. When available, sensors within the terminal units and indoor environment can provide useful information, but they can be grossly inaccurate when estimating loads over extended periods of time. Increasing the number of sensors or including more accurate sensors will help, but would increase the system complexity and lifecycle cost. The use of physics-based thermal balance models with measured data can provide more robust and accurate estimates of the loads. In this paper, a model-based approach is used to estimate zonal loads in a medium-sized commercial building and verified with measurements.