A Network of Sensor and Actuator Agents for Building Automation Systems

For at least two reasons the energy consumed by heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC) and domestic hot-water (DHW) systems should be reduced. First, the total amount of energy used by such systems is high: nearly 20% of the total energy consumed in the USA is accounted by HVAC systems. The second reason is the exploitation of renewable energy sources, which depends on the current time and the weather situation. In short, energy utilization should be improved by effectively managing the available energy. In order to achieve this a network of sensor and actuator agents is proposed for the example of a domestic hot-water heating system that takes into account several aspects, including the presence of occupants. The agent-based schema, combined with the simulator, allows the occupant to choose the most subjectively desirable policy for the DHW control mechanism.

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