A TWO-STAGE SIMULATION-BASED ON-LINE OPTIMIZATION SCHEME FOR HVAC DEMAND RESPONSE

The on-line control optimization for building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is crucial for automatic demand response. Simulation- based optimization techniques usually require intensive computation, even with advanced optimization algorithms, and therefore are not feasible for on-line decision making. This article presents a two-stage scheme in which an “optimal strategy pool” is generated by off-line optimization on the identified weather patterns. And only a small number of strategies are subject to on-line simulation evaluation. This two- stage approach shows superior capability of identifying optimal DR strategies and reducing on-line computation load, simultaneously. A case study with EnergyPlus simulation of a large education facility at Berkeley, CA is included.