Smart Zero-energy Buildings and Communities for Smart Grids

3Data Analysis and Energy Modeling in Smart and Zero-energy Buildings and Communities

3.1. Energy signature for the NTL of Cyprus Institute¹

The analysis of energy consumption data is an important instrument for a building’s management: it is crucial for energy audits, to verify the savings achieved by a retrofit and to improve the estimation of expected savings (Haberl and Komor 1990). This aspect requires knowledge of the factors that influence the consumption of energy. Usually, a model of the building is necessary to estimate the consumption for any operating conditions that have to be validated.

There are two approaches for developing such a model: the simulation approach, also called forward modeling, and the system identification approach, called inverse modelling. A third option is also considered – the hybrid approach: by starting with the description of the building and calibrating the simulation program to match with the measured consumption data (Burch et al. 1990).

Energy model-based simulation is a computational tool that allows us to model the building as a system that is able to simulate the dynamic thermal interactions between a building and its outdoor and indoor environments (Morbitzer 2003). This approach is useful because it is based on a deep understanding of the behavior by starting from established relationships (De Wit and Augenbroe 2002; Lam et al. 2004; Rizos 2007). However, conducting energy model-based simulation requires significant time, resources ...