BIM-Based Building Control for Thermal Zone Model Generation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Building management systems lack effective methods to determine and optimize the operation of environmental control systems within buildings, as existing technologies do not adequately utilize building information models to predict thermal properties and control relationships, leading to inefficiencies in energy management and occupant comfort.
Innovation Solution
A controller and method that parse CAD or BIM files to identify building equipment, generate zone models, and perform model-based operations to determine control relationships and optimize operating setpoints, using system identification experiments when necessary, to predict thermal properties and manage energy distribution efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If building management systems use traditional control methods without BIM integration, then system simplicity is maintained, but thermal property prediction accuracy and energy optimization capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary extraction of thermal properties and control relationships from BIM models during the design phase, storing this information in advance for use during building operation. This allows accurate thermal prediction without real-time computational complexity, as the heavy lifting is done beforehand when BIM data is readily available.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates simplified zone models that copy essential thermal characteristics from the detailed BIM model. Instead of processing the entire complex BIM model in real-time, the system uses lightweight replicated models that capture key thermal properties, enabling fast prediction without the original model's complexity.
2Productivity
If BIM data is fully utilized to determine control relationships, then energy optimization improves, but data processing complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the specific thermal properties and control relationships needed for energy optimization from the comprehensive BIM model, discarding unnecessary geometric and material detail. This selective extraction reduces processing time while retaining the essential information needed for effective energy management and control optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-processes BIM data to identify and store control relationships between building equipment and thermal zones before operation begins. This preliminary identification of control relationships enables fast query and application during energy optimization without re-processing the entire BIM model each time optimization is needed.
3Reliability
If system identification experiments are triggered to obtain missing properties, then model accuracy improves, but operational time and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects missing thermal properties in the BIM model and self-service by triggering system identification experiments only for those specific missing parameters. This targeted approach maintains high model accuracy by filling gaps where needed while avoiding unnecessary experiments, thus minimizing additional time and resource consumption compared to comprehensive re-testing.
Data Source
AI summary
A controller for a building including one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include parsing a computer-aided design (CAD) file or a building information model (BIM) file for the building to identify building equipment that operates to affect a variable state or condition of a zone of the building. The operations include generating one or more zone models describing one or more control relationships between the building equipment and the variable state or condition of the zone based on the CAD file or the BIM file. The operations include using the one or more zone models to perform a model-based operation for the building equipment.