Demonstration of a modeling toolkit for the design of building electrical distribution systems

Waghale, Anay; Pratoomratana, Shat; Poplawski, Michael

doi:10.1145/3563357.3564057

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…The other models. The ability of the BEEAM toolkit to model lighting systems powered by different electrical distribution architectures has been demonstrated in previous work [34]. The accuracy of the BEEAM toolkit has thus far not been extensively verified.…”

Section: Scope Test Setup and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, BEEAM-based models may be paired with other standard Modelica libraries to develop more complex models or packaged up into a functional mockup unit (FMU) to enable co-simulation with other models. The ability of the BEEAM toolkit to model lighting systems powered by different electrical distribution architectures has been demonstrated in previous work [34]. The accuracy of the BEEAM toolkit has thus far not been extensively verified.…”

Section: Beeammentioning

confidence: 99%

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Verification of a Modeling Toolkit for the Design of Building Electrical Distribution Systems

Waghale,

Pratoomratana,

Woodstock

et al. 2023

Buildings

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DC electrical distribution systems offer many potential advantages over their AC counterparts. They can facilitate easier integration with distributed energy resources, improve system energy efficiency by eliminating AC/DC converters at end-use devices (e.g., laptop chargers), and reduce installation material, time, and cost. However, DC electrical distribution systems present additional design considerations, largely resulting from potentially greater magnitude and variation in cable losses. Modeling and simulation are rarely used to design such systems. However, the greater dependency of DC system energy efficiency on design choices such as distribution voltages, architecture, and integration of PV and BESS suggests that modeling and simulation may be required. Such system performance analysis is currently not a standard practice, in part due to limited availability and validation of capable software tools. This paper characterizes the accuracy of a Modelica-based Building Electrical Efficiency Analysis Model (BEEAM) toolkit, as a precursor for validating its use to perform system performance analysis and inform design decisions. The study builds upon previous verification research by characterizing complete systems comprised of commercially available equipment, and providing a more detailed analysis of simulation results. Five lighting systems with varying electrical distribution architectures were designed using market-available equipment, installed in a laboratory environment, modeled using BEEAM, and simulated using three Modelica integrated development environments (IDEs). Simulated and measured results were compared to characterize toolkit accuracy. Initial results revealed that simulated performance was mostly within ±5% of measured system-level and device-level performance. While simulation results were not found to be dependent on the IDE, some Modelica compiler interoperability issues were identified. Although the BEEAM toolkit showed promise for the targeted use case, further work is needed to determine whether the demonstrated 5% accuracy is sufficient for making real-world design decisions, and for BEEAM to advance from an interesting research tool to one that can impact real-world building projects.

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Section: Scope Test Setup and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Beeammentioning

confidence: 99%