Energy savings from temperature setpoints and deadband: Quantifying the influence of building and system properties on savings

Abstract

This paper provides a systematic approach for quantifying the influence of building size, construction category, climate, occupancy schedule, setpoint, and deadband on HVAC energy consumption in office buildings. Simulating the DOE reference office buildings of three sizes and three construction categories in all United States climate zones, using the EnergyPlus, we conducted several N-way ANOVA analyses to study the interrelationships between setpoints, deadbands and several building related and environment related factors. In summary, daily optimal deadband selection of 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 K would result in an average energy savings of -70.0, -34.9, -13.7, 9.6, 16.4, and 21.2 %, respectively, compared to baseline deadline of 3 K. Selecting the daily optimal setpoint in the range of 22.5 ± 1 °C, 22.5 ± 2 °C, and 22.5 ± 3 °C would result in an average savings of 7.5, 12.7, and 16.4 %, respectively, compared to the baseline setpoint of 22.5 °C. Additionally, we found that when the outdoor temperature is within -20 to 30°C, the optimal setpoint depends on the building size. We also observed a range of outdoor temperatures (e.g., 9 -14 °C for small buildings and 8 -11 °C for medium buildings) where the setpoint selection would only slightly influence the energy consumption. However, the choice of setpoints becomes very influential (up to 30% of energy savings) where the outdoor temperatures are slightly outside the mentioned ranges on either direction. The potential savings from selecting daily optimal setpoints in the range of 22.5 ± 3 °C in different climates and for small, medium and large office buildings, would lead to 10.09 -37.03%, 11.43 -21.01%, and 6.78 -11.34 % savings, respectively, depending on the climate.

Infrared thermography of human face for monitoring thermoregulation performance and estimating personal thermal comfort

“…This allows to further improve the energy efficiency in buildings. The potential energy savings from optimizing the building HVAC temperature setpoints can reach up to 37% [14] depending on the climate, building size, and materials. While the more sophisticated optimization and control algorithms might help improving the energy efficiency and thermal comfort, there is a trade-off between the controller complexity and the potential energy savings [45][46][47][48], which requires further investigations.…”

“…Even though it is difficult to assess human comfort in real-time due to these factors, building HVAC systems energy consumption can still be optimized while occupants thermal comfort is wellmaintained [9] as humans perceive comfort in a range of environmental thermal conditions [10][11][12]. It is worth mentioning that small thermal comfort related adjustments (e.g., adjusting the temperature set point by 1°C) have considerable impacts on the overall building energy consumption [13,14].…”

Personal comfort models: Predicting individuals' thermal preference using occupant heating and cooling behavior and machine learning

“…In this case, the centralized system is then responsible for maintaining ambient conditions within a range in which the PCS can correct for each individual's thermal comfort needs, instead of a much narrower range that is a compromise for all occupants in that space. The wider range of acceptable ambient temperature conditions will allow HVAC systems to operate under a wider temperature setpoints, leading to significant energy savings [54][55][56][57].…”

Contributions of heat pumps to demand response: A case study of a plus-energy dwelling

“…Korkas et al [21] presented a novel control algorithm for joint thermal comfort optimization and DSM in microgrids with RES and TES. Conversely, [22] focused on quantifying the potential energy savings in HVAC systems through setpoint and deadband changes. This study also considered the effects of some influential factors on building HVAC energy consumption using building energy simulations.…”