A SIMULATION-BASED TESTING AND TRAINING

ENVIRONMENT FOR BUILDING CONTROLS

Philip HavesLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Joe Deringer

The Deringer Group, Berkeley, CA

Building Controls Test Bed

Virtual Building/HVAC system Real Control System

AlgorithmsHardwareA/D

D/A +

SPARK + EnergyPlus

VAV Control Test Bed

Actuator

VAV box

Control signal

SupplyAir

PIDcontroller

roomT

Temp set-point

Room temp

P I D

A/D

D/A

Virtual Real

Control signal

Poorly Tuned Control

Room temp (oF)

Damper position (0-5V)

Damper position (0-5V)

Room temp (oF)

Old set point

New set point

Overshoot

Re-Tuned Control

Damper position (0-5V)

Room temp (oF)

Computer-Based Education (CBE) Example

Structure of a Goal-Oriented Problem-Solving ExerciseUsing a Simulation Engine

Elements of Problem-Solving Exercise

Animation of system

Mouse over for Status

Virtual Information Resource for “drill-downs”

Simulation engine complexity can be hidden

Feedback on Actions Taken

Temps. Unchanged

New Status

Feedback on Impacts

Progress

Example Strategy (ECO)

Animation of component operation

Database of resource information

Hints and Quizzes

Hints about problems with system

System or component level info.