Intelligent buildings and intelligent agents - a human-centered framework for building controls

There has been increasing interest in applying agent technology to intelligent building controls. Scenarios in current research do not fit commercial buildings, in which both building operators and occupants can participate in operation decisions. Although personal control systems have been available to commercial buildings, individual differences in comfort requirements have not been fully addressed in control strategies. For most commercial buildings, control decisions are still based on generalized human requirements. This paper presents an agent-based control framework that accounts for individual differences and mitigates potential requirement conflicts.