Coalitional Model Predictive Control of Building Zones Temperatures

This paper deals with the potential benefits of coalition-based modelling and control of building zones heating and cooling to enhance the overall energy efficiency of the building. The paper applies model predictive control for tracking of setpoint temperature in building zones. To tackle the complexity of the model, the approach utilizes semi-physical independent thermal models of building zones and models thermal connections between adjacent zones based on resistive-capacitive analogy. Such coupled models are formed into coalitions and are used in model predictive control of zone temperature. Realistic two 5-day simulations are conducted to compare the performance of the coalitional control. Results indicate that the coalitional control approach reduces energy consumption by up to 14.96% in comparison to decentralized approach of independent model predictive control of each zone while providing consumption increase of 1.38% compared to a centralized floor-based model predictive control. The paper provides evaluation of coalitional control performance based on trade-off between energy savings, user comfort, and computational complexity.