STEER – Support Tool for Energy Efficiency pRogrammes in medical centres

Publications

List of papers related to STEER to be presented at ETFA 2017

 

Choosing Measures for Energy Efficient Hospital Buildings

Reference: Christos Koulamas, Antonios Moronis, Athanasios Kalogeras, and Daniele Liberanome, Proc. 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, Sep. 2017, Limassol Cyprus

Abstract: The improvement of the energy efficiency of a complex system such as an existing large non-residential building, requires multi-disciplinary engineering knowledge, practices and teams, as well as support from equally complex software tools and modelling methodologies, especially during the initial planning and feasibility assessment phases of relevant projects. In this paper, the peculiarities of the special case of hospital buildings are discussed and a number of use cases are described, identifying significant components and setting the basic needed tooling interventions and methodology steps in order to address the complexity of assessment of different energy conservation measures.

 

Validation of a monthly quasi-steady-state simulation model for the energy use in buildings

Reference: Antonios Moronis, Christos Koulamas, and Athanasios Kalogeras, Proc. 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, Sep. 2017, Limassol Cyprus

Abstract: The evaluation of the energy consumption or the energy performance of buildings, from a complex engineering system point of view, is a multi-parametric problem where different static or dynamic methods are being used. Quantitative analysis is usually required, not only in the context of building regulations, but also as an important engineering tool for planning energy efficiency measures or interventions. In this paper a quasi-steady state model for the energy use in buildings is presented, which combines simplicity, minimum requirements for data input and adequate accuracy. This model is based on the methodologies described in the ISO 13790 standard. It combines a basic steady state physical model, where dynamic effects are also taken into account by introducing different correlation factors and reference parameters. It’s main advantage over more complex dynamic models requiring detailed data and high expertise, is that it can be used not only from a small number of experts but also from engineers involved in energy management or energy efficiency projects. This model is validated according to the procedures of the EN 15265 standard, in order to investigate the dependence of the results on the different parameters used.

 

Sensitivity analysis of medical centers energy consumption with EnergyPlus

Reference: Soroush Rastegarpour, Luca Ferrarini, Rosalia Pacheco-Torres, Athansios Kalogeras, and Christos Koulamas, Proc. 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, Sep. 2017, Limassol Cyprus

Abstract: Sensitivity analysis plays a vital role in building energy analysis. It is done to clarify which are the crucial variables affecting building thermal performance and to evaluate quantitatively those effects. It can be conducted both through energy simulation models and real case observations. The present paper is devoted to the description of the sensitivity analysis techniques that are able to extract the most effective parameters on the energy consumption of a commercial building, particularly medical centers. Energy consumption in medical centers, generally, depends on several parameters ranging from technical and geometrical aspects to climatic conditions. This paper is focused on the application of sensitivity analysis in term of energy consumption in medical centers through a benchmark simulation model which is developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in order to classify the most effective parameters on energy consumption of a large hospitals.

 

Energy Consumption Modeling by Machine Learning from Daily Activity-Metering in a Hospital

Reference: Elena Ruiz, Rosalía Pacheco-Torres and Jorge Casillas, Proc. 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, Sep. 2017, Limassol Cyprus.

Abstract: Hospitals are large buildings that consume a great amount of energy mostly due to their continuous energy consumption needs, high consumer medical equipment, and special requirements of thermal and air conditions. Reliable dynamic simulation is a chimera because of the complex design and behavior of these buildings. Therefore, monitoring-based methods arise as a plausible alternative. Its main drawback, however, is the lack of enough data to generate statistically robust models.

The paper faces this problem thanks to the helpful contribution of a collaborative hospital which was able to generate daily data of electrical energy consumption for a period of six years. Besides, thirteen variables that summarize the daily activity of the hospital are also included. The results show how machine learning techniques generate models that accurately predict the electrical energy consumption based on weather conditions and activity measurements.

The obtained results are useful for the design of more specific energy saving strategies, a more efficient economic investment for energy retrofitting of existing buildings and a better management of economic energy cost in large-scale buildings.

 

Scenario-based sensitivity analysis of energy dynamic behavior in residential buildings with radiant floors

Reference: Rosalia Pacheco-Torres, Le Anh Dao, Luca Ferrarini, Proc. 22nd IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, Sep. 2017, Limassol Cyprus

Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of thermal energy efficiency in domestic buildings. In particular, a sensitivity analysis and a comparison has been performed to evaluate both comfort and consumption of different heating scheduling, different building thermal properties and different climatic conditions, under a mixed PI and hysteresis control scheme. The case study here considered is a house heated through a radiant floor system. A new index of assessment of user’s comfort is also proposed. Different scenarios are tested, and in particular continuous and discontinuous heating strategies are compared. This paper explores the importance of heating scheme in terms of comfort and energy saving.