Distributed monitoring and control of office buildings by embedded agents

We describe a decentralized system consisting of a collection of software agents that monitor and control an office building. It uses the existing power lines for communication between the agents and the electrical devices of the building, such as sensors and actuators for lights and heating. The objectives are both energy saving and increasing customer satisfaction through value added services. Results of qualitative simulations and quantitative analysis based on thermodynamical modeling of an office building and its staff using four different approaches for controlling the building indicate that significant energy savings can result from using the agent-based approach. The evaluation also shows that customer satisfaction can be increased in most situations. The approach here presented makes it possible to control the trade-off between energy saving and customer satisfaction (and actually increase both, in comparison with current approaches). 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.