An Intelligent System for Improving Energy Efficiency in Building Using Ontology and Building Automation Systems

Energy efficiency is a keyword that can be found nowadays in all domains in which energy demand exists. The steadily rising energy demand, the consequent energy scarcity and rising prices of energy resources are forcing companies and people to redefine their activities in a more energy efficient way. Besides industry and transportation, the building sector is the most important energy consumer, as a study for European countries showed that up to 40% of the total energy consumption in the EU can be ascribed to this segment. The residential use represents around 3% of the total energy consumption in the building sector (Balaras et al., 2007).