A Systems Engineering Approach to Distributed Control and Building Performance Simulation

The development of advanced control systems for building performance applications faces many challenges due to the high number of physical processes that interact with each other, and with the environment. From the control point of view, these applications are often composed of multi dynamic sub-applications that must be monitored and controlled properly in order to achieve occupants’ well-being and better energy efficiency. However, as the environment and occupants change in a building, this increases the complexity in applying control systems. For this reason, this paper presents a conceptual framework using systems engineering (SE) principles in the analysis and design of integrated control solutions for building performance applications by run-time coupling. Although these solutions are based on the use of SE practice and corresponding standards, the development lifecycle of control systems are covered ranging from the operational needs to implementation, operation and disposal. As all these achievements are a key step towards using computer simulations to evaluate the impact of advanced control systems on buildings operation and energy use, this paper also describes a distributed simulation mechanism that was developed and implemented between different simulation tools such as ESP-r and