Multi agent building study on the control of the energy balance of an aquifer

A heat pump in combination with an aquifer has high promise generating heat and cold for user comfort efficiently within buildings. To guarantee favourable annual performance of the heat pump in future, it is important that the energy supplied to the aquifer is in balance. This paper demonstrates how a multi-agent approach can be applied to preserve this balance while delivering the exact amount of energy demanded at any time. In this simulation study, the data of an actual building with a heat pump, district heating and an air handler unit is used. This design exploits the ability of a multi-agent approach to trade two or more commodities at any given time. Where a conventional centralized climate control system has failed, a multi-agent system demonstrates the possibility of preserving balance without infringing user comfort. The main difference between the two techniques is by using district heating only when necessary. When starting with a certain energy unbalance it is also possible to regain energy balance again. The share of renewable energy devices to produce heat can be increased as compared to centralized climate control systems. On a day-by-day basis, to deliver cold to the building, the air handler unit provides extra flexibility by using cold outdoor air when there is a demand of cold.