All-Energy is a free-to-attend conference and exhibition held in Glasgow annually. In its 16th year during a two-day programme held on 4th and 5th of May, it has firmly established itself as the UK’s leading renewable energy exhibition and conference including such activities as workshop, seminars, meetings, visits to demo site and internal meetings between project partners. Each edition, All-Energy brings together the latest technologies and thought leaders worldwide.
Attracting visitors from a variety sectors within the energy industry including onshore & offshore wind, bioenergy, wave & tidal, sustainable cities and energy efficiency, All-Energy gives exhibitors the opportunity to do business with key international experts and buyers in one location. All-Energy offers structured networking opportunities to help suppliers establish relationships and secure business on a global scale.
Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), a company highly involved in R&D activities through various projects and currently one of the partners of the project Energy in Time, made a presentation titled “Making real-time operational control of buildings a reality with 3D simulation.” Catherine Conaghan, Senior Project Manager of IES, introduced this topic as part of the “Sustainable and Smart Cities” theme.
IES’s role in the project Energy in Time is the development of highly calibrated simulation-based building models, which can used in near-real time for automated control optimization and decision making. The core for this model is a 3D simulation model through which it is possible to detect faults in an automated way and apply analysis focused on prediction and optimization to determine future trends and the best course of action, respectively. It implies integration with virtual App for comprehensive building auditing and web-based BMS data acquisition.
The 3D simulation model is based on the 4 demo sites physically located in different countries: Portugal (Faro, Airport), Romania (ICPE, office building) and Finland (Levi, hotel and Sanomatalo, commercial and office building). The real input is provided through the Data Acquisition model which facilitates accurate building profiles to replace standard profiles in simulation models. IES also introduces Building Model Calibration, a process of improving the accuracy of simulation models to reflect the as-built status and current operating conditions.
The benefits of this complex approach are multiple. We can highlight the following: real-time comparison of the building performance against virtual building models, greater accuracy by faults and real-time inefficiencies detection and intelligent prediction to ensure maximum efficiency for building operations.
The prototypes of all elements have been developed and tested at least in a simulation environment. Remaining work for this coming year and the next 2017 will focus on integration and demonstration in real buildings located in EU.
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Making real-time operational control of buildings a reality with 3D simulation