Use of CARNOT Toolbox to Evaluate the Impact of Building Automation and Control Systems on Energy and CO2 Emission Savings

To estimate and predict the energy savings achievable with Building Automation and Control Systems, dynamic simulations are of fundamental importance. Such simulations can be performed with different types of software, among which, those based on simplified physical models are currently studied in the scientific literature. In fact, they can represent a fair compromise between the computational demand and the result accuracy. This paper shows how the CARNOT Toolbox for MATLAB/Simulink® can be effectively used for evaluating the impact of the automation system (used to manage the heating system) on the energy performance of a study case building. The building is located in the historic center of Pisa, Italy, and it is characterized by high wall thickness, which results in high thermal inertia. The building heating system has two type of heat generators: an air to water heat pump and a condensing boiler. The rooms of the building, currently used as offices, are heated by fan coil units. The control system, that manages the heating system, consists of a central multi-controller and a logical interface. They communicate, using the Modbus protocol, with all the components of the heating system that are connected by a bus cable. In the paper, the energy consumptions and CO2 emissions of the building were evaluated for different scenarios, characterized by the implementation of different control functions of the heating system, selected according to the EN 15232 technical standard specifications.