ISSN Online: 2379-1748
ISBN Flash Drive: 978-1-56700-483-0
ISBN Online: 978-1-56700-482-3
4th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference
FAULT DETECTION IN COMMERCIAL BUILDING VAV AHU: A CASE STUDY OF AN ACADEMIC BUILDING
摘要
The building sector of the U.S. currently consumes over 40% of the U.S. primary energy supply. Estimates suggest that between 5% and 30% of any building's annual energy consumption is unknowingly wasted due to
pathologically malfunctioning lighting and comfort conditioning systems. This paper presents analytical methods
embodied within useful software tools to quickly identify and evaluate selected building system faults that cause
large building energy inefficiencies. The technical contributions of this work include expert rules that adapt to HVAC equipment scale and operation and methods for sorting fault signals according to user-defined interests
such as annual cost of energy inefficiencies. These contributions are particularly unique in their treatment of
models and the careful consideration of user interests in fault evaluation. As a first step to developing this general
framework for fault detection, first-order faults such as simultaneous heating and cooling and imbalanced airflows
within several large air-handling units were targeted. The algorithms focused on detecting faults with minimal data
and non-intrusive measurements. An example is presented of the potential energy savings in a large academic
building that has been monitored. Savings of around $3,400 when a stuck damper fault occurred over an entire month in an air handler. The savings would accrue if the fault were corrected; otherwise the occurrence of the fault causes a waste of money and energy. predicted. User testing and experiments show that embracing uncertainty within HVAC fault detection and evaluation is not only paramount to judicious fault inference but it is also central
to gaining the trust and buy-in of system users who ultimately can apply fault detection information to actually fix and improve building operations.