Real-time determination of optimal indoor-air condition for thermal comfort, air quality and efficient energy usage

This paper describes a method for the determination of optimal indoor conditions, using three parameter indexes: PMV (predicted mean vote) for thermal comfort, CO2 concentration for indoor air quality and cooling/heating load for efficient use of energy. A performance index of the HVAC system is calculating by adding square errors between actual and desired values. It is then minimized to find optimal indoor air conditions. This approach has been applied to a single-storey office building (508 m3) over a 24 hours period to compare the performance of the conventional existing system and controller with that performed with the proposed methodology.