HVAC control simulation study for Australian office buildings

This paper presents a generic model developed as a base case to represent a mid-sized Australian office building with possible best practice HVAC configurations. A number of common control methods or failures were assessed by the simulation. The methodology used in developing the models is given and the simulation was carried out in four Australian capital cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. The impact of the control methods or failures were compared and analysed. It is demonstrated that zone temperature control, fan control and supply air temperature control have a significant impact (~10%-40%) on energy use, while economy cycle, minimum outside air and chilled water temperature reset have a less impact (<10%). Combined failure scenarios show that the difference between best practice and poor control can range as high as 50% to 90%, demonstrating the fundamental importance of control. Sensitivity to control is considerably greater in milder climates.