Coupling Simulation Tools and Real-Time Data to Improve Building Energy Performance

Researchers at the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute are enhancing the capabilities of building performance simulation (BPS) tools by collecting real-time high fidelity energy data to validate and verify simulation capabilities used to predict building energy consumption and to better understand the impacts of building occupants on energy performance. Two case studies, a residential new construction project and an existing commercial building study, have adopted a systems approach toward evaluating the building sector, looking at the relationship between residential buildings, commercial buildings, their occupants, utilities, and local demographics. This paper assesses the important role of efficiency, conservation, and demand response capabilities in reducing energy consumption without requiring significant occupant sacrifices. The Institute is coupling simulation science (as well as its assumptions and processes), with technology that allows researchers to capture real-time energy information and identify more space-specific behavioral pattern assumptions which create an opportunity for better refinement of continuously-responsive building systems.