An agent-based simulation-assisted approach to bi-lateral building systems control

Conventional building control systems usually apply central control schemes that do not fully address individual occupancy differences in built environmental requirements. Recent application of personal control modules in commercial buildings presents a bi-lateral control scheme, in which a building operator and an occupant can both control the occupant’s local environmental settings, e.g., lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation, etc. While personal controls may enhance individual comfort, they may also neutralize operators’ cost-saving efforts. The potential operational conflicts in the emerging bi-lateral scheme have not been sufficiently addressed. The paper presents an agent-based framework for building operators and individual occupants to negotiate their control activities. A prototype in the lighting controls domain was implemented and the simulation results showed that the framework effectively allowed for concurrent evaluation of energy consumption and individual comfort to achieve balanced control strategies.