Modeling of a Building System and its Parameter Identification

This study proposes a low order dynamic model of a building system in order to predict thermal behavior within a building and its energy consumption. The building system includes a thermally well-insulated room and an electric heater. It is modeled by a second order lumped RC thermal network based on the thermal-electrical analogy. In order to identify unknown parameters of the model, an experimental procedure is firstly detailed. Then, the different linear parametric models (ARMA, ARX, ARMAX, BJ, and OE models) are recalled. The parameters of the parametric models are obtained by the least square approach. The obtained parameters are interpreted to the parameters of the physically based model in accordance with their relationship. Afterwards, the obtained models are implemented in Matlab/Simulink (R) and are evaluated by the mean of the sum of absolute error (MAE) and the mean of the sum of square error (MSE) with the variable of indoor temperature of the room. Quantities of electrical energy and converted thermal energy are also compared. This study will permit a further study on Model Predictive Control adapting to the proposed model in order to reduce energy consumption of the building.