Building control virtual test bed and functional mock-up interface standard: comparison in the context of campus energy modelling and control

This paper compares Building Control Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) and Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) standard to conduct coupled energy modelling and control for academic and research campuses. The intent is to systematically compare BCVTB and FMI. As proof-of-concept demonstration, building energy models of Colorado School of Mines are developed in EnergyPlus and coupled through BCVTB and FMI. The coupled models in BCVTB and FMI represent a virtual campus and they are compared from different perspectives such as simulation runtime, easiness of employing simple if-then-else control, easiness of integrating other programs and feasibility to employ advanced control and optimization. Overall, FMI standard is more promising due to its (a) capability to be programmed in a multithreading manner, (b) capability to be implemented as Gau beta-Seidl and Jacobi methods of loose coupling and (c) higher feasibility to implement advanced control and optimization programs.