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Enhancing climate resilience in buildings using Collective Intelligence : A pilot study on a Norwegian elderly care center

Hosseini, Mohammad ; Erba, Silvia ; Hajialigol, Parisa ; Aghaei, Mohammadreza ; Moazami, Amin and Nik, Vahid M. LU orcid (2024) In Energy and Buildings 308.
Abstract

The combined challenge of climate change and population aging requires novel solutions that enhance the resilience of building energy systems and secure indoor comfort for vulnerable occupants in extreme weather conditions. This research investigates the performance of a newly developed Energy Management (EM) system based on Collective Intelligence (CI) and Reinforcement Learning (RL), called CIRLEM, managing the energy performance of an urban complex in Ålesund, Norway, including an elderly care center with decentralized PV generation, EV charging and storage, while connected to a main electricity grid. CIRLEM controls multiple flexibility assets including independent thermal zones (the demand-side agents) and Electric Vehicle (EV)... (More)

The combined challenge of climate change and population aging requires novel solutions that enhance the resilience of building energy systems and secure indoor comfort for vulnerable occupants in extreme weather conditions. This research investigates the performance of a newly developed Energy Management (EM) system based on Collective Intelligence (CI) and Reinforcement Learning (RL), called CIRLEM, managing the energy performance of an urban complex in Ålesund, Norway, including an elderly care center with decentralized PV generation, EV charging and storage, while connected to a main electricity grid. CIRLEM controls multiple flexibility assets including independent thermal zones (the demand-side agents) and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations (the local storage). In a novel approach, CIRLEM coordinates the distributed storage and generation together with the demand side to control energy systems and react collaboratively to environmental variations. Under extreme weather conditions, without applying CIRLEM, the demand can be more than double that of typical weather conditions. The implementation of the double-layer CIRLEM can reduce the total demand by 35 % over a month. Furthermore, the inclusion of photovoltaic (PV) systems allows the system to be independent from the grid for almost 40 % of its operational hours, while adding EV storage can increase it to around 70 %. Finally, the application of CIRLEM reduced overheating hours from 17 h ∙°C to 2 h ∙°C under extreme conditions, while maintaining comfortable conditions even during temperature ramps.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Aging population, Climate resilience, Distributed decision-making, Energy flexibility, Reinforcement learning, Vulnerable people
in
Energy and Buildings
volume
308
article number
114030
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85186612322
ISSN
0378-7788
DOI
10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114030
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c0cd613c-68ca-4f4c-a95c-1dd1a127aee7
date added to LUP
2024-03-14 11:20:33
date last changed
2024-03-14 11:21:54
@article{c0cd613c-68ca-4f4c-a95c-1dd1a127aee7,
  abstract     = {{<p>The combined challenge of climate change and population aging requires novel solutions that enhance the resilience of building energy systems and secure indoor comfort for vulnerable occupants in extreme weather conditions. This research investigates the performance of a newly developed Energy Management (EM) system based on Collective Intelligence (CI) and Reinforcement Learning (RL), called CIRLEM, managing the energy performance of an urban complex in Ålesund, Norway, including an elderly care center with decentralized PV generation, EV charging and storage, while connected to a main electricity grid. CIRLEM controls multiple flexibility assets including independent thermal zones (the demand-side agents) and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations (the local storage). In a novel approach, CIRLEM coordinates the distributed storage and generation together with the demand side to control energy systems and react collaboratively to environmental variations. Under extreme weather conditions, without applying CIRLEM, the demand can be more than double that of typical weather conditions. The implementation of the double-layer CIRLEM can reduce the total demand by 35 % over a month. Furthermore, the inclusion of photovoltaic (PV) systems allows the system to be independent from the grid for almost 40 % of its operational hours, while adding EV storage can increase it to around 70 %. Finally, the application of CIRLEM reduced overheating hours from 17 h ∙°C to 2 h ∙°C under extreme conditions, while maintaining comfortable conditions even during temperature ramps.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hosseini, Mohammad and Erba, Silvia and Hajialigol, Parisa and Aghaei, Mohammadreza and Moazami, Amin and Nik, Vahid M.}},
  issn         = {{0378-7788}},
  keywords     = {{Aging population; Climate resilience; Distributed decision-making; Energy flexibility; Reinforcement learning; Vulnerable people}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Energy and Buildings}},
  title        = {{Enhancing climate resilience in buildings using Collective Intelligence : A pilot study on a Norwegian elderly care center}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114030}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114030}},
  volume       = {{308}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}