Robust co-design framework for buildings operated by predictive control

TL;DR

This paper introduces a robust co-design framework for residential buildings that optimizes physical design, control, and operation considering external factors, significantly reducing costs and computational time while maintaining performance.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated approach using decomposition and condition selection to make complex co-design problems computationally feasible.

Findings

Cost reductions up to 30% compared to deterministic methods

Computational time reduced by at least 10 times

Minimal performance deterioration of 0.6%

Abstract

Cost-effective decarbonisation of the built environment is a stepping stone to achieving net-zero carbon emissions since buildings are globally responsible for more than a quarter of global energy-related CO$_2$ emissions. Improving energy utilization and decreasing costs naturally requires considering multiple domain-specific performance criteria. The resulting problem is often computationally infeasible. The paper proposes an approach based on decomposition and selection of significant operating conditions to achieve a formulation with reduced computational complexity. We present a robust framework to optimise the physical design, the controller, and the operation of residential buildings in an integrated fashion, considering external weather conditions and time-varying electricity prices. The framework explicitly includes operational constraints and increases the utilization of the energy generated by intermittent resources. A case study illustrates the potential of co-design in enhancing the reliability, flexibility and self-sufficiency of a system operating under different conditions. Specifically, numerical results demonstrate reductions in costs up to $30$% compared to a deterministic formulation. Furthermore, the proposed approach achieves a computational time reduction of at least $10$ times lower compared to the original problem with a deterioration in the performance of only 0.6%.