Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

8-2025

Abstract

Building operational energy alone accounts for 28% of global carbon emissions. A sustainable building operation promises enormous savings, especially under the increasing concern of climate change and the rising trends of the digitalization and electrification of buildings. Intelligent control strategies play a crucial role in building systems and electrical energy grids to reach the EU goal of carbon neutrality in 2050 and to manage the rising availability of regenerative energy. This study aims to prove that one can create energy and emission savings with simple weather and emission predictive control (WEPC). Furthermore, this should prove that the simplicity of this approach is key for the applicability of this concept in the built world. A thermodynamic simulation (TRNSYS) evaluates the performance of different variants. The parametrical study varies building construction, location, weather, and emission data and gives an outlook for 2050. The study showcases five different climate locations and reveals heating and cooling energy savings of up to 50 kWh/(m2a) and emission savings between 5 and 25% for various building types without harming thermal comfort. This endorses the initial statement to simplify building energy concepts. Furthermore, it proposes preventing energy designers from overoptimizing buildings with technology as the solution to a climate-responsible energy concept.

Keywords

weather-and-emission predictive control, TABS, dynamic emission, thermal storage, electrical storage, thermal inertia, intelligent control strategy, load management

Discipline

Energy Policy | Engineering

Research Areas

Integrative Research Areas

Publication

Buildings

Volume

14

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

27

Identifier

10.3390/buildings14010288

Publisher

MDPI

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010288

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