Cost-effective retrofit technology for reducing peak power demand in small and medium commercial buildings

James Nutaro, David Fugate, Teja Kuruganti, Jibonananda Sanyal, Michael Starke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article describes a cost-effective retrofit technology that uses collective control of multiple rooftop air-conditioning units to reduce the peak power consumption of small and medium commercial buildings. The proposed control uses a model of the building and air-conditioning units to select an operating schedule for the air-conditioning units that maintains a temperature set-point subject to a constraint on the number of units that may operate simultaneously. Aprototype of this new control system was built and deployed in a large gymnasium to coordinate four rooftop air-conditioning units. Based on data collected while operating this prototype, it is estimated that the cost savings achieved by reducing peak power consumption is sufficient to repay the cost of the prototype within a year.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)761-772
Number of pages12
JournalScience and Technology for the Built Environment
Volume21
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

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