Simulating the dynamics of occupant behaviour for power management in residential buildings

Inhabitant's decisions and actions have a strong impact on the energy consumption and are an important factor in reducing energy consumption and in modeling future energy trends. Energy simulations that take into account inhabitants’ behaviour are benchmarked at office buildings using controlled activity profiles and predefined scenarios. In this paper we have proposed a co-simulation environment for energy smart homes that takes into account inhabitants’ dynamic and social behaviour. Based on this kind of complex behaviour, the setpoints for different controllers are adjusted in the physical simulator. In this platform, human behaviour is modeled using the Brahms environment and the thermal model and controllers for different appliances are modeled as a physical simulator. The thermal model computes the temperature decrease/increase in a room based on the contextual information resulting from the behaviour simulator. This information is then given to the controller to act upon.

► We propose and simulate a dynamic behavior model in a behavior simulator.
► We propose a physical simulator consisting of thermal model and controllers.
► We propose a co-simulation platform which works in a loop between simulators.
► Feedback to/from simulators affects the inhabitant's decisions and thus environment.
► Environment is further adjusted by the controllers inside the physical simulator.