Our goal is to use the constrained distributed control theory to significantly improve the performance of these systems. Improved performance would include reduced energy consumption, reduced peak demand and tighter regulation for thermal comfort. In the proposed mathematical contest, the communication and sensing graph is a design variable which can be changed in real time and add additional degrees of freedom to the system: rooms sensors and actuators in general might “talk to” their spatial neighbors but there might exist better communication policies. Also, cameras and presence detectors can provide to neighboring nodes of the network a preview on people motion across the building. Finally, the “intent” of each actuator can be communicated and transmitted to other node and help them make better predictions.
We follow a hierarchical decomposition of the control strategies outlined in Figure above. Layers of control logics will range from supervisory controls (Layer 1) to schedule set-points at the highest level to local regulatory control to track set-points at the equipment level (Layer n). Buildings, floors and thermal zones are just a few examples of different layers for which control strategies are designed and implemented.