New generation computing tools that tame the complexity of decarbonized building and district energy systems

Abstract: 

Due to demands caused by climate change, the energy sector is undergoing a rapid transition. Energy systems for buildings and communities need to become decarbonized, grid-responsive, resilient, and adaptive to changes in usage, technology options, and markets. This leads to increased complexity in their design and operation. A successful energy transition requires that this new complexity can be tamed. After laying out the new challenges, we will present recent progress on new generation computational tools for building and district energy and control systems. We will also present new tool chains that allow for rapid system-level prototyping, model-based design flow and digitization, ranging from design to installation and operation. We will close with a discussion about what foundation should be built to meet design and operation challenges of decarbonized energy systems.


Bio:
Michael Wetter is a Senior Scientist at the Simulation Research Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). His research includes integrating building performance simulation tools into the research process, as well as their use for design and operation. He is leading the development of Spawn of EnergyPlus, a next-generation simulation engine for building and district energy and control systems, OpenBuildingControl, a project that digitizes the control delivery process, and the Modelica Buildings Library, the largest Modelica library for building energy and control systems. He has also been developing the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed software for co-simulation and model-based operation, co-simulation tools based on the Functional Mockup Interface standard and the GenOpt optimization program. He is the co-operating agent of IBPSA Project 1 and was co-operating agent of IEA EBC Annex 60, two multinational collaborations that develop new generation computational tools for buildings and community energy systems between 2013 and 2022. Prior to joining LBNL, he led the development of building system models at the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC). He did his dissertation at the University of California at Berkeley and at LBNL, where he created the GenOpt optimization program and the BuildOpt building simulation program and where he developed the first building energy optimization technique that provably converges to the optimal building design. He is a recipient of the bi-annual Outstanding Young Contributor Award of IBPSA and of the bi-annual Distinguished Achievements in Building Simulation Award of IBPSA-USA. He is the Chair of the College of Fellows of IBPSA, an IBPSA Fellow, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Modelica North America Users’ Group. He was Treasurer of IBPSA and President of IBPSA-USA.

Summary: