Statistical methodology to assess changes in the electrical consumption profile of buildings

Many efforts have been made to define patterns, predict, and forecast energy use. However, changes in energy consumption may be studied in detail using various methodologies. This work presents a statistical methodology to assess changes in a facility consumption profile. Consumption patterns are obtained from a historical database of a predefined time interval, according to the type of day (day of the week, working or non-working), and an index that assesses change in the electrical consumption profile is proposed. Assessing these changes enables associating these values with possible events in a facility, which can serve to generate alarms in an energy management system, and reduce costs and maintenance periods. Additionally, a multi-criteria interpretation of the applied test table is presented that offers explanations and identifies possible causes of anomalous consumption. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.