Fuzzy logic controllers for energy savings in buildings

This paper discusses a new control strategy aimed at the thermal comfort and energy savings in buildings by means of intelligent controllers based on fuzzy logic. These prove to be a sound alternative to the traditional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) devices. Although some literature exists about fuzzy control of thermal comfort in buildings, the main message of this paper is to adopt a fuzzy processor made of two controllers: the first one dedicated to a rough control and the second one for the fine tuning. This leads to very fast and accurate control of the indoor air temperature with consistent savings in energy costs for air conditioning. The paper describes the fuzzy algorithm and the results for a study case.