Building Energy Models in the Operational Phase: Automation of the Model Calibration Process

Building Energy Models, which consider all energetic aspects of a building's performance, are a beneficial tool for use in a building's design and operational stage to optimise the design or performance of a building, aid in decision making, and carry out code compliance. Model calibration is a term which refers to the improvement in the performance of a BEM simulation to better match the actual building in design or operation, which will in turn improve the results in using the BEMs in their various applications. Model calibration is particularly relevant in a building's operational stage considering that, as well as the number of dynamic elements involved in a building's performance on a day-to-day basis, buildings quite often perform differently to the initial design intent. Despite the benefits, model calibration is a time-consuming process which typically requires expert user knowledge. This paper details a methodology focused on improving and automating elements of the calibration process to address these current known limitations.