Partial decentralized temperature control of multi-zone buildings

The problem of regulating the temperature of a large multi-zone building to specified constant set-points, subject to arbitrary constant external/internal heat sources, by using partial decentralized control is considered in this paper. Existence conditions for a solution to exist and a characterization of controllers which solve the problem are given. In particular, it is shown that if in controlling a particular zone, a controller is allowed to use sensor outputs from its immediate neighbouring zones, then a solution to the problem can always be achieved. It is also shown that such a controller can be designed without requiring a detailed mathematical model of the process to be available, i.e. by using tuning regulator methods [10], [11]. The controller is therefore believed to be quite realistic to implement.