An ARTMAP-incorporated multi-agent system for building intelligent heat management

This paper presents an ARTMAP-incorporated multi-agent system (MAS) for building heat management, which aims to maintain the desired space temperature defined by the building occupants (thermal comfort management) and improve energy efficiency by intelligently controlling the energy flow and usage in the building (building energy control). Existing MAS typically uses rule-based approaches to describe the behaviours and the processes of its agents, and the rules are fixed. The incorporation of artificial neural network (ANN) techniques to the agents can provide for the required online learning and adaptation capabilities. A three-layer MAS is proposed for building heat management and ARTMAP is incorporated into the agents so as to the facilitate online learning and adaptation capabilities. Simulation results demonstrate that ARTMAP-incorporated MAS provides better (automated) energy control and thermal comfort management for a building environment in comparison to its existing rule-based MAS approach.