Model predictive control of buildings: The efficient way of heating

The implicit model predictive control based on models identified by subspace identification methods was implemented and tested on a large university building. The control was improved by incorporating the weather prediction into the model. The performance of said controller was estimated in an experiment, wherein two almost identical building blocks were compared - one controlled by the model predictive control, and the other one by the existing weather-compensated heating controller. The model predictive control achieved energy consumption lower by approximately 10 %. Based on the positive results, an implementation was developed, which is suitable for commercial applications.