Cognitive Green Building: A Holistic Cyber-Physical Analytic Paradigm for Energy Sustainability

Abstract:

Buildings in the U.S. contribute to 39% of energy use, consume approximately 70% of the electricity, and account for 39% of CO2 emissions. Hence, developing green building architec- tures is an extremely critical component in energy sustainability. The investigators will develop a unified analytical approach for green building design that comprehensively manages energy sustainability by taking into account the complex interactions between these systems of systems, providing a high degree of security, agility and robust to extreme events. The project will serve to advance the general science in CPS, help bridge the gap between the cyber and civil infrastructure communities, educate students across different disciplines, include topics in curriculum development, and actively recruit underrepresented minority and undergraduate students. The main thesis of this research is that ad hoc green energy designs are often myopic, not taking into account key interdependencies between subsystems and users, and thus often lead to undesir- able solutions. In fact, studies have shown that 28%-35% of LEED-certified buildings consumed more energy than their conventional counterparts, all of which calls for the development of a comprehensive analytical foundation for designing green buildings. In particular, the investigators will focus on three interrelated thrust areas: (i) Integrated energy management for a single-building, where the goal is to jointly consider the complex interactions among building subsystems. The investigators will develop novel control schemes that opportunistically exploit the energy demand elasticity of the building subsystems and adapt to occupancy patterns, human comfort zones, and ambient environments. (ii) Managing multi-building interactions to develop (near) optimal distributed control and coordination schemes that provide performance guarantees. (iii) Designing for anomalous conditions such as extreme weather and malicious attacks, where poiwer grid connections and/or cyber-networks are disrupted. The research will provide directions at developing an analytical foundation and cross-cutting principles that will shed insight on the design and control of not only building systems, but also general CPS systems. An important goal is to help bridge the gap between the networking, controls, and civil infrastructure communities by giving talks and publishing works in all of these forums. The investigators will disseminate the research findings to industry as well as offer education and outreach programs to the K-12 students in STEM disciplines. The investigators will also actively continue their already strong existing efforts in recruiting women and underrepresented minorities, as well as providing rich research experience to undergraduate REU students. This project will provide fertile training for students spanning civil infrastructure research, networking, controls, optimization, and algorithmic development. The investigators will also actively include the outcomes of the research in existing and new courses at both the Ohio State University and Virginia Tech.