This simplified EnergyPlus model and supervisory control interface (bottom) are used to develop a dataset of simulated faults to complement physical data from the Flexible Research Platform (top right) and FLEXLAB (top left) for AFDD algorithm evaluation.
Sensors monitor operating conditions of buildings and building equipment (e.g., temperature, air flow, and daylight levels), device controllers process these measurements, and actuators perform the appropriate actions (e.g., adjust temperature, air flow, light) to maintain desired settings. Collectively, sensors and controls (S&C) serve as the operational backbone of cyber-physical systems for building energy management, enabling BTO’s overall energy savings goals through the minimization of preventable energy losses and additional optimization of environmental and equipment parameters.
Learn more about S&C for building energy management and BTO’s S&C portfolio.
Current Projects
Building Operations Testing Framework (BOPTEST)
Learn More
BOPTEST is an API and set of models for testing, comparing, and benchmarking building control and fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) algorithms.
BENEFIT-2016: Open Building Control (ended 2019)
Learn More
A team led by LBNL researchers is developing a toolkit to improve the portability and deployability of high-performance control sequences.
VOLTTRON
Learn More
VOLTTRON is a lightweight, open-source platform for secure messaging and execution of programs called "agents". VOLTTRON is now part of Eclipse IoT.
BENEFIT-2016: Hamilton: Flexible, Open-Source $10 Wireless Sensor System
Learn More
UC-Berkeley Researchers are developing a wireless, secure, sensor node platform with a total cost target of $10 or less.
Reducing Residential Plug-Load Energy Use Through Nonintrusive Submetering and Personalized Feedback
Learn More
Columbia University researchers are developing an interactive messaging system to help residential customers reduce plug-load electricity use.
Sensors and Controls Project Portfolio
Learn More
Active and past projects in BTO's Sensors and Controls Program
Technical Reports
Innovations in Sensors and Controls for Building Energy Management
Learn More
Research and Development Opportunities Report for Emerging Technologies
Challenges and Opportunities to Secure Buildings from Cyber Threats
Learn More
Paper provides an overview of commercial control systems and potential cybersecurity risks to them, and discusses efforts underway to protect them.
Impacts of Commercial Building Controls on Energy Savings and Peak Load Reduction
Learn More
This study investigated the potential energy savings from implementation of 34 basic and advanced controls measures and eliminating common faults...
Sensors and Controls Reports
Learn More
Reports from the sensors, controls, and transactional network program.
Staff
Erika Gupta
Sensors and Controls Technology Manager