Life-cycle Smart Optimization and Diagnostic Technologies for Energy Saving in Buildings

Buildings are a major energy consumer while central air-conditioning systems consume over 50% of total energy in buildings. However, due to unfavourable actions taken or decisions made throughout the building life cycle, 20 - 50% of that is wasted and can be saved potentially. The life cycle of a building includes the design, construction, testing and commissioning (T&C) and operation stages. To reduce energy waste and realize saving potentials, PolyU has developed a series of smart optimization and diagnostic technologies for energy saving in buildings. These technologies provide effective tools and platforms for building energy optimization, diagnosis and virtual testing, allowing the best decisions to be made and proper actions to be taken at different stages of the building life cycle. They have already been implemented in many buildings of different types, saving 15 - 42% of energy for them.