Future of Buildings: Graduate Insights and Innovations

“A Long-Term Implementation of AI-Driven Control in an Office Building”
Presenter: Xuezheng Wang, fourth-year PhD candidate at Syracuse University in the Built Environment Science and Technology (BEST) Laboratory, working with Dr. Bing Dong. His research focuses on advanced building controls.

Recent development in AI introduces possibilities to include more advanced controls for buildings, including reinforcement learning (RL), data-driven controls, and model predictive controls (MPC). However, there are relatively few studies applying those controls in real buildings due to the challenges they face. We developed a practical AI-driven framework based on physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) combined with a hybrid RL training approach. We will present two case studies utilizing our framework. Additionally, we will discuss lessons learned from these implementations, including controller training design, reasons for control operational failures, and the impact of continuously changing indoor environments dynamics

Hosted by the ASHRAE Student Branch at Syracuse University, “Future of Buildings: Graduate Insights and Innovations” presentations are held every other Thursday at 727 E. Washington St. Lunch is provided and free parking is available onsite. Please RSVP to attend.