Terätehtaan kiinteistöautomaation modernisointi ja energianhallinta

Tässä opinnäytetyössä esitellään kiinteistöautomaation teoriaa ja osallistutaan Valkeakoskella sijaitsevan Valmet Technologies Oy:n jauhimia valmistavan Terätehtaan kiinteistöautomaation modernisoinnin projektiin samalla etsien tehtaalta erilaisia energianhallinnallisia säästökohteita. Ennen kiinteistöautomaatiojärjestelmän modernisoinnin suorittamista on tärkeää selvittää, mitä tulisi parantaa ja mihin kiinnittää huomiota modernisoinnissa. Vaihtoehtoisia kiinteistöautomaatiojärjestelmiä tutkittiin ja ratkaisut esitellään kahdelta eri valmistajalta. Tehtaan vaihtelevat olosuhteet luovat haasteellisen ympäristön kiinteistöautomaatiojärjestelmälle ja kenttälaitteille, joten selvitystyötä tehtiin nykyisen laitteiston kunnosta. Lopuksi pohditaan, kumpi kiinteistöautomaatiojärjestelmä sopii tehtaalle paremmin. Lisäksi käydään läpi tehtaalta löydetyt ongelmalliset energiaa kuluttavat kohteet sekä suositellaan parannuskeinoa.The aim of this thesis was to introduce the theory of building automation and to take part in to the modernization project of a building automation system at Terätehdas, which is owned by Valmet Technologies Oy in Valkeakoski, meanwhile surveying the plant as to energy management issues. Before the modernization of the building automation system was carried out, it was important to figure out the key points of consideration and improvement in the modernization project. An examination of alternative building automation systems was performed and as a conclusion, two systems are presented in this thesis from two different manufacturers. Because of the challenging environment at the plant for the building automation system and field devices due to varying conditions there, a condition assessment of the state of the devices was performed here as well. The right selection of the building automation system for the plant is discussed here as well. The issues found in energy management are presented here and a proposed decision is recommended

Integrated Platform for Whole Building HVAC System Automation and Simulation

Integrated optimal control strategies can reduce the overall building HVAC system energy consumption as well as improved air quality resulting in improved health and cognitive function for the occupants. However, it is time consuming to quantitatively evaluate the design-intended building HVAC automation system performance before on-site deployment, because: 1) the building and HVAC system design specs are in 2D or 3D drawings that require significant efforts to develop the system steady state or dynamic models based on them; 2) the building HVAC control strategies are designed and implemented in building automation (BA) system that could not smoothly connect with the building HVAC system steady state or dynamic models for performance evaluation through close-loop simulation. This paper presents the tool chain of an integrated simulation platform for building HVAC system automation and simulation as well as its implementation in a real case. First, building information from a Revit BIM model is automatically parsed to an EnergyPlus building energy model. Second, the HVAC system model is quickly populated with a scalable HVAC system library in Dymola. Third, the HVAC controls are developed in WebCTRL, a building HVAC automation system by Automated Logic Corporation (ALC). Finally, both the building energy model and HVAC system model are wrapped up as Functional Mock-up Units (FMU) and connected with embedded simulator in WebCTRL to perform close-loop building automation system performance simulation. A real case study, a chiller plant system in a hotel building, is conducted to verify the scalability and benefit of the developed tool chain. The case study demonstrates the values in identifying both HVAC automation system design-intended control issues and improvement areas for integrated optimal controls. This platform enables testing of building HVAC control strategies before on-site deployment, which reduces the labor and time required for building HVAC control development-to-market process and ensure the delivering quality. Furthermore, this platform can be calibrated with metered real-time data from the specific building HVAC system and serve as its “digital twin” that empowers the system fault detection, diagnostics and predictive maintenance

The Automation of BIM for Compliance Checking: a Visual Programming Approach

A study by FIATECH confirmed that human interpretation causes inconsistencies in applying building compliance & regulations (Solihin & Eastman, 2015). Producing, updating and quality assuring such processes is inconsistent and unreliable (Preidel & Borrmann, 2016). A barrier to interpretation of building regulations is that software is designed by developers that are separate to local authorities (Solihin & Eastman, 2015). The current literature suggests Singapore, Norway, USA & Australia have all implemented BIM automation systems for building regulations. This study reviews current automation systems and based on this proposes a system of creating a checking system is efficient in the control of professionals skilled with local authority and building regulation knowledge. Dynamo visual programming software is selected as the software to assist the automation due to the open source availability and widespread adoption in the BIM field. A methodology of Design Science is applied to diagnose the problem of manual checking through review of the current literature (Kehily & Underwood, 2015). An automation solution is proposed and evaluated in a design office. Architectural professionals provide feedback of the implemented solution and this feedback is applied iteratively to a second automation solution, where feedback is also obtained from users to further improve the solution. Results show a change in workflow and an improvement of traditional compliance checking. The study concludes by proposing a similar BIM automation approach could be applied in local government, within the Irish Planning and Building Control (BCAR) system

Design for Perception - A Systematic Approach for the Design of Driving Automation Systems based on the Users\u27 Perception

While there is significant potential for driving automation to increase traffic safety and enhance comfort, it is important that these systems are designed in such a way that drivers are supported in building a correct understanding of the system\u27s capabilities and limitations. Hence, it is necessary to understand both the process by which drivers understand a driving automation system and the factors that influence their perception. During three workshops, six practitioners participated in a participatory action research study around a design use case, aiming to enhance mode awareness in a vehicle offering several levels of automation. This facilitated the development of a card deck, which supports practitioners to 1. explore possible solutions driven through a systematic approach, 2. identify areas of improvement through applying the lens of the user, 3. ideate and evaluate design decisions through a guided process

Design and implementation of an intelligent fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for Air Handling Unit (AHU) for smart house

Intelligent Building Automation System (IBAS) is one of the heaviest researched areas motivated by the continuous high demand on economically-effective systems that are designed to provide a desirable controlled space for various organizations. IBAS has been developed along with the rapid sophistication of the information and control technologies in this study. The main objective of the continuous effort is to provide an intelligent monitor and control of various facilities within the building so as to offer its users or occupants with effective security, improved productivity, human comfort, and efficient energy management. Heat, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Lighting Systems, Life and Safety System, and Access Control are some of the typical systems that formed IBAS in most modern building. HVAC and Lighting systems constitute the major energy consumer in an entire building that focuses particularly on the improvement of monitor and control of these systems

Evaluating the Interaction of Occupant Behavior and BACS (Building Automation and Control System) on Energy Consumptions: A Feasibility Analysis

As highlighted by the European Union legislation, the building sector is considered crucial in order to achieve the expected objectives in terms of reduction in greenhouse gases emissions to net zero and below. Furthermore, the impact that user’s behavior has on the energy consumption of residential buildings and consequently on well-being and comfort is well documented. In these regards, the application of Building Automation and Control System (BACS) aims at achieving an improvement in the user’s indoor comfort conditions, as well as a significant reduction in energy consumption due to an optimization of its delivery. This study verifies the potentialities of BACS installation to two case studies; a nearly Zero Energy single-family house and an energy retrofitted apartment located in the Northern Italy. In detail, different scenarios were designed, combining different energy consumers’ profiles, and building automation systems configurations. In order to measure the feasibility of the projects, Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA) were performed, comparing investment cost with energy savings and extra economic benefits. The latter were estimated through a survey in terms of consumers' willingness to pay for the installation of smart devices in their homes through a contingent valuation in the iterative bidding format

Comparative analysis of technologies and methods for automatic construction of building information models for existing buildings

Building Information Modelling (BIM) provides an intelligent and parametric digital platform to support activities throughout the life-cycle of a building and has been used for new building construction projects nowadays. However, most existing buildings today do not have complete as-built information documents after the construction phase, nor existed meaningful BIM models. Despite the growing use of BIM models and the improvement in as-built records, missing or incomplete building information is still one of the main reasons for the low-level efficiency of building project management. Furthermore, as-built BIM modelling for existing buildings is considered to be a time-consuming process in real projects. Researchers have paid attention to systems and technologies for automated creation of as-built BIM models, but no system has achieved full automation yet. With the ultimate goal of developing a fully automated BIM model creation system, this paper summarises the state-of-the-art techniques and methods for creating as-built BIM models as the starting point, which include data capturing technologies, data processing technologies, object recognition approaches and creating as-built BIM models. Merits and limitations of each technology and method are evaluated based on intensive literature review. This paper also discusses key challenges and gaps remained unaddressed, which are identified through comparative analysis of technologies and methods currently available to support fully automated creation of as-built BIM models.published_or_final_versio

A prototype low-carbon segmented concrete shell building floor system

Concrete shell structures offer a mechanically efficient solution as a building floor system to reduce the environmental impact of our buildings. Although the curved geometry of shells can be an obstacle to their fabrication and implementation, digital fabrication and affordable robotics provide a means for the automation of their construction in a sustainable manner at an industrial scale. The applicability of such structures is demonstrated in this paper with the realisation of a large-scale concrete shell floor system, completed by columns, tie rods, and a levelled floor. The shell was prefabricated off-site in segments that can be transported and assembled on-site, and which can be disassembled to enable a circular economy of construction. This paper presents the conceptual and structural design; the automation of fabrication, thanks to an actuated, reconfigurable, reusable mould and a robotic concrete spraying process; the strategy and sequence of assembly and disassembly on-site using standard scaffold elements; and the sustainability assessment using life-cycle analysis. This prototype offers a reduction of about 50% of cradle-to-gate embodied carbon benchmarked against regular flat slabs before further improvement and optimisation

Requirements for building information modeling based lean production management systems for construction

Smooth flow of production in construction is hampered by disparity between individual trade teams' goals and the goals of stable production flow for the project as a whole. This is exacerbated by the difficulty of visualizing the flow of work in a construction project. While the addresses some of the issues in Building information modeling provides a powerful platform for visualizing work flow in control systems that also enable pull flow and deeper collaboration between teams on and off site. The requirements for implementation of a BIM-enabled pull flow construction management software system based on the Last Planner System™, called ‘KanBIM’, have been specified, and a set of functional mock-ups of the proposed system has been implemented and evaluated in a series of three focus group workshops. The requirements cover the areas of maintenance of work flow stability, enabling negotiation and commitment between teams, lean production planning with sophisticated pull flow control, and effective communication and visualization of flow. The evaluation results show that the system holds the potential to improve work flow and reduce waste by providing both process and product visualization at the work face

Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view