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Temperature and humidity adaptive control in multi-enclosed thermal zones

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Article  in  Energy and Buildings · January 2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.11.015

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 Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy and Buildings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild

Temperature and humidity adaptive control in multi-enclosed

thermal zones under unexpected external disturbances
Annamaria Buonomano a , Umberto Montanaro a,∗ , Adolfo Palombo a , Stefania Santini b
a
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
b
Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper a new dynamic simulation model for the building energy performance analysis of multi-
Received 31 August 2016 enclosed thermal zones, where rigid air temperature and humidity conditions must be kept, is presented.
Received in revised form 5 November 2016 The model was implemented in a suitable computer code (DETECt 2.3.1) developed for research scopes.
Accepted 9 November 2016
Such simulation model allows the hygrothermal analysis of buildings with multi-enclosed thermal zones
Available online 22 November 2016
surrounded by larger ones (e.g. display glass cases with valuable artefacts in museum halls, neonatal
intensive care units for premature and full-term newborn babies in hospitals wards, etc.). For this purpose,
Keywords:
a novel control algorithm, based on a model reference adaptive control scheme, enabling the online
Building simulation
Model reference adaptive control algorithm
adaptation of the control gains, is implemented. Rigid air temperature and humidity conditions can be
Multi enclosed zones guaranteed also in case of sudden and rapid variations of hygrothermal loads. Through such new tool
Thermo hygrometric analysis innovative techniques and operative strategies for obtaining energy efficiency and indoor comfort of
special building spaces can be studied.
In order to show the capabilities of the tool and the robustness of the adaptive algorithm, as well as
the potentiality of the proposed multidisciplinary approach to the energy-related behaviour in buildings
(based on building energy modelling and simulation and control theory), two meaningful case studies
have been developed. In particular, they refer to the museums and hospital indoor spaces where enclosed
thermal zones have to be kept under stringent hygrothermal conditions.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Indoor specific microclimates or rigorous hygrothermal condi-
tions are crucial and active responsibilities in case of special-use
environments, such as neonatal intensive care nurseries, muse-
ums spaces and laboratories (see for example [1,2] and references
therein). Although such indoor spaces may have different aims,
they often have the common need of a very tight indoor tempera-
ture and humidity control, where the accurate indoor climate has
to be guaranteed independently of the sudden and rapid variability
related to the weather conditions and indoor thermal loads. Fur-
thermore, these environments are often characterized by indoor
spaces with multi-enclosed thermal zones (e.g. display glass cases
with perishable artefacts in museum halls, neonatal intensive care
units for premature and full-term newborn babies in hospitals
wards, etc.). Here, different hygrothermal conditions must be kept
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: umberto.montanaro@unina.it,
umberto.montanaro@gmail.com (U. Montanaro).
with respect to the surrounding thermal zones, although they are
often stressed by the hygrothermal conditions of such spaces in
which they are located.
In all these cases, specific control strategies have to be consid-
ered in order to ensure the stability of the required indoor climate
conditions in all the different thermal zones by handling all the
occurring hygrothermal loads independently of their intensity and
rapidity of variation.
Whereas commonly space temperature controls for maintaining
human thermal comfort typically have a dead-band for tem-
perature and humidity between heating and cooling set-points,
the above mentioned special indoor spaces require a continuous
and strict hygrothermal control. Indeed, in these spaces the con-
trol algorithm, responsible for the microclimate, must be able to
counteract and attenuate all the perturbations causing quick tran-
sitions or fluctuations of air temperature and humidity around
the required conditions (e.g. air temperature and humidity set
points). Furthermore, whenever the hygrothermal conditions must
be changed in some zones according to specific requirements (e.g.
medical instance, etc.), the transitions must be carefully handled

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.11.015
0378-7788/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
264 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

drawbacks connected to the tuning gains phase also prevent users

Nomenclature from participating in the configurations scheme [7].
For all the above mentioned reasons and in particular to achieve
C Thermal capacity (J/K) the exact and robust regulation of the microclimate of special-use
CDD Cooling degree day (Kd) indoor spaces with multi-enclosed thermal zones, in this paper we
HDD Heating degree day (Kd) propose an adaptive model reference scheme similar to that given
I Solar radiation flux (W/m2 ) in [8]. Such approach allows the control of indoor air temperature
I int Vector of the global solar radiation flux (W/m2 ) and humidity in uncertain conditions and under unexpected exter-
ISR Incident solar radiation (kWh/m2 y) nal disturbances through the on-line variation of its control gains.
M Building element As a result, control flexibility and robustness is obtained and the
ṁ Mass flow rate (kg/s) control action is able to automatically counteract unexpected and
N Node of the thermal network unknown hygrothermal behaviour deviations (e.g. due to sudden
NICU Neonatal intensive care units and rapid loads variations, acting on the different thermal zones),
NICW Neonatal intensive care ward without requiring, for its design or on-line implementation, an a
Q̇ Thermal load (W) priori knowledge or a detailed mathematical description of the sys-
R Thermal resistance (K/W) tem dynamics. It is noteworthy to observe that, although the need
S/V Heat transfer surface to heated/cooled volume ratio of effective and robust hygrothermal control algorithms in special
(−) indoor spaces is pointed out in the technical literature [2,9], the
T Temperature (K) adoption of advanced regulation techniques has been only rarely
t Time (s) investigated [10–12].
The use of active measures to control and stabilize the
Greeks letters
hygrothermal conditions of such indoor spaces (e.g. infant incu-
hvs Water latent evaporation heat at 0 ◦ C (J/kg)
bators, glass display cases, etc.) has been recently proposed and
␾ Moist air relative humidity (%)
discussed by several authors. Specifically, as a function of the
 Solar radiation load entering through windows (W)
desired environmental conditions, reliability and failure scenarios,
˝in Dry air mass (kg)
the enclosed zones show different responses against the external
ω Moist air specific humidity (g/kg)
forcing sources [13]. Consequently, it is of crucial importance to
lean to simulation models which are effective and reliable to pre-
Superscript/Subscripts
dict the hygrothermal behaviour of such indoor spaces [14]. To this
g Referred to the internal gain
aim, different simulation tools (in-house developed or commer-
gr Ground
cially available) are purposely adopted.
ext External
The assessment of the indoor climate conditions in display
AC Referred to the heating and cooling system
cases for preservation purposes was carried out by developing an
in Referred to the indoor air
integrated air heating and moisture model (called HAMLAB) also
int Internal
including an HVAC system control [15]. Such code (basically con-
lat Referred to the latent heat
sisting of only two coupled equations for the temperature control of
m Referred to the building element
the modelled thermal zone) was successively enhanced by adding
n Referred to the node of the thermal network
a suitable hygrometric simulator [16]. This tool was also adopted to
wg Referred to water vapour gain
study the artefacts preservation quality and the indoor comfort in
out Referred to the outdoor air
a multi-zone museum building (i.e. with adjacent thermal zones),
sol Solar
as well as to reduce the building energy consumptions by means of
conv Convective
a suitable set-point management strategy [17].
cond Conductive
Numerical simulation models developed for predicting the
v Ventilation
humidity in display cases equipped with novel materials, as adsor-
bent materials, without evaluating the temperature interaction,
were developed and discussed in [18,19]. A model for the assess-
ment of indoor micro-climate conditions of a display case, by
by the controller, so that the new conditions are reached with a taking into account the related external forcing parameters (i.e.
prescribed slow and smooth profile [3–5]. air temperature and relative humidity) along with constructive
Classical control algorithms (such as Proportional Integral and internal system features (i.e. materials, air leakage, handling
Derivative, PID [6]), usually cannot guarantee the flexible and of hygroscopic materials, etc.), was recently presented in [14].
robust behaviour required for obtaining stringent hygrothermal Similarly, with the aim to improve the level of care for high-risk
conditions in the above mentioned environments. Indeed, as usu- neonates, the optimal thermal environment of infant incuba-
ally occurs with fixed-gains approaches, in order to achieve good tors has been also studied. To this aim, several researchers were
performances a huge effort has to be paid for tuning the control involved in the development of models for assessing the body heat
gains (i.e. free parameters within the control law whose values losses and gains (variable as a function of the occurring conditions)
should be carefully selected from designers to calibrate the over- [20] and of specific algorithms for defining the incubator space tem-
all control action, or better the amplitude of the control output) perature according to both ambient air and radiant temperatures
− without providing the analytical proof of optimality, as well [21].
as closed-loop stability − which might be re-tuned off-line when Note that, the majority of the authors have limited their inves-
working conditions evolve with time (due to variation of weather tigation to the development of models useful for the prediction
conditions changes, indoor gains, etc.). Therefore, an improper tun- of specific phenomena influencing the neonatal environment and
ing of control parameters leads to control signals which tends to the baby’s thermal and vapour losses (e.g. sensible heat losses [22],
result in overshoots (e.g. leading to overheating or overcooling), radiant and convective heat losses [23], thermal exchange between
due to the weakness of the control scheme in processing distur- infants and their environment [24], evaporative heat losses [25]).
bance inputs, and, finally, to an entire unstable system [6]. All these Recently, in order to cope with the evaporative heat loss of new-
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285
Fig. 1. Sketch of the modelled RC thermal network.
Fig. 2. Automaton for the management of the activation/deactivation of the temperature controller for intermittent running building a) for th ∈ [ton , toff ], and b) th ∈
born babies, a complete model for the prediction of the temperature
and humidity and for the design of suitable controllers was devel-
oped [10]. A similar analysis, aiming at increasing the neonatal
survival rate and weight, was carried out by developing a detailed
thermal model also necessary to set up and solve a control problem
[12].
In order to mainly assess the influence of temperature and
velocity within active museum display cases and to describe the
thermal interaction between the neonate body and its environ-
ment, a significant effort have also been done by researchers
through the adoption of commercial computational fluid dynam-
ics (CFD) packages [26–28]. On the other hand, in order to model
the time-dependent hygrothermal behaviour of such indoor spaces
and, in particular, to devise suitable control algorithms (neces-
sary to optimize both the environmental comfort and the energy
saving performances), simulation models based on lumped param-
eters for the description of the enclosed zone to be controlled (e.g.
showcases and incubators) have been widely adopted. In particular,
nodal networks (commonly adopted in literature) with intercon-
necting paths representing both energy and mass flows (separately
dealt with through dedicated networks [10,29]) are taken into
account.
By means of all the above cited models, the hygrothermal
behaviour of a mono enclosed zone can be assessed (with different
levels of detail of the occurring phenomena). Nevertheless, none
of the papers available in literature has the ability to simultane-
ously predict the hygrothermal dynamics of the multiple enclosed
zones along with the surrounding ones, by taking into account all
the physical disturbances (i.e. opening of the incubator doors or of
the neonatal ward access, sudden increase of sensible and latent
heat gains due to museum visitors, etc.). In fact, when the focus
of the analysis is on the micro-climate conditions of an enclosed
zone, the hygrothermal dynamics of the larger zone (surrounding
265
/ [ton , toff ].
the enclosed ones) are always disregarded and vice-versa (e.g. in
[12,14,17,27]).
1.1. Contributions
In this paper, in order to model and simulate the hygrother-
mal behaviour of these special environments with strict and
different conditions to be simultaneously fulfilled, as well as to
allow the implementation and the investigation of suitable con-
trol approaches, a flexible and customizable simulation platform
is adopted [30]. Such platform, called DETECt 2.3.1, is a dynamic
building energy performance simulation tool, purposely developed
for research aims [30,31], which enables the analysis and optimiza-
tion of novel building design and operating scenarios (including
innovative building concepts, new materials, energy efficiency
technologies, renewable energy sources, etc.) to be also adopted
in the next generation of buildings [32,33]. As DETECt was con-
ceived to allow the modelling of mono and multi zone buildings
[30], it has been further extended and several new features have
been included. At the best of the authors’ knowledge, such new
release of DETECt (v. 2.3.1) is the first dynamic simulation code in
literature which allows:
• analysing of the overall energy efficiency and hygrothermal com-
fort of multi-enclosed thermal zones totally included into larger
surrounding ones;
• controlling enclosed zones by adaptive strategies stringent
indoor air temperature and humidity conditions, independently
of the sudden and rapid variability related to the weather condi-
tions and indoor thermal loads.
Aim of this study is to show the features and the potential-
ity of the enhanced simulation model and the effectiveness and
266 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285
Fig. 3. Modelled RC thermal network of two-thermal zone system (one zone totally included in a surrounding one).
Fig. 4. Case 1, Zone 1: time history of indoor air temperature (a) and relative humidity (b) together with the corresponding reference profiles for Denver (319th day of the
year).
robustness of the related control algorithm, conceived for assessing
the thermo-hygrometric behaviour of different building thermal
zones enclosed into others. To this purpose, in this paper two dif-
ferent meaningful case studies have been developed. The first one
is referred to an indoor hall of a museum building with an enclosed
glass display case where a tight control is required for the preser-
vation of the included artefacts (for avoiding eventual irreversible
damages). The second case study refers to a neonatal intensive care
nursery, where six incubators for premature and full-term new-
born babies are located. In each incubator, the developed control
imposes different rigid indoor air temperature and humidity condi-
tions for producing the healthful micro-environment for the hosted
babies. Both the analyses concern the effect of different accidental,
heavy and intensive hygrothermal disturbances on the resulting
control actions and confirm that the the requred indoor climate
conditions are preserved in all the modelled thermal zones. More-
over, during transients the numerical results disclose the ability of
the proposed approach in tracking the desired temperature and
humidity profiles within all the indoor spaces (e.g., in the case
of set-point variations, the approach ensures a rapid and precise
transition toward the new set-point). Some preliminary results of
these case studies have been presented in [32,65,66] whereas the
adaptive solution for mono thermal zone has been considered in
[34]. It is worth noting that the simultaneous regulation of indoor
air temperature and humidity (to different specific set-points) is
here obtained by a decentralized control approach [35]. Specifi-
cally, in the proposed adaptive control solution, interactions among
zones are considered as additional uncertainties, embedded in a
generic disturbance term acting on the decentralized control sys-
tems. In order to show that these disturbances (i.e. interactions
among zones) do not alter the closed loop dynamics in terms of
the tracking of the reference trajectory, a formal proof is devised
by using the hyperstability/passivity theory [36], as reported in the
Appendix B.
2. Mathematical theory and modelling
In this section, the mathematical models describing the
hygrothermal behaviour of multi enclosed thermal zones (Section
2.1) and the design of the control system based on the adaptive
scheme for the stringent regulation of the indoor hygrothermal
conditions (Section 2.2) are reported and discussed.
2.1. DETECt − thermo hygrometric model of multi enclosed zones
In order to simulate the hygrothermal behaviour of special envi-
ronments characterized by enclosed thermal zones, the dynamic
building simulation tool, called DETECt [30,34], was used. The tool
allows assessing the temperatures and humidity dynamics, as well
as heating and cooling loads and demands of any modelled ther-
mal zone of mono and multi zone buildings. The model is based on
the resistive-capacitive (RC) thermal network approach, assuming
as one-dimensional the transient heat transfer. Details about the
hygrothermal model and the adopted assumptions are provided in
[30,32].
In this paper, DETECt has been improved in order to prop-
erly carry out the hygrothermal analysis of multi-enclosed thermal
zones and to effectively design the indoor climate control [34]. The
modelled RC thermal network, related to Z thermal zones, consist-
ing of one main zone including the remaining Z-1 ones, is sketched
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 267

Fig. 5. Case 1, Zone 1: time history of the adaptive gains (K2 , KR and KI2 [W/K] and KE , [K]) for control of indoor air temperature (a) and relative humidity (b) for Denver
(319th day of the year).

in Fig. 1. For the proposed thermal network scheme, the calcula- non-capacitive outer (n = 0) and inner (n = N + 1) surface boundary
tion procedure takes into account the heat flows between: i) the nodes, the algebraic equation describing the heat transfer is:
outdoor environment and the main thermal zone (e.g. zone 1 in
Fig. 1); ii) the main thermal zone and the enclosed ones (e.g. zones 
n+1
Tm,j − Tm,n
cv + Q̇m,n = 0 (2)
2–7 in Fig. 1). In addition, several adopted assumptions are: i) the Rm,j
j=n−1
indoor air of each thermal zone is considered as fully mixed, thus a
single indoor air node of uniform temperature is modelled; ii) the cv
where Rm,j conv
is either a convective (external Rm,0 conv
or internal Rm,N+1 ,
building envelope of the main zone is discretized in a suitable num- cond ), depending on the side layer
Fig. 1) or a conductive resistance (Rm,n
ber of nodes, whereas lumped envelopes of each enclosed zone are conv conv
of the considered node. Rm,0 and Rm,N+1 connect non capacitive
modelled; iii) homogeneous, isotropic and time-invariant thermo-
nodes to those related to the outdoor air temperature, Tout , and to
physical properties (density, specific heat and conductivity) are
the indoor air one, Tin,1 , respectively. Note that the outdoor surface
taken into account.
unitary convection heat transfer coefficient is calculated by empir-
The whole system, including the main zone and the enclosed
ical relationships (for rough surface) as a function of the outdoor
ones, is modelled through a high order RC thermal network of: i)
wind speed. The indoor surface unitary convection heat transfer
M × (N + 2) nodes in which the building envelope of the main zone
coefficients are calculated as a function of the surfaces slope, taking
is discretized (consisting of M envelope elements (m = 1, . . ., M) and
into account the ascendant or descendant heat flux [37]. In case of
N sub-layers (n = 1, . . ., N)); ii) Z-1 nodes (z = 2, . . ., Z) of the lumped cv
floor elements, Tout and Rm,j are replaced with the ground temper-
envelopes of each enclosed zone; iii) Z nodes related to the indoor
k . The
ature, Tgr , and an equivalent thermal conductive resistance,Rgr
air of each enclosed zone and the main one.
In each ␶-th time step, for each n-th capacitive node (j = 1,. ., N) of modelled forcing function Q̇m,n includes the solar radiation (trans-
mitted through windows and incident on the indoor surfaces, Im int
the m-th element (m = 1,. ., M), the differential equation describing
the energy rate of change of each temperature node of the building in Fig. 1) and the long-wave radiation exchange acting on outer
envelope of the main zone is calculated as: and inner surfaces of zone 1 [30]. Note that solar radiation enter-
ing through glasses is absorbed, reflected and distributed within
the internal space by selected absorption, reflection and view fac-
dTm,n 
n+1
Tm,j − Tm,n
Cm,n = (1) tors, respectively. Thus, the total solar radiation flux striking a
eq
dt Rm,j generic indoor surface includes the solar irradiance reflected by
j=n−1
other interior surfaces. A detailed description of the thermal phe-
nomena occurring within the main zone is discussed and reported
where C and T are the thermal capacity and temperature of the node, in [30,32,34].
eq
respectively. Rm,j is the sum of the halves sub-layers thermal resis- A simplified approach is adopted for the enclosed zones
cond , Fig. 1). For
tances that links the n-th node to their neighbours (Rm,j (z = 2,. . .,Z). Here, the differential equation describing the energy
rate of change of the temperature node of each enclosed zone enve-
lope (Tw,z ) is calculated as:

Table 1 dTw,z  Tin,j − Tw,z

2
Cw,z = (3)
Climatic zones and related HDD, CDD and ISR indexes. dt glob
R j,z
j=1
Weather zone HDD (Kd) CDD (Kd) ISR (kWh/m2 y)

Copenhagen 3700 79 988

where Cw,z is the envelope lumped thermal capacity, whose indoor
glob
Denver 2924 740 1832 air temperature is Tin,z ; Rj,z is a global thermal resistance that
Freiburg 2894 295 1114 takes into account all the heat transfer effects. At the exterior
Milan 2519 501 1253 glob
Rome 1507 784 1563
of the enclosed zones, R1,z is calculated by adding the half sub-
Nice 1454 485 1470 layer conductive thermal resistance of each enclosed zone envelope
Naples 1279 860 1529 node to the equivalent convective and radiative thermal resistance
Jerusalem 1214 1031 2093 (modelled by a combined linearized convective-radiative thermal
Athens 1044 1313 1562
resistance). Note that, the radiative exchange includes the heat
268 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285
transfer between the enclosed zones envelopes and the main zone,
disregarding the long-wave fraction of each enclosed zone versus
the remaining ones. Within the enclosed zones, the equivalent
glob
global thermal resistance (R2,z ) includes combined conduction and
convection phenomena only.
The dynamics of the indoor air of the main zone Tin,1 and of each
enclosed zone Tin,z are respectively described by:
dTin,1  Tm,N − Tin,1 Tw,z − Tin,1 Tout − Tin,1  Tin,z − Tin,1
M Z
Cin,1 = conv + + + + Q̇g,1 ± Q̇AC,1 (4)
dt Rm,int glob
R1,z Rv,1 Rv ,z
m=1 z=2
dTin,z Tw,z − Tin,z Tin,1 − Tin,z
Cin,z = + + Q̇g,z ± Q̇AC,z
dt glob
R2,z Rv ,z
where the thermal resistances Rv,1 and Rv,z are related to the air
ventilation and infiltration thermal loads. Specifically, Rv,1 links the
indoor air node of zone 1 to the external one (outdoor air at Tout ),
whereas Rv,z links the indoor air node of the z-th zone to the one
of zone 1. All the sensible heat gains are considered as convective
lumped heat source terms, networked to the indoor air nodes only
(differently from the radiative term Q̇m,n ). They include: i) the ther-
mal zone internal gains due to occupants, lights and equipment,
Q̇g,1 and Q̇g,z ; ii) the sensible heat to be supplied to (or removed
from) the building space, Q̇AC,1 and Q̇AC,z , by an ideal HVAC system,
necessary to maintain the indoor air at the desired set point tem-
perature. Obviously, the above discussed differential equations on
the thermal network nodes related to the indoor air of the consid-
ered thermal zones, Eqs. (4) and (5), are solved simultaneously with
the system of differential and algebraic Eqs. (1)–(3).
In order to assess the latent energy to be added to (or sub-
tracted from) the thermal zones, with the purpose to maintain
the selected relative humidity set-point of the indoor air, a decou-
pled approach is adopted [30]. Specifically, for each indoor space,
as a first approximation, the moisture balance is calculated by
neglecting the moisture exchange between the air node and the
surrounding building surfaces. Note that, due to such assump-
tion, within the enclosed thermal zones, only the hygrothermal
behaviour of non-hygroscopic materials can be modelled and sim-
ulated. As a result, in each -th time step, the adopted moisture
balances at each simulation time step for the main zone and the
enclosed ones are respectively described by means of Eqs. (6) and
(7), calculated as:
dωin,1   
Z
 
˝in,1 = ṁv,1 ωout − ωin,1 + ṁv,z ωin,z − ωin,1
dt
z=2
  lat
Q̇AC,z
dωin,z
˝in,z = ṁv,1 ωin,1 − ωin,z + ṁwg,z ±
dt hvs
where in in is the indoor dry air mass; ṁv is the air ventilation
mass flow rate; ṁwg is the inlet water vapour mass flow rate to
the thermal zone (due to occupants); ωout and ωin are outdoor and
indoor air specific humidity; hvs is the water latent evaporation heat
at 0 ◦ C.
2.2. LQ Enhanced Model Reference Adaptive Control Algorithm
for hygrothermal control
The adopted control algorithm, implemented in the simula-
tion model, is based on the proposed LQ-EMRAC technique [34].
The main aim of such approach is to recover robustness of the
classical Linear-Quadratic (LQ) strategy with respect to unknown
environmental conditions, disturbances, parameter uncertainties
and unmodelled dynamics, typical in the optimal control theory
[38], by implementing it via an Enhanced Model Reference Adaptive
Control (EMRAC) scheme [39,40] (the control is enhanced by two
new additional control actions to improve tracking performance
of the reference model dynamics [8]). The LQ-MRAC strategy is
described in detail in Appendix A.
The proposed adaptive control strategy has been implemented
in a novel release of DETECt, modified as in Section 2.1, allowing
modelling of enclosed multi zone systems. A set of automatons
(5) are also embedded within the code, in order to deal with inter-
mittent operating regimes where the adaptive controllers can be
activated in some temperature/humidity regions on the psychro-
metric chart. Concerning the simultaneous regulation of indoor air
temperature and humidity to different specific set-points in each
thermal zone, a decentralized LQ-EMRAC control approach is fol-
lowed [35]. As a result, 2 × Z different and independent adaptive
controllers are designed. As before remarked, the so developed
control strategy allows managing the indoor hygrothermal con-
ditions without requiring an a priori knowledge or an exact and
detailed model of the system dynamics for the control design
and its on-line implementation. The idea behind this control
approach is to provide flexibility and robustness against unmod-
elled dynamics/parameters uncertainties (such as, for example,
rapid variations of environmental or indoor conditions), while pro-
viding, at the same time, the optimality of the reference profiles
to be imposed to the hygrothermal variables. Note that optimality
is provided through the minimization of a suitable quadratic cost
function (Eq. (10)) in Appendix A), which weights both the tem-
perature/humidity tracking errors and the sensible/latent energy
demands. For each zone the humidity dynamics are described via a
single differential equation either of the form (6) or (7), which have
the same structure of Eq. (8) [34], by consequently allowing the
application of adaptive solution. Similarly, by using the same model
reduction approach reported in [34], the temperature dynamics of
Zone 1 (i.e., model (1)–(3)), can be described via a second order
linear time invariant system subjected to a nonlinear time-varying
disturbance which resembles the model of the temperature evo-
lution in Zones 2 to Z, i.e., (4), (5). Hence, also the temperature
dynamics of each zone fit the structure reported in Eq. (8).
The supervisory system necessary to select the activa-
lat
Q̇AC,1 tion/deactivation of the temperature and humidity controllers and
+ ṁwg,1 ± (6)
hvs to prevent numerical chattering phenomena on the control variable
[41] is shown in Fig. 2. Each independent controller is switched
on/off on the basis of the evolution of an event driven automa-
(7) ton. Specifically, the state of the supervisory machine follows the
approach described in [34], for both temperature and humidity con-
trollers (which have the same structure). For sake of brevity, in the
following a brief description of the management of the tempera-
ture control is presented. Specifically, by denoting ton , toff ∈ [0, 24]
as the time instants delimiting the time interval where occupants
hygrothermal comfort must be guaranteed, and with Tl and Tu the
lower and upper bounds for the indoor air temperature comfort
region, the aim of the supervisor is: i) to activate  the temper-

ature controller only when Tin ∈ / (Tl , Tu ) and th ∈ tin , toff (with
th ∈ [0, 24] being the time t expressed as in the 24-h clock system
[42]), ii) to avoid numerical chattering (i.e., activation/deactivation
of the underlying controller with infinite, or very high frequency
[41]), and iii) to detect when the controller can be shut down with-
out compromising the occupants comfort. In order to achieve these
goals, an ad-doc finite state machine [43] has been designed and
implemented.
The automaton describing the states and the transitions
composing the Supervisor for the temperature controller is imple-
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 269

Fig. 6. Case 1, Zone 1: time histories of the indoor air temperature (a) and humidity (b) for: Denver (319th day of the year); Copenhagen (11th day of the year); Naples (99th
day of the year); Rome (114th day of the year); Nice (278th day of the year); Jerusalem (280th day of the year).

Fig. 7. Case 1, Zone 1: time histories of the control actions (sensible heat (a) and water vapour mass flow rate (b)) at the control activation time for: Denver (319th day of
the year); Copenhagen (11th day of the year); Naples (99th day of the year); Rome (114th day of the year); Nice (278th day of the year); Jerusalem (280th day of the year).

mented in SimuLink/Stateflow [44] and is now included in DETECt.
Its logic is shown in Fig. 2a. Here, the indoor air temperature track-
ing error is denoted with eT (t) = Tsp − Tin (t), being Tsp the reference
temperature, equal to either Tu (when Tin (ton ) > Tu ) or Tl (when
Tin (ton ) < Tl ), and εT is a positive small threshold which is set to 0.05.
The states of the system are “Initialization”, “Tracking”, “Free Float-
ing” “Heating” and “Cooling”.  Specifically:
 i) the system is in the state
“Initialization” when th ∈ / ton , toff , i.e., for the time range in which
the temperature control is not required (e.g., night-time); ii) in the
state “Tracking” the temperature controller is active (th ∈ tin , toff
and Tin ∈ / (Tl , Tu )) and the temperature profile generated by the con-
troller is imposed to the indoor air temperature in order to reach
the desired set point; iii) the automaton is in “Free Floating”, occur-
ring when (despite of the internal and external disturbances, e.g.
internal gains, outdoor air temperatures, etc.) the indoor air tem-
perature dynamics are in the pre-assigned range of variation, i.e.,
Tin ∈ (Tl , Tu ), with a consequent switching off of the controller; iv)
in the state “Heating”, the controller is active in order to keep the
indoor temperature to Tl (e.g. winter season, i.e. Tin ≤ Tl ), analo-
gously in the state “Cooling”, the controller is active to keep the
indoor air temperature to Tu (e.g. summer season, i.e. Tin ≥ Tu ).
We remark that, the transition from the state Cooling or Heating
to the state Free Floating is done when the control variable (i.e.,
the sensible heat Q̇HC s ) changes its sign and not monitoring the
vation/deactivation of the controllers due to numerical error and
consequently the chattering phenomena [41].
In addition, by properly setting the parameters of the automa-
ton in Fig. 2, different working conditions can be achieved. For
an example, to get a continuous running configuration, the user
must set ton = 0 and toff = 24, while to keep the temperature to a
given value (i.e., avoiding possible free-floating), it is enough to
set Tu = Tl = Tsp , with Tsp being the required temperature. Con-
 versely, in case of intermittent running regimes for both the indoor
air temperature and humidity, an additional automaton works in
parallel to the one depicted in Fig. 2a. In particular, in this paper in
order to implement setback strategies (e.g. for achieving additional
energy savings [45]), a suitable automaton, shown in Fig. 2b is taken
into account. In this case, when th ∈
/ [ton , toff ], the temperature con-
troller can be switched on. Indeed, the finite state machine switches
to the state “Heating” (in case of the indoor air temperature goes
below the temperatureTsl ) and to the state “Cooling” (if the indoor
air temperature surpassesTsu ). Tsl and Tsu are the parameters of the
automaton in Fig. 2b which need to be tuned in accordance with
the specific use of the thermal zone.
3. Case studies

indoor air temperature. In so doing it is possible to avoid acti- In order to show the features and the potentiality of the
simulation model and the effectiveness and robustness of the con-
270 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285
Fig. 8. Case 1, Zone 1: indoor air routes on the psychrometric chart. Denver (319th
day of the year), Copenhagen (11th day of the year), Naples (99th day of the year),
Rome (114th day of the year), Nice (278th day of the year), Jerusalem (280th day of
the year).
trol approach for multi-zone systems with several zones totally
included in others, two case studies are suitably developed.
In particular, the first case study refers to an indoor hall of a
museum building with an included glass display case. Here, an
accurate climate control of indoor air temperature and humidity
into both the hall and display case is required. As it is well known, in
case of particular exhibited items contained in such glass cases (e.g.
jewellery, stone or ceramic tools, metal objects, etc.) specific micro-
climate rigid constraints are mandatory for avoiding irreversible
damages. In this case study two different thermal zones are mod-
elled and controlled. The museum hall and the included display case
zones are operated according to an intermittent and a continuous
running regime, respectively. Here, the robustness of the adap-
tive approach for the included zone climate to sudden variation
of the hygrothermal conditions of the hall surrounding environ-
ment (caused also by the HVAC system activation/deactivation) is
investigated.
The second case study refers to a Neonatal Intensive Care Ward
(NICW) where several Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) for
premature and full-term newborn babies are located. In each NICU,
an accurate climate control of air temperature and humidity is
required for producing healthful micro-environment for the hosted
babies. Although many papers in literature highlighted the need
of a neutral thermal environment for increasing the survival rate
of preterm infants [46,47], the adoption of accurate and advanced
regulation of both the temperature and relative humidity within
Fig. 9. Case 1, Zone 1: time history of PMV, PPD and mean radiant temperature for several cold winter zones.
the NICUs have been only recently emphasized [10]. For this sec-
ond case study, the main idea is to analyse the effect of sudden
disturbances (e.g., room windows, discontinuous thermal loads
and NICUs openings) and how the adaptive controller tackles such
unexpected events.
All the carried out analyses are referred to 9 different climate
zones referred both to cold winter and temperate Mediterranean
areas, Table 1. Here, the weather zones are sorted by decreasing
the related Heating Degree Day (HDD). Such parameter, as well
as the Cooling Degree Day (CDD), is calculated by assuming a ref-
erence temperature of 20 ◦ C. In Table 1 the annual Incident Solar
Radiation on the horizontal surface (ISR) is also reported. Note that
the weather data adopted in the simulations (outdoor air temper-
ature and humidity, solar radiation, etc.) vary according to hourly
Meteonorm files.
3.1. Case studies 1: museum hall with glass display case (one
enclosed zone)
The first case study regards a two thermal zone system, as shown
in Fig. 3, in which a museum indoor space is depicted. Here, the first
zone is referred to the museum hall while the second one (totally
included in the first zone) to a glass display case with an accurate cli-
mate control (rigid constraints of temperature and humidity of the
case indoor air) necessary to preserve non-hygroscopic collected
exhibits such as: jewellery, stone or ceramic tools, metal objects
(which require suitable conditions of indoor air temperature and
relative humidity, simultaneously).
For Zone 1, it is considered a length, width and height
equal to 20, 10 and 3.5 m, respectively. The building longitu-
dinal axis is East-West oriented and a South facing windows
(4–6-4 air filled double-glazed system) of 32 m2 is taken into
account, by considering a U-value of 2.1 W/m2 K. The considered
thickness and U-values are: for the building walls 25 cm and
0.45 W/m2 K, for the floor 30 cm and 0.43 W/m2 K, for the ceil-
ing 30 cm and 0.40 W/m2 K. Their layering is designed by concrete
bricks (␭ = 0.51 W/mK, ␳ = 1400 kg/m3 , c = 1000 J/kgK) and thermal
insulation (␭ = 0.04 W/mK, ␳ = 15.0 kg/m3 , c = 1400 J/kgK). Note that
each building element is modelled as subdivided in 10 sub layers
of equal thickness. The direct solar radiation transferred through
the windows to the inside zone is assumed to be absorbed by the
floor with an absorption factor of 0.3. The absorption and emission
factors of interior surfaces are assumed to be equal to 0.15 and 0.9,
respectively. For such zone, a ventilation rate of 1.0 Vol/h and a
crowding index of 0.12 person/m2 are taken into account. The sen-
sible heat and moisture productions due to occupants vary from
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 271

Table 2
Case 1, Zone 1: energy demands, peak loads and comfort indexes during the heating (H) and cooling (C) seasons.

Weather zone Mode Energy demand Peak load Comfort

Sensible (kWh/m2 y) Latent (kWh/m2 y) Sensible (kW) Latent (g/s) PMV (−) PPD (%)

Copenhagen H 80.35 13.18 21.34 3.23 −0.589 12.2

C −1.24 −1.67 −4.29 −2.64 −0.132 5.35
Denver H 54.31 21.64 26.09 3.57 −0.378 7.97
C −10.59 −1.01 −9.45 −2.16 0.116 5.27
Freiburg H 66.32 11.37 20.93 3.09 −0.513 10.5
C −5.69 −1.52 −8.81 −2.22 −0.056 5.06
Milan H 59.17 9.23 19.24 2.88 −0.137 5.38
C −11.43 −5.57 −8.36 −4.60 −0.013 5.01
Rome H 25.70 3.84 15.17 2.38 0.143 5.42
C −19.29 −6.42 −11.28 −5.21 0.270 6.51
Nice H 22.08 4.35 12.22 2.17 0.043 5.03
C −14.79 −4.84 −9.27 −3.62 0.245 6.25
Naples H 23.00 3.23 14.12 2.17 0.131 5.35
C −20.53 −8.23 −10.97 −5.54 0.297 6.82
Jerusalem H 15.78 3.26 11.71 1.99 0.201 5.84
C −21.92 −7.43 −11.52 −7.00 0.572 11.9
Athens H 16.03 3.39 11.94 2.09 0.318 7.11
C −31.81 −3.05 −12.93 −2.60 0.406 8.43

Fig. 10. Case 1, Zone 1: time history of indoor air temperature, relative humidity and sensible load and water vapour mass flow rate for several cold winter zones.

Fig. 11. Case 1, Zone 1: time history of PMV, PPD and mean radiant temperature for hot summer zones.
272 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

Fig. 12. Case 1, Zone 1: time history of indoor air temperature, relative humidity, sensible load and water vapour mass flow rate for hot summer zones.

Fig. 13. Case 1, Zone 2: time history of the control actions for sensible heat and water vapour mass flow rate during the winter season.

85 to 55 W/p and from 35 to 90 g/h p as a function of the indoor
air temperature (from 20 to 27 ◦ C). Sensible thermal loads due to
lighting and equipment are considered equal to 8 W/m2 . A cubic
shaped zone 2 with 1.0 m length side is considered. In particular, a
glass envelope of 3.0 cm thickness, with an occurring air infiltration
of 2.0 l/h is modelled. Sensible thermal load due to lighting within
the enclosed zone is considered equal to 9 W/m2 .
The simulation starts on 0:00 of January 1st and ends at 24:00
of December 31st . For the thermal zone of the museum hall it is
assumed an HVAC system intermittent running regime. In particu-
lar, the heating/cooling system is switched on from 08:00 to 18:00,
from November 1st to March 31st (heating mode) and from 14:00
to 20:00, from June 1st to September 30th (cooling mode). Stan-
dard sensible and latent thermal loads due to people are taken in
to account from 09:00 to 18:00 and from 15:00 to 20:00 for both
winter and summer season. The HVAC system is considered as acti-
vated: i) in winter, for indoor air temperatures lower than 20 ◦ C and
higher than 28 ◦ C; ii) in summer, for indoor air temperatures higher
than 25 ◦ C and lower than 10 ◦ C. Simultaneously, humidification
and dehumidification are taken into account for indoor relative
humidity lower than 45% and higher than 55%, respectively. Note
that, for this case study also setback strategies have been consid-
ered. In particular the temperature controller is activated also: i) in
winter, for simulation time t ∈/ [08:00,18:00], by avoiding indoor air
temperature lower than 10 ◦ C; ii) in summer, for simulation time t ∈ /
[14:00,20:00], by avoiding indoor air temperature higher that 28 ◦ C.
Consequently, the automaton of Fig. 2 can be taken into account for
the simulation of Zone 1. Note that besides collection preservation
in Zone 1, the indoor climate in museums must provide thermal
comfort to visitors and staff. Relative humidity is primarily deter-
mined by collection requirements, whereas temperature is mostly
determined by thermal comfort requirements.
The heating/cooling system for the thermal Zone 2 is switched
on 24/7 for accurately conserving the case exhibited items. Here,
the indoor air temperature and relative humidity are controlled all
over the year at 20 ◦ C and 65%, respectively.
The above presented LQ-EMRAC has been implemented to con-
trol the indoor air temperature and humidity of both the modelled
thermal zones, simultaneously. In particular, by following a decen-
tralized control approach four different and independent adaptive
controllers are designed. Here, each control variable is used to
impose the dynamic behaviour of only one variable to be controlled
according to decentralized control scheme [35], while the couplings
between the two zones are assumed to be as additional unmodelled
dynamics to tackle in closed loop.
According to the above reported model, the weight matrices,
which define the cost function, were set in order to impose: i) a set-
tling time of 50 min for Zone 1 and 10 min for Zone 2; ii) absence
of overshoots for any step variation of the reference signal. The
choice of the relaxation time for Zone 1 is done according to [48]
with the aim to ensure a smooth daily transition during the tran-
sient operation toward the regime set-point. Finally, the reference
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 273

Fig. 14. Case 1, Zone 2: time history of the adaptive gains (K, KI and KR [W/K] and KE , [K]) for the control of the air temperature (a) and relative humidity (b) for several
winter sample days.

Fig. 15. Case 1, Zone 2: time history of the control actions of the sensible load and the water vapour mass flow rate during the summer season.

Fig. 16. Case 1, Zone 2: time history of the adaptive gains (K, KI and KR [W/K] and KE , [K]) for the control of the air temperature (a) and relative humidity (b) for several
summer sample days.
274 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

Table 3
Case 1, Zone 2: energy demands and peak loads during the heating (H) and cooling (C) seasons.

Weather zone Mode Energy demand Peck load

Sensible (kWh/m2 y) Latent (kWh/m2 y) Sensible (W) Latent (mg/s)

Copenhagen H 5.15 3.76 2.99 1.68

C −0.92 −0.48 −1.35 −0.93
Denver H 4.61 6.18 3.00 1.85
C −2.30 −0.29 −1.99 −1.01
Freiburg H 4.47 3.25 2.99 1.62
C −1.66 −0.43 −1.97 −0.79
Milan H 4.20 2.64 2.99 1.53
C −2.73 −1.59 −1.98 −1.34
Rome H 2.47 1.10 2.55 1.35
C −3.66 −1.83 −2.00 −1.49
Nice H 2.16 1.24 2.10 1.28
C −3.34 −1.38 −1.99 −1.23
Naples H 2.27 0.92 2.46 1.28
C −3.78 −2.35 −2.00 −1.62
Jerusalem H 1.92 0.93 2.13 1.21
C −3.80 −2.12 −2.00 −1.88
Athens H 1.66 0.97 2.03 1.25
C −4.78 −0.87 −2.01 −0.90

Table 4
NICUs air temperature and humidity set points as a function of the mass of infants, gestational age and days of life.

NICU1 NICU 2 NICU 3 NICU 4 NICU 5 NICU 6

Birthweight [kg] 0.90 1.35 1.75 2.85 2.05 2.35

Gestational age in weeks [w] 25 32 27 24 28 30
Days [d] or weeks [w] of life 3d 10 d 8d 13 d 4w 6w
Indoor air temperature set point [◦ C] 34 33 32 32 30 29
Indoor air humidity set point [%] 85 40 60 85 60 40

Table 5
Activation/deactivation of disturbances.

Time range Description of the disturbance Area colour

1 Switched off artificial lighting and crowding index equal to 0.036 person/m2 Grey
2 Opening of Zone 1 windows, simulated by an additional outdoor air flow rate of 1.4 kg/s, Light purple
occurring at 9:00 and 16:00 (duration of 1 h)
3 Opening of the 6 NICUs, modelled as an air flow rate exchange of 3.5 g/s to/from each NICU, Dark pink
occurring for 10 min every 6 h
4 A first steep of internal gains, simulated from 06:00 to 12:00 by increasing the crowding index Light yellow
to 0.054 person/m2
5 A second steep of internal gains, simulated from 14:00 to 16:00 by increasing the crowding Dark yellow
index to 0.142 person/m2 (9 pers.).
6 Switched on artificial lighting and crowding index equal to 0.036 person/m2 White (no colour)

input signals depend on the selected temperature and humidity the building walls and floor/ceiling are 35 and 30 cm, respec-
set points. Note that, the humidity control is obtained through the tively, by considering a U-value of 2.1 W/m2 K. The considered
input reference set point of indoor air specific humidity, in order to thickness and U-values are: for the building walls 35 cm and
achieve the selected relative humidity set-point. 0.72 W/m2 K, for the floor 30 cm and 0.59 W/m2 K, for the ceiling
30 cm and 0.57 W/m2 K. Their layering is designed by con-
crete (␭ = 0.51 W/mK, ␳ = 1400 kg/m3 , c = 1000 J/kgK), semi-aerated
3.2. Case studies 2: hospital ward with infant-incubators
bricks (␭ = 0.6 W/mK, ␳ = 1000 kg/m3 , c = 840 J/kgK) and ther-
(multiple enclosed zones)
mal insulation (␭ = 0.04 W/mK, ␳ = 15.0 kg/m3 , c = 1400 J/kgK). The
direct solar radiation transferred through the window to the inside
In order to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the adap-
zone is assumed to be absorbed by the floor with an absorption fac-
tive control strategy to suppress the coupled dynamics of thermal
tor of 0.3. The absorption and emission factors of interior surfaces
systems also in case of multiple inner zone dynamics to be tack-
are assumed to be equal to 0.15 and 0.9, respectively. For such zone,
led, an additional case study is presented. In particular, it refers
a ventilation rate equal to 0.8 Vol/h and a crowding index of 0.054
to a Neonatal Intensive Care Ward (NICW) in which six Neonatal
person/m2 (3 pers.) are adopted. The sensible heat and moisture
Intensive Care Units (NICUs), for premature and full-term newborn
productions due to occupants vary from 85 to 55 W/p and from 35
babies, are located. A sketch of the RC thermal network taken into
to 90 g/h p as a function of the indoor air temperature (from 20 to
account for this case study is depicted in Fig. 1 (seven thermal zones,
27 ◦ C). Sensible thermal loads due to lighting and equipment are
Z = 7).
considered equal to 14 W/m2 . Each NICU (zones 2 to 7 in Fig. 1)
For the NICW, Zone 1, a heavy building envelope, with
has length, width and height equal to 1.3, 0.77 and 0.60 m, respec-
length, width and height equal to 8, 7 and 3.5 m, respec-
tively. In such zones, a polycarbonate envelope of 2.0 cm thickness
tively, is considered. The building longitudinal axis is East-West
is assumed and an occurring air infiltration of 0.5 Vol/h is modelled.
oriented and a South facing window (4–6-4 air filled double-
glazed system) of 12 m2 is taken into account. The thickness of
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 275

Fig. 17. Case 2, Zone 1: time histories of the control actions (sensible heat and water vapour mass flow rate) in several cold winter zones during the 14th day of the year (a)
and in some hot summer regions during the 230th day of the year (b). See Table 5 for the coloured areas related to the simulated disturbances.

Fig. 18. Case 2, Zone 1: time histories of the adaptive gains (K, KI and KR [W/K] and KE , [K]) (cold winter zones during the 14th day of the year (a) and hot summer regions
during the 230th day of the year (b). See Table 5 for the coloured areas related to the simulated disturbances.

In order to assess the effectiveness and robustness of the control
algorithm, several accidental, heavy and intensive hygrothermal
disturbances are simulated. They regard: i) the opening of Zone 1
windows, modelled by an additional outdoor air flow rate of 1.4 kg/s
(i.e. 1.2 vol/h) occurring at 9:00 and 16:00, the duration is 1 h); ii)
the opening of the 6 NICUs, modelled an air flow rate exchange
of 3.5 g/s to/from each NICU (occurring every 6 h, the duration is
10 min); iii) a steep increase of internal gains, by increasing the
crowding index to 0.142 person/m2 (9 pers.) (occurring from 14:00
to 16:00).
The simulation starts at 0:00 on January 1st and ends at 24:00 on
December 31st . In Zone 1 (NICW), heating and cooling are activated
for indoor air temperature lower than 20 ◦ C and higher than 26 ◦ C,
respectively. Simultaneously, humidification and dehumidification
are required for relative humidity lower than 45% and higher than
55%, respectively. Inside the NICUs, different indoor air tempera-
ture and humidity set points are taken into account as a function
of the mass of infants, gestational age and days of life, Table 4 [10].
In the NICW and NICUs zones, air temperature and humidity are
simultaneously and accurately controlled 24/7. Sensible and latent
losses of each premature infant are calculated by adopting a decou-
pled approach [49]. Such physical and biological model includes
conduction, convection, radiation, evaporation, breathing and heat
generation from the infant, calculated by following the approach
described in [10].
4. Numerical results
In the following, all the numerical results relative to the case
studies 1 and 2 are reported. It is worth noting that no mutual ther-
mal effects among zones were taken into account during the design
of the adaptive control schemes. Hence, the coupled dynamics are
considered as additional uncertainties to tackle in closed loop in
276 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

Fig. 19. Case 2, Zone 1: dynamics of the indoor air temperature and relative humidity for cold weather zones during two warm days (148th − 149th day of the year). See
Table 5 for the coloured areas related to the simulated disturbances.

Fig. 20. Case 2, Zone 1: dynamics of the indoor air temperature and relative humidity for hot summer zones during two winter days (314th − 315th day of the year). See
Table 5 for the coloured areas related to the simulated disturbances.

order to impose the required indoor air temperature and humidity
set points.
4.1. Case studies 1: museum hall with glass display case (one
enclosed zone)
Numerical results relative to case studies 1 are discussed for
the main thermal zone in Section 4.1.1 and for the enclosed one in
Section 4.1.2.
4.1.1. Thermal zone 1: museum hall (surrounding zone)
Here, the indoor air temperature and humidity are controlled
to the related selected set points only for several hours of the day
(intermittent regime). In this case, for each hygrothermal variable,
the gains of the corresponding controller adapt so that it is possible
to track in closed loop the output of the reference model (which
converges to the required set point, e.g. temperature and rela-
tive humidity). The tracking of the reference model dynamics are
imposed despite of external disturbances (solar radiation, external
temperature and internal loads) and the thermal coupling with the
Zone 2. To better illustrate this feature, Fig. 4 shows the evolution of
indoor air temperature and humidity and the corresponding refer-
ence model profiles at the control activation occurring at the 319th
day of the year in Denver. Here it is clear that adaptive strategies can
impose the demanded hygrothermal regime also in the transient
switching on regime of the HVAC system (overlapping of refer-
ence and obtained temperature/humidity profiles). Note that, in
this figure and in the following ones, the grey shaded area denotes
the hours where the controllers are not activated according to the
above mentioned schedule.
The dynamics of the adaptive gains to obtain the tracking perfor-
mance of Fig. 4 are shown in Fig. 5 for the sake of completeness. In
particular, in Fig. 5a, a change of the rate of variation of the adaptive
gains for indoor temperature control is observed around 9:00. This
is mainly due to the effect of additional internal loads in the room
caused by the people coming. Despite of this occurrence, the track-
ing of the reference profiles is guarantee by the adaptive system
(fast gains adjust to counteract the new operating condition).
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 277

Fig. 21. Case 2, Zone 1: dynamics of the control actions of indoor air temperature and relative humidity for several cold winter zones during the 148th day of the year (a) and
some hot summer zones during the 315th day of the year (b). See Table 5 for the coloured areas related to the simulated disturbances.

Table 6
Case 2, Zone 1: energy demands, peak loads and comfort indexes during the heating (H) and cooling (C) seasons.

Weather zone Mode Energy demand Peck load Comfort

Sensible (kWh/m2 y) Latent (kWh/m2 y) Sensible (kW) Latent (g/s) PMV (−) PPD (%)

Copenhagen H 317.48 60.05 49.74 7.41 −0.574 11.90

C −32.22 −4.24 −5.54 −0.76 −0.045 5.04
Denver H 237.48 98.97 74.30 10.97 −0.165 5.56
C −79.77 −3.37 −16.74 −2.58 0.124 5.39
Freiburg H 261.47 54.67 46.09 7.72 −0.202 5.85
C −55.90 −3.41 −15.93 −0.74 0.045 5.04
Milan H 229.53 43.00 42.19 7.61 0.132 5.36
C −88.03 −16.92 −13.42 −2.10 0.102 5.21
Rome H 104.98 28.64 30.80 2.55 0.295 6.81
C −125.8 −23.29 −17.49 −5.01 0.364 7.75
Nice H 89.38 33.08 26.58 2.15 0.235 6.15
C −103.99 −18.81 −11.72 −3.89 0.391 8.18
Naples H 92.00 26.93 29.92 2.14 0.295 6.80
C −129.96 −27.14 −17.18 −5.62 0.399 8.31
Jerusalem H 71.62 24.58 26.61 1.62 0.324 7.18
C −137.63 −24.84 −17.23 −7.97 0.554 11.43
Athens H 64.40 27.28 27.18 2.56 0.383 8.05
C −179.08 −6.81 −22.33 −0.74 0.513 10.49

Similar tracking performances are obtained for other weather
zones and different sample days of the year, Fig. 6. Note that for
Nice (dashed dark yellow line), comfort indoor air temperatures are
already obtained with switched off control system (Fig. 6a) despite
of the increase of the indoor air temperature due to the presence
of people (starting from 9:00). Consequently, no control action for
heating/cooling is provided (sensible heating power is equal to zero,
Fig. 7a). Note also that in Fig. 6b for Jerusalem the control of the
indoor air relative humidity is not activated being such parame-
ter within the range 45–55% for all the hours of the considered
day. Therefore the control action for the vapour (flow rate) addi-
tion/subtraction is switched off in all the observed hours of the day
(Fig. 7b). In Fig. 6 it can be also observed that for Copenhagen the
setback strategy is activated during the night to keep the indoor
air temperature higher than 10 ◦ C (for the other weather zones, the
indoor air temperatures at 8:00 are always higher than 10 ◦ C). The
effect of the people presence (starting at 9:00) can be observed in
Fig. 7a. Here, the occurring additional internal load implies lower
sensible heating power to be supplied to the space to keep the
indoor air temperatures at the required set-point (the adaptive
temperature controllers automatically modulate their gains to the
new operating regime). Note that, in the considered time interval of
Fig. 6 the thermal loads due to people are not sufficient to increase
the indoor air temperature preventing the activation of the HVAC
system (except for Nice, where the indoor temperature is in free
floating regime).
For such weather zones, the hygrothermal routes [67] obtained
between the time interval 8:00 − 9:00 are shown on the psychro-
metric chart of Fig. 8. Here, according to Fig. 6, it can be observed
that for Naples and Rome, when the control is activated, heating
and dehumidification are required to reach the hygrothermal com-
fort domain (see routes D-4 and E-4 in Fig. 6). On the other hand
heating and humidification have to be provided in the case of Den-
ver and Copenhagen (see routes A-1 and B-1 in Fig. 6). Finally, only
heating and dehumidification are required for Jerusalem and Nice,
respectively.
The energy demands required to achieve this fine regulation is
reported in Table 2 where the weather zones are sorted according
to decreasing HDDs. In this table it is possible to note that the lower
the HDD, the lower the building heating demand (although a strictly
decreasing trend cannot be detected because of the solar radiation
effects). Conversely, the lower the HDD, the higher is the building
278 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

Fig. 22. Case 2, Zones 2–7: NICUs indoor air temperature and humidity control actions and simulated disturbances for the weather zone of Naples.

Fig. 23. Case 2, Zones 2–7: time histories of the control actions (sensible heat and vapour flow rate) for the weather zone of Jerusalem.

cooling demand. In the same table the peak of the heating/cooling
loads and humidification/dehumidification requirements are also
reported. These calculated values can be used for the design of the
HVAC system of the thermal zone 1. At last, in Table 2 the average
PMVs and PPDs (computed in steady state, i.e. after the transient
regime due to the system control activation). Note that such PMVs
are always within the range −0.59 to 0.57 (the maximum observed
PPD is 12.2%).
The dynamics of PMV, PPD and mean radiant temperature for
several cold weather zones and for a set of sample days during the
winter season are reported in Fig. 9. Here, it is clearly shown that
hygrothermal comfort is swiftly achieved by activating the con-
trol systems (white regions in Fig. 9. Here, as an example, PPDs
lower than 10% are quickly reached for whatever starting value).
For the same days, the dynamics of the indoor air temperature and
relative humidity as well as the corresponding control actions are
reported in Fig. 10. Here, it is possible to observe for the selected
days the above mentioned setback strategy (for avoiding indoor
air temperature lower than 10 ◦ C) is activated just in Denver and
Copenhagen switching on the temperature controller also during
the night hours (grey shaded area in Fig. 10). For the sake of com-
pleteness, by Figs. 11 and 12 an equivalent hygrothermal comfort
analysis can be carried out for several hot summer weather zones.
Note that for all the investigated weather zones the maximum
root mean squared tracking error for the indoor control for the
indoor air temperature and humidity were about 0.037 ◦ C and
0.28%, respectively.
Note that, during the HVAC system running time (considered in
this case study), the adopted adaptive control strategy falls within
the AA class defined by ASHRAE [50]. Here, different classes are
defined for the control of the indoor air temperature and humidity
for museums, galleries, archives and libraries. Such classes differ as
a function of the control effectiveness in tracking the set points
(required to preserve artefacts and to provide comfort to occu-
pants) and are labelled as AA, for the most stringent control, and
as A, B, C and D for slighter strict control. AA class is characterized
by an accurate control, such as: i) very light temperature fluctu-
ations plus space gradients of the indoor air temperature (±2 K)
with a seasonal change of ±5 K (note that 21 ◦ C is the reference
temperature); ii) light relative humidity variation (50 ± 5%) without
seasonal changes.
4.1.2. Thermal zone 2: glass display case (enclosed zone)
The thermal zone 2 is modelled as totally included in the above
described thermal zone 1. In the zone 2 the indoor air temperature
and humidity are controlled 24/7. The application example taken
into account is a glass display case (thermal zone 2) located in a
museum hall (thermal zone 1).
Fig. 13 shows the time histories of the sensible heat and the
vapour flow rate control actions required to achieve an accurate
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 279

Table 7
Case 2, Zones 2–7: sensible heating demands for the NICUs for the different weather zones.

Weather zone NICU 1 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 2 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 3 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 4 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 5 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 6 (kWh/m2 y)

Copenhagen 10.8 9.38 7.96 5.91 5.46 4.07

Denver 9.49 8.07 6.66 4.64 4.19 2.83
Freiburg 10.37 8.95 7.53 5.49 5.04 3.66
Milan 10.05 8.63 7.22 5.18 4.74 3.36
Rome 9.19 7.78 6.37 4.36 3.91 2.55
Nice 9.18 7.78 6.37 4.35 3.9 2.55
Naples 9.17 7.76 6.36 4.34 3.89 2.54
Jerusalem 8.66 7.25 5.85 3.85 3.4 2.05
Athens 8.82 7.42 6.01 4.01 3.55 2.21

Table 8
Case 2, Zones 2–7: latent heating (H) and cooling (C) demands of the NICUs for different weather zones.

Weather zone Mode NICU 1 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 2 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 3 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 4 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 5 (kWh/m2 y) NICU 6 (kWh/m2 y)

Copenhagen H 57.58 7.88 20.13 32.87 14.47 1.71

C −0.04 −31.54 −30.49 −55.01 −47.82 −60.79
Denver H 53.65 5.92 17.50 30.23 11.99 1.15
C −0.24 −33.70 −31.99 −56.49 −49.46 −64.33
Freiburg H 56.48 7.33 19.47 32.20 13.83 1.52
C −0.050 −32.10 −30.93 −55.45 −48.28 −61.70
Milan H 56.14 7.23 19.40 32.13 13.76 1.43
C −0.03 −32.32 −31.19 −55.70 −48.53 −61.94
Rome H 54.97 6.70 18.92 31.66 13.29 1.15
C −0.02 −32.95 −31.87 −56.39 −49.22 −62.82
Nice H 54.66 6.49 18.66 31.40 13.03 1.10
C −0.01 −33.04 −31.91 −56.43 −49.27 −63.07
Naples H 54.11 6.29 18.47 31.21 12.84 1.09
C −0.03 −33.41 −32.29 −56.81 −49.65 −63.63
Jerusalem H 53.41 5.89 18.06 30.80 12.44 0.83
C −0.03 −33.70 −32.57 −57.09 −49.94 −64.07
Athens H 53.42 5.79 17.93 30.67 12.32 0.84
C −0.010 −33.58 −32.42 −56.94 −49.79 −64.05

regulation of indoor air temperature and humidity for several sam-
ple days of the heating season (from 64th to 70th ) in some cold
winter zones. Note that, the air temperature set point of Zone 2 is
20 ◦ C. The same temperature set point is selected for Zone 1 from
8:00 to 18:00. Consequently, during this time interval no sensible
heat control action is necessary since no temperature difference is
observed between such two zones (see white areas in Fig. 13).
A different steady state regime is achieved during the night-time
where the setback strategy is activated. As an example, for Copen-
hagen the sensible heat to be provided to Zone 2 for regulating its
air temperature to 20 ◦ C when the indoor air temperature of Zone 1
is 10 ◦ C is about 2.5 W for all the sample days (see grey shaded areas
in Fig. 13). A similar analysis can be carried out also for the humidity
control action of Zone 2 during the same sample days of the heating
season and cold winter zones. Note that, for Zone 1 the indoor air
relative humidity is controlled at 45% from 8:00 to 18:00 while the
required set point for Zone 2 is 65% for 24/7. Hence, to regulate the
air humidity of Zone 2 a vapour flow rate of about 0.6 mg/s has to
be provided (see white area in Fig. 13). Instead, when the humidity
control of the museum hall is deactivated (see shaded grey area
in Fig. 13) the vapour flow rate to be supplied to Zone 2 varies on
the basis of the free floating regime selected for the indoor air rela-
tive humidity of the surrounding Zone 1. For sake of completeness
for the same weather zones and sample days the adaptive gains
necessary to obtain the regulation of the considered hygrothermal
variables are reported in Fig. 14.
A similar analysis is carried out for several hot summer zones. In
particular, in Figs. 15 and 16 the dynamics of the required control
actions and the related adaptive gains are reported, respectively.
Note that, from 15:00 to 20:00 a constant cooling action of about
−1.25 W is required to continually keep the temperature of Zone
2 at 20 ◦ C since during such time interval the air temperature of
Zone 1 is controlled at 25 ◦ C (see white area in Fig. 15). Instead, an
unsteady cooling demand is achieved when the indoor air temper-
ature controller of Zone 1 is deactivated (see grey shaded area in
Fig. 15).
The calculated energy demands, for both sensible and latent
heats, are reported in Table 3. Similarly to the above mentioned
case of Zone 1, these results can be used by designers and practition-
ers in order to assess both systems consumptions and peak loads.
Note that, for all the considered weather zones the same order of
magnitude is observed for sensible and latent energy demands.
4.2. Case studies 2: hospital ward with infant-incubators
(multiple enclosed zones)
Numerical results relative to case studies 2 are discussed for the
main thermal zone in section 4.2.1 and for the enclosed ones in
section 4.2.2.
4.2.1. Thermal zone 1 (medical ward, surrounding zone)
In case of adaptive controller adoption to tackle external distur-
bances many observations can be done regarding the dynamics of
the hygrothermal variables. Results can be discussed on the basis of
the investigated weather zones (Table 1). As an example, for cold
winter zones no free floating regime for the indoor air tempera-
ture and humidity is observed during the heating season (despite
of the occurrence of the above mentioned disturbances, 20 ◦ C and
45% are constantly imposed by the adaptive control, respectively).
Similarly, for temperate weather zones no free floating regimes are
detected during hot summer days (26 ◦ C and 55% are constantly
imposed, respectively).
The control actions (sensible heat and vapour flow rate to be
removed/added to the space) for several weather zones and sample
days are reported in Fig. 17. Here, different colours for the depicted
areas are adopted to denote the activation and deactivation of the
280 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

rate (simulating 1.2 ACH) with the aim to force the controller and
to assess its robustness. Note that the comparison of the simulation
results versus those obtained without considering disturbances (i.e.
no windows opening) was out of the scope of this study. Nev-
ertheless, due to the effective control of hygrothermal variables,
suitable mean PMV and PPD are always achieved for all the consid-
ered weather zones. In particular, PMV varies from −0.574 to 0.513,
consequently the mean PPD is always below 12%.
Fig. 24. Closed-loop error dynamics (23) represented as an equivalent feedback
system.
4.2.2. Thermal zones 2–7 (NICUs, enclosed zones)
In the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) a stringent regu-
lation of both indoor air temperature and relative humidity (see
different disturbances taken into account for Zone 1. The criteria
Table 4) is required for 24/7.
adopted for each coloured area are reported in Table 5.
Note that the maximum control actions are required during the
By Fig. 17, it is clear that the dominant disturbance to be rejected
NICUs openings. For these occurrences, Fig. 22a shows the dynam-
to preserve the required hygrothermal conditions is the window
ics of the sensible heating control actions necessary to keep the air
opening (light purple areas). Here, from 9:00 to 10:00 and from
temperatures into the NICUs perfectly constant and equal to their
16:00 to 17:00 both the control actions increase, reaching higher
required set-points for a winter sample day (January 25th ) in the
values with respect to the ones related to the remaining hours of
weather zone of Naples. In the same Fig. 22a the time histories of
the day. In particular, for cold winter zones during the 14th day of
the sensible load disturbances due to the NICUs openings are also
the year (Fig. 17a), both sensible and latent heats are required to be
depicted. Similarly, in Fig. 22b, for a summer sample day (July 15th )
supplied to the space for controlling the indoor air temperature and
in the weather zone of Naples, the dynamics of the humidifica-
relative humidity to 20 ◦ C and 45%, respectively. Conversely, in case
tion/dehumidification control actions necessary to keep the NICUs
of hot summer regions during the 230th day of the year (Fig. 17b),
at their required relative humidity set-points. In the same Fig. 22b
cooling and dehumidification are necessary to keep the indoor air
the time histories of the occurring latent load disturbances corre-
temperature and humidity at 26 ◦ C and 55%, respectively. For the
spondent to the NICUs openings are also reported (in several cases
sake of completeness, Fig. 18 shows the adaptive gains correspond-
such NICUs disturbances overlap each other).
ing to the control actions shown in Fig. 17.
By the obtained results it is observed that: i) the required tem-
Note that free floating regimes of indoor air temperature and
perature and humidity set points (control targets) for the Zones
humidity are obtained for cold weather zones during averagely
2–7 are always achieved for all the investigated sensible and latent
warm days. Here, the combined effect due to the presence of the
load disturbances; ii) in all the Zones 2–7 very low regulation
NICUs and to the warm outdoor temperature allow both such
errors for the indoor air temperature and relative humidity are
hygrothermal parameters to evolve within the related selected
obtained despite of the fluctuations of the temperature and humid-
admitted ranges. For instance, Fig. 19 shows the indoor air temper-
ity conditions (within the allowed ranges: 20–26 ◦ C and 45–55%,
ature and relative humidity evolution during the 148th and 149th
respectively) of the surrounding Zone 1.
day of the year (May 28th and 29th ). Note that for these days the
Note that, when the indoor air temperature of the surround-
indoor air temperature is in free floating as far as Zone 1 (NICW)
ing Zone 1 is controlled at 20 or 26 ◦ C (boundary temperatures of
windows are kept closed. Conversely, during the window opening
the allowed free floating range) a maximum and constant sensi-
time the adaptive controller has to be activated to avoid that such
ble heat has to be supplied or subtracted to or from each NICU,
temperature decreases beyond the admitted lower threshold.
respectively (the contrary occurs when a free-floating regime is
Note also that the openings of NICUs have a weak effect on the
detected). A similar behaviour is obtained for the humidity. These
Zone 1 temperature (only a small temperature increase is detected).
results are clearly visible in Fig. 23. In this figure the maximum
This result is due to the short time duration (10 min) in which such
supplied sensible heats and vapour flow rates correspond to the
NICUs are opened. Conversely, a remarkable effect of NICUs open-
set point temperature and relative humidity of 20 ◦ C and 45% while
ings is obtained on the Zone 1 (NICW) indoor air relative humidity,
the minimum subtractions of sensible heat and vapour flow rate are
as clearly shown in Fig. 19. Here, sudden and significant increase
referred to the space conditions of 26 ◦ C and 55%. The maximum and
of indoor are humidity are detected, as response to such kind of
minimum control actions depicted in Fig. 23 vary as a function of
disturbance.
the different NICU temperature and humidity set points (Table 4).
A similar analysis can be carried out for temperate winter zones
It is noteworthy to observe that none of hygrothermal disturbances
during the heating season, see Fig. 20. Here, the thermal loads due to
taken into account in the NICW affect the NICUs microclimate (even
NICUs often allow in Zone 1 free floating or a cooling demands while
the windows openings).
heating is required only in case of windows opening. For the sake
In Tables 7 and 8 the yearly sensible heating and latent heat-
of completeness in Fig. 21 are shown the dynamics of the control
ing/cooling demands are reported, respectively. Here, the obtained
actions for the cases reported in Fig. 19 and 20. Here, it is evident,
results basically depends on the required NICU indoor air temper-
that the HVAC systems must be activated in order to tackle the
ature and humidity conditions (Table 4) being almost independent
disturbance effect due to the window openings.
of the simulated weather zone. This result is mainly due to the reli-
The energy demands, peak loads and comfort indexes for all
able and accurate adaptive control of the indoor air temperature
weather zones are reported in Table 6. Obviously, the magnitudes
and humidity in the surrounding Zone 1.
of the obtained results depend on the resulting climate conditions.
Moreover, the heating/cooling demand is highly affected by the
windows openings (i.e. occurring two times, 10 min each, per day). 5. Future analyses
Thus, when the windows are open the required sensible heat can be
ten times higher than the sensible heat obtained without such dis- Further novel analyses obtained with the enhancement of the
turbance (when no natural ventilation rate is assumed), resulting simulation model and results will be presented in a next future
in very high peak loads. Note that the opening of the windows in paper. In particular, in order to take into account, the hygrother-
the intensive care ward is obtained by assuming a high ventilation mal behaviour of hygroscopic materials (e.g. archival artefacts,
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285
paper-based objects, panel paintings, wooden artwork, etc.) within
the enclosed thermal zones, the moisture buffering will be suit-
ably modelled and included in the moisture balance implemented
within the developed model. Different analyses will be carried out
with the aim to assess the effects due to the control strategy on the
energy demands. First of all, the comparison of simulation results
with and without sudden and relevant hygrothermal disturbances
will be investigated in order to assess the overall energy demands as
a function of the magnitude of disturbances for different typologies
of building use. Finally, for museum buildings, as well as galleries,
archives and libraries, a comprehensive analysis will be performed
in order to assess the energy requirements and the occupants com-
fort according to the above mentioned ASHRAE classes defined for
the indoor climate control [50]. Presently, few studies are reported
in literature on this topic [51,52]. Therefore, as a function of the
occurring building envelope features and weather conditions, such
analysis will be also useful to rate the energy saving potentials by
moving from the higher control classes to the lower ones.
6. Conclusion
In this paper a novel dynamic simulation model developed
for the dynamic energy buildings performance analysis of multi-
enclosed thermal zones, where rigid air temperature and humidity
conditions must be kept, is presented. Such model is implemented
in a novel simulation code, namely DETECt 2.3.1, written in MatLab.
In such tool, several remarkable novelties have been introduced
versus the previous releases. In particular, the presented code is
now able to simulate multi thermal zones enclosed in a surround-
ing one and to accurately control in all such zones the indoor
air temperature and humidity also under unexpected and tough
external disturbances. This capability is obtained by an innovative
Linear Quadratic − Enhanced Model Reference Adaptive Control
(LQ-EMRAC) strategy.
In order to test the potentiality and the effectiveness of such sim-
ulation tool, two interesting case studies were suitably developed.
In particular, in the first one two thermal zones of a museum build-
ing are taken into account. Specifically, a glass display case with
a rigid temperature humidity micro-climate control is enclosed in
a museum hall. In such large indoor space the HVAC system run-
ning is scheduled through an intermittent regime, while in the glass
display case a continuous running mode is adopted (for permanent
artefacts preserving aims). Hence, the temperature and humidity
control capability is tested in order to provide to the enclosed zone
(glass display case) the required stringent microclimate constraint
also with remarkable changes of the hygrothermal conditions of
the surrounding space (museum hall).
In the second case study, seven thermal zones of a hospital build-
ing are taken into account. Here, six neonatal intensive care units
for newborn babies are enclosed in a hospital care ward. In all such
modelled thermal zones, the HVAC system running is simulated
through a continuous running regime (24/7). Here the tempera-
ture/humidity control capability is tested in order to provide rigid
microclimate conditions to the six intensive care units. The analysis
was carried out under the effect of different accidental, heavy and
intensive hygrothermal disturbances.
For both the case studies an assessment of the resulting control
actions is carried out for all the simulated thermal zones (surround-
ing and enclosed ones) and for different weather conditions. In all
the cases, the developed adaptive solution is able to reliably cope
all the modelled operative conditions changes.
It is noteworthy to observe that for both the developed case
studies, the adaptive controllers tackle coupled thermal dynamics
that are not considered during the design of the control strategy. In
so doing we also tested the effectiveness of the adaptive approach
281
to impose the required hygrothermal conditions in presence of
unmodelled dynamics. At last, note that for both the case studies
the air temperature and humidity mean square root errors (calcu-
lated with respect to the modelled set-points over a time horizon
of one year) resulted very small. This result confirms the effec-
tiveness of the adaptive control strategy in order to fulfil stringent
hygrothermal requirements.
Appendix A. LQ Enhanced Model Reference Adaptive
Control Algorithm
In order to achieve the exact and robust regulation of the micro-
climate within the above described special-use indoor spaces with
multi-enclosed thermal zones. the optimal adaptive algorithm,
namely LQ-MRAC, is used. The idea behind the approach is to
recover robustness of the classical Linear-Quadratic (LQ) strategy,
that is typical in the optimal control theory [53], by implement-
ing it via an Adaptive Model Reference Control (MRAC) scheme
[39,40]. Such scheme is enhanced by two additional control actions
to improve performance and robustness, as reported in reference
[34].
Specifically, the LQ-EMRAC Reference Model represents the
desired dynamic performance to impose to a given uncertain sys-
tem and the challenge is to find an Adaptive Mechanism so that the
system state exactly tracks that of the reference model. The refer-
ence dynamics can be selected in terms of a requested behaviour in
closed-loop and their design do not require a precise and detailed
knowledge of the system under control. In order to accomplish opti-
mality of the reference profiles, the Reference Model is chosen as
a simplify Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) model of the system under
control driven by an optimal LQ control action. In so doing, the ref-
erence model dynamics, say xm (t), are solutions of an optimization
problem resulting from a minimization of a quadratic cost index
J [38]. The mathematical formulation of the LQ-EMRAC strategy is
given in what follows. Consider the system dynamics described as:
ẋ = A · x + B · u + f (x, t) (8)
where x (t) ∈ n is the state of the system to be controlled; u (t) ∈ 
is the control input; f (x, t) ∈ n is a bounded disturbance; A ∈
n×n and B ∈ n×1 are the dynamic and input matrixes, respec-
tively.
The control aim is to find an adaptive strategy, so that the system
state tracks the trajectories of a simplified LTI model of the plant,
controlled via an LQ strategy [38]. Although it is well known in
the classical control theory [38], some details on the construction
of the optimal reference model through the LQ approach are also
here provided for the sake of completeness.
The first step is to describe the system dynamics (8) by selecting
a very simple nominal LTI model of the form:
ẋ0 (t) = A0 · x0 (t) + B0 · u0 (t) , y0 (t) = C0 · x0 (t) (9)
being x0 ∈ n
the state vector, y0 ∈  the output of the system,
A0 ∈ n×n the dynamic matrix, B0 ∈ n the input vector and C0 ∈
1×n the output vector. Notice that, in case of building control a
possible choice can be based on some rough estimation of the plant
matrices as illustrated in [34]. Then, it is necessary to impose to sys-
tem in (9) an optimal control signal u0 (t) = uopt (t) that minimizes
the following quadratic functional cost:

+∞
 
J (x0 (t0 ) , u0 (·)) = ȳ0T · Q1 · ȳ0 + (y0 − r)T · Q2 · (yo − r) + uT0 · R · u0 · d
t0
(10)
where r is the given set point, t0 is the initial time instant Q1 ∈ n
and Q2 , R ∈  are positive matrices and the auxiliary variable ȳ0 is
282 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

 −1 and Pc is the solution of the following Lyapunov [54] equation

defined as: ȳ0 = C̄0 · x0 , with C̄0 = In − L · C0 and L = C0T · C0 · C0T ,
being In the unit matrix in the vector space n×n .
Pc · Am + ATm · Pc = −M, M>0 (21)
According to optimal control theory [38], J (x0 (t0 ) , u0 (·)) is min-
imized by selecting:
opt
Remarks
uopt = K opt · x0 + KR ·r (11)
where the optimal constant gains are: • The cost function in (10) which is exploited in the minimization
process, weights both the distance between the actual plant tra-
K opt = −R−1 · BT0 · P jectory and the reference one as well as the control effort via the
opt
  (12)
quadratic form involving the control input u(t). Hence, this func-
KR = −R−1 · BT0 · A − B0 · K opt · Q · L
tion provides a measurement for both comfort and energy saving.
being P the solution of the following Riccati equation: Consequently, the tuning of the matrices in (10) gives to practi-
tioners a mean for solving the trade-off between cost reduction
AT0 · P + P · A0 − P · B0 · R−1 · BT0 · P = −Q
, (13) and improvement of the comfort that is one of the challenges
Q = C̄0T Q1 C̄0 + C0T Q2 C0 in building management. Nevertheless, different from [55], the
optimization process is performed for the reference model and
Consequently the optimal reference model takes the following not for the control parameters whose, in the case of the LQ-
form: EMRAC, changes online on the basis of the adaptive mechanisms
ẋm (t) = Am · xm (t) + Bm · r (t) (14) (18) and (19) to provide the required robustness to disturbances,
parameter variations and unmodelled nonlinearities. This allows
where xm (t) ∈ n
is reference the state vector; r (t) ∈  is the ref- to prevent loss of tracking performance as shown in [34].
erence input signal; Am ∈ n×n and Bm ∈ n are the dynamic and • As additional technical assumptions we supposed that the pair
input matrix, respectively, given by: (A0 , B0 ) in (9) is stabilizable and the pair (A0 , 0 ) is detectable,
Am = A0 + B0 K opt , Bm = B0 KR
opt
(15) being 0 ∈ n×n so that 0 0T = Q with Q defined in (10). Hence,
the introduction of the auxiliary variable ȳ0 in (10) allows one to
In order to adaptively compensate any mismatch between the weight the complete state of system (9) and therefore it is used
optimal reference dynamics xm (t) and the actual dynamics x (t), the for avoiding possible unstable solutions of non-observable parts
control input u (t) in (8) is chosen as: of the closed loop system [38].
u (t) = uMRAC (t) + uI (t) + uE (t) (16) • We remark here that, when the optimal model (built up accord-
ing to the LQ approach) is chosen as reference model for the
where LQ-EMRAC scheme, the classical matching conditions, required
uMRAC (t) = K (t) · x (t) + KR (t) · r (t) to show the feasibility of the MRAC objective (see [56]), are auto-
matically satisfied.
uE (t) = KE (t) · sgn (ye (t)) • According to [57], the main advantages, when the integral term
uI (t) = KI (t) · xI (t) (17) uI (t) in (16) is used in the control-loop, are: i) the compensation
 t
of non-zero mean bias terms on the plant, not only in steady state
conditions, but also during the transient phase when the plant has
xI (t) = xe () · d
t0
a low bandwidth bias; ii) in case of some locking strategies are
used for the adaptive gains in (17) the control strategy assumes
and the adaptive gains are on-line computed as: a structure comparable to a conventional PID controller.
K (t) = K I (t) + ye (t) xT (t) ˇ • Similar to the control scheme introduced in [58], the term uE (t)
in (16) is a sliding action that ensures convergence to zero of the
KR (t) = KRI (t) + ye (t) r (t) ˇ tracking error in the presence of bounded disturbances acting on
KI (t) = KII (t) + ye (t) xIT (t) ˝ˇ (18) the system to be controlled [59]. Note that, the switching term in
 (17) which is based on the sign of ye , is modulated via the adap-
t
tive gain KE . Hence, differently from [60], no apriority knowledge
KE (t) = |ye | · d
about the upper bound of the norm of the disturbance term (8) is
t0
required.
with: • In case that uE ,uI ,˛ and ˇ are set to zero, the algorithm (16)
 t reduces to the classical MRAC strategy given in [56]. Hence, both
K I (t) = ye · xT · ˛ · d, K I (t0 ) = K0I the novel adaptive control actions and the proportional terms of
 t0
t the adaptive gains enhance the pre-existing adaptive scheme.
• The solution of (21) exists as Am is a Hurwitz matrix [38]. In
KRI (t) = ye · r · ˛ · d, KRI (t0 ) = KR0
I
(19)
addition choosing M in (21) as Q in (13) then Pc = P.
 t0t • Typically the adaptive gains are started from zero, i.e., KE0 = 0,
KII (t) = ye · xIT · ˝˛ · d, KII (t0 ) = KI0
I
K0I = 0, KR0I = 0, K I = 0 in (18) and (19).
I0
t0 • When uE (t) is implemented in (16), the discontinuous control
where K0I , KR0
I and K I are the initial values of the integral part of
I0
action can be replaced by a continuous one as:
the adaptive gains at the initial time instant t0 ; ˛ , ˇ , ˝˛ , ˝ˇ
∈ Dn (being Dn the subspace of diagonal matrices in n×n ) and ˛ , ye (t)
opt uE (t) = KE (t) , (22)
ˇ , ∈  are some adaptive weights with the same sign of KR |ye (t)| + ε
assumed as in [38] to be known.
Furthermore, the output error ye necessary to online compute where KE is computed as in (18) and ε is a sufficiently small positive
the gain dynamics is defined as: constant to be appropriately chosen. In so doing classical chattering
phenomenon affecting the control variable can be avoided [61].
xe (t) = xm (t) − x (t) , T ·P
Ce = Bm (20)
c Finally, the steps required to design the LQ-EMRAC strategy are:
 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285 283

1) to identify a nominal linear model of the plant of interest in the Step (i): Recast the Error Dynamics as a Feedback System.
form reported in (9). This model represents a rough estimate of
the plant matrices that can be used to design a classical optimal From (23), the error dynamics can be easily represented as
control law; the feedback system shown in Fig. 24 The feed-forward block is
2) to design a classical LQ optimal controller on the nominal plant described by the LTI model whose input-state-output representa-
model in order to minimize the target cost function (10), where tion is characterized by the triple (Am , Bm , Ce ), while the feedback
Q1 , Q2 and R are suitable weight matrices; block is a nonlinear mapping which depends on the output signal
3) to implement the LQ-EMRAC control law by using the closed- ye and the adaptive gains. The auxiliary input  is defined as
loop LQ nominal plant in (14) as the reference model for the

adaptive algorithm (16) acting on the real system dynamics (8). =−
1
· T

·ω−
1 T
· ye · ω · ˇ · ω −
1
· (d + KE · sgn (ye )) .
opt opt opt
KR KR KR

The analytical proof of the asymptotic stability of the closed-

loop dynamics, necessary to guarantee the effectiveness of the
Step (ii): Strictly Positive Realness of the feedforward path.
control action, is derived in Appendix B by using the Hyperstability
theory. Note that, differently from previous attempts [62], the con- T P , then the Kalman-
Since Am satisfies (21) and Ce = Bm c
vergence to zero of all the closed-loop dynamics is proven without
Yakubovich-Popov lemma holds, and therefore the feed forward
assuming the plant structure to be in control canonical form.
path is an SPR system [39].

Appendix B. Proof of asymptotic stability Step (iii): Passivity of the feedback path.

The effectiveness of the control algorithm presented in In order to prove that the feedback block in Fig. 24 satisfies the
Appendix A is analytically proven by showing that the error dynam- Popov’s integral inequality, it suffices to show that, for some finite
ics can be recast as an asymptotically hyperstable system [39,63]. constant c, it holds [39]:
Before showing in detail the proof, we disclose some technical  t1
aspects that are related to the mathematical derivation. In par- I= −ye d ≥ −c 2 , (24)
ticular, in accordance with the classical MRAC theory [39], we t0
opt
assume that the sign of the KR in (15) is known. As a further
technical assumption, we assume that the nonlinear term acting for any generic time instant t1 .
on the plant dynamics (8) is bounded and it can be parameter- Substituting the expression of ␰ in (24), after some algebraic
ized as f (x, t) = Bm · d (x, t) with d (x, t) being a generic function manipulations, we have
of the plant state and the time. In addition, we assume that some
I = I1 + I2 + I3 , (25)
saturation strategy and an anti-windup scheme are adopted when
computing the integral xI in (17) [64]. Moreover, we select the con- with
trol weights ˛ , ˇ , ˛ , ˇ , ˝˛ , ˝ˇ and in (18) and (19) with  t1
opt ye2 wT ˇw
the same sign of KR . Note that, the boundedness of f (x, t) implies I1 = d, : :
opt
the boundedness of d (x, t), i.e. there exists a constant D > 0 so that KR
 t0
t1
|d (x, t) | ≤ D.
T w
I2 = −ye d, : (26)
 T T T  recast the closed-loop state vector
To derive the proof, we first as KR
opt

xe

. .
KE , being
= K opt − K I .. −K I .. K opt − K I , so t0t1
I R R KE sgn(ye ) + d ()
I3 = ye d.
that the closed-loop dynamics under the LQ-EMRAC control action opt
KR
t0
can be written as
opt
Since each element of the ˇ-matrix has the same sign of KR , we
opt opt
wT ˇw/KR = wT |ˇ|w/|KR | R2n+1 ,
ẋe = Am · xe +
Bm
·
T · ω −
Bm
· ye · ωT · ˇ · ω −
Bm
· (d + KE · sgn (ye )) ,
have that
 ≥ 0, for all w ∈ with
KR
opt
KR
opt opt
KR |ˇ| = diag |ˇ11 |, |ˇ22 |, . . ., |ˇ2n+1,2n+1 | . Consequently,

˙ = −ye · ˛ · ω, I1 ≥ 0 (27)
(23)
for all time instants.
  
Consider now I2 in (26). By exploiting the second equation in
.. .. (23) we can solve the integral that defines I2 as follows
where, ωT = xT . xIT . r and ˛ = diag ˛ , ˝˛ , ˛ and ˇ =
 
diag ˇ , ˝ˇ , ˇ ∈ D2n+1 .  t1  t1

T w
T ˛−1
˙ 1
T (t1 )˛−1
(t1 ) 1
T (t0 )˛−1
(t0 )
Notice that, since each entry of ˛ and ˇ have the same sign of I2 = −ye opt
d = opt
d = opt
− opt
.
opt opt opt KR KR 2 K 2 K
KR , matrices ˛/KR and ˇ/KR are positive definite. t0 t0 R R

The convergence of the tracking error to zero in (23) is proven (28)

by the following steps: (i) the closed-loop system is rewritten as an
LTI feedforward system in feedback with an nonlinear system; (ii) opt
Since each element of the ˛-matrix has the same sign of KR ,
the feedforward path is shown to be a Strictly Positive Real (SPR) opt opt
block, and (iii) show that the feedback path satisfy Popov’s inte- we have that
T (t1 )˛−1
(t1 )/KR = ≥ 0, for
T (t1 )|˛|−1
(t1 )/|KR |
gral inequality [63] (i.e., the feedback block is a passive nonlinear 
any generic time instant t1 , where  the matrix |˛|is defined as |˛| =
mapping). In accordance with Theorem in C-2, p. 385 in [39], the diag |˛11 |, |˛22 |, . . ., |˛2n+1,2n+1 | , therefore
feedback system is then asymptotically hyperstable, and therefore  t1

T w 1
T (t0 )˛−1
(t0 )
closed-loop trajectories converge to zero for any initial state (i.e., I2 = −ye opt
d ≥ − opt
 − c12 . (29)
xe → 0 as t → +∞). t1 KR 2 K R
284 A. Buonomano et al. / Energy and Buildings 135 (2017) 263–285

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