Highly Innovative building control Tools Tackling the energy performance GAP

Project Information

HIT2GAP

Grant agreement ID: 680708

DOI

10.3030/680708

Project closed

EC signature date 20 July 2015

Start date 1 September 2015

End date 31 August 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced manufacturing and processing

Total cost

€ 7 900 339,19

EU contribution

€ 6 675 031,90

Coordinated by

NOBATEK
France

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - HIT2GAP (Highly Innovative building control Tools Tackling the energy performance GAP)

Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2019-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The ‘energy performance gap’ between the design and operation of a building is well documented and common errors across the four phases of construction (design, construction, commissioning and operational phases) can lead to a performance gap that ranges between 150-250% of the original design specification. Systematically addressing these errors and thus reducing the gap between design and performance is the main objective of the HIT2GAP project focusing on the exploitation phase.
HIT2GAP aims at linking enabling technologies and approaches used in the commissioning and operation phases of construction to improve the comparative predictions of the models and simulations that drive design and the actual performance of new and retrofitted buildings.
The approach taken in HIT2GAP was to build an open, plug and play, application-based platform. This approach is seen as the effective strategy to cover user requirements in buildings that by their nature (typology, climate, usage) are widely diverse. Furthermore, it allows the platform to evolve and remain up-to-date with new emerging technologies in order to better assess energy use within a building.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

HIT2GAP has delivered BEMServer, an open source solution that enables building stakeholders to deploy a modular, scalable and secure Building Energy Management System by downloading the code directly or by working with the BEMServer community. BEMServer has an existing set of functionalities via its modules and new modules can be developed by 3rd party developers anytime. In this sense, BEMServer empowers developers worldwide to join together in making buildings more efficient.
For building owners and managers deploying BEMServer solutions, by using the most advanced web technologies, building data gain meaning and can empower all building actors, from managers to occupants, with new services to optimize energy consumption, comfort and building performance.
The modules already available with BEMServer are based on advanced data processing such as Artificial Intelligence and building performance simulation and cover services related with fault detection, ISO 50001 management, Renewable energy simulation, load forecasting, indoor environmental quality assessment and occupants’ behaviour modelling.
Modules ready for use:
• Energy Management + HMI
• Fault Detection & Diagnosis (PCA)
• Load Forecasting
• RenSIM – Renewable Energy Simulation Module
• Fault Detection & Diagnosis (ML)
• BIMViewer / 3D Visualization Module Zutec Dimensions
• ENIXO semantic-driven behavior simulation module
• ESP-r Module (Indoor Environmental Quality)
• WT-BeHave Module (Human Behaviour Management)
• My Energy Assistant Visualization Module
Modules that still need some developments:
• GapReasoner module
• ModSCO – (Reduced order building energy modelling)
The whole solution has been deployed on four pilot sites corresponding to different typologies of energy use and control strategies. After an upgrading phase aiming at making the buildings BEMServer ready has been conducted including installation and adaptation of BMS systems, installation of additional measurement equipment required for the implementation of the selected HIT2GAP modules, the solution has been deployed. In comparison to the baseline situation of the pilot sites related with the initial energy performance of the buildings, an impact assessment of the HIT2GAP solution has been conducted and revealed several paths of improvement and energy performance gap reduction opportunities.
In terms of dissemination and communication (WP7), in addition to continuous efforts to disseminate the results through all available means (conferences, social media, web site, publications), a special effort has been done to promote the solution widely and develop the communication materials in a more commercial way.
• A BEMServer website has been published (first (one page) and second version): https://www.bemserver.org/
• Brochure and flyers have been developed
• The code of BEMServer has been published and open to the community: https://github.com/HIT2GAP-EU-PROJECT/bemserver
• A promotional video has been delivered as well as a customer-orientated storyboard for commercial presentation of the solution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFAik08n3C8
• A LinkedIn account has been created specifically for BEMServer https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/bemserver/
During the last months of the project, BEMServer and modules have been presented extensively to several potential customers and partners in order to trigger the early adoption of the solution by the community of stakeholders targeted by the project.
The HIT2GAP project closes with 23 exploitable results. Four relate to the BEMServer platform, twelve to the developed modules, three to supporting technologies, two to knowledge and IP, and two to services. The key exploitable result is the BEMServer which is software downloadable on GitHub and which is supported by a webpage, marketplace where modules can be downloaded (free or for purchase depending on the module), and presence on social media for marketing and communication. In addition to this central result, each result has an exploitation vision, several which are commercial and already generating sales.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The first technical results are gathered in several deliverables that include a large variety of information from different technological fields (measures, modelling, DMKD). Moreover, the end-users’ requirements overview has been established on the basis of a large range of potential users and stakeholders leading to a good coverage of the different contexts associated with operational phase of buildings in Europe.
The project consortium established the link between the needs observed on the market and the requirements that served as a basis of the technical developments of the project. These requirements allowed the definition of the HIT2GAP tool architecture and components that allow progress beyond the state of the art in providing a new kind of tool that can be regarded as a Building Operating System.
The market analysis conducted in the frame of exploitation activities also confirmed that the HIT2GAP solution, by providing a middleware between the field level and the management level, and by aggregating a large range of applications related to energy management optimisation allows progress beyond the state of the art.
The inclusion of ontologies use in the BEMServer solution is part of this progress and the open nature of the platform as well. This "open" nature of BEMServer constitutes an opportunity to have the HIT2GAP solution becoming a standard because competitive solutions apply this approach.
The inclusion of a specific ontology in the behaviour modelling module is also considered as a progress beyond the state of the art.
Finally, the initial concept of HIT2GAP is to be an Energy OS offering two things:
• A two-fold technical advantage
o Make use of the OS functionality i.e. core functionalities, freely available (pre-processing, data alignment…),
o Make use of the data services and the ability to export/exchange/collect data from many different sources in one platform.
• A marketing advantage by joining a growing community and being able
o To publish his app as a BEMServer module,
o Propose it to be part of the BEMServer OS (made freely available to third parties).

Figure 2: Project logo

Figure 1: Architecture of the HIT2GAP platform

BEMServer Logo