Modelling and Energy Management Control Study for a Net Zero Energy Home

Abstract

This study analyzes energy modelling developed for a net zero energy (NZE) home, complete with space heating/cooling, domestic hot water (DHW) heating, appliance/lighting, mechanical ventilation and electric-vehicle (EV) battery charging for a local commute. The house heat loss and cooling load  demand was evaluated against annual load targets and the model was determined to be 97% accurate. Photovoltaics (PV) energy production was introduced and a 3.7% nominal deviation in net energy distribution was found over summer and winter solstice days when compared to a similar study. Lastly, a control study was conducted to evaluate the energy performance achieved by implementing a rule-based (RB) control strategy, with traditional optimization, based on peak-load shedding, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and time-of-use (TOU) energy cost (EC). The results obtained from the altered energy consumption profiles showed a 79.8% and 21.5% improvement in load shedding, 2.4% and 7.6% increase in GHG emissions and 8.4% and 61.1% reduction in EC for heating and cooling seasons respectively.