Calibration of a building energy model using operation conditions derived from monitoring

Building energy modelling and simulations play an important role in the design of energy efficient buildings but also in post-construction phases for commissioning, operation and optimization. With the use of data from monitoring systems related to the operation conditions of a building, calibrated simulations can be performed that accurately follow the real energy performance of a building. This paper present a procedure to achieve a calibrated building energy model simulation using monitoring data. The aim of the study is to verify/validate the results of the building energy model simulation against measured data. The study is based on an existing highly energy efficient building, which is continuously monitored in terms of energy consumptions and environmental parameters for several years now. The performance of the building energy model was assessed using statistical indices. The monthly total energy consumption comparison between simulated and measured shows that the building energy model managed to predict very closely the measured values. The accuracy of the building energy model in predicting air temperature was assessed as well.