An Optimal Control Approach to Nudging via Default Setting in the Context of Indoor Thermal Comfort

Yijie Cheng, Cedric Langbort

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

We consider an indoor thermal comfort problem in a controlled environment where daily default temperature of the building can be manipulated by a building manager. Such manipulations can be managed strategically in a way consistent with a nudge design so as to change the thermal habit of the building occupants. In this paper, a linear system is used to incorporate the process of manipulation and habituation. We show that the proposed model can capture choice behaviors observed in the existing literatures. Treating the building default temperature as a control input, we then formulate an optimal control problem whose solution is obtained via dynamic programming. We demonstrate that a carefully designed profile of default temperature can not only change the thermal habit in a desired way, but also lead to a reduction in the building energy consumption.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2020 American Control Conference, ACC 2020
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages4963-4968
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781538682661
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2020
Event2020 American Control Conference, ACC 2020 - Denver, United States
Duration: Jul 1 2020Jul 3 2020

Publication series

NameProceedings of the American Control Conference
Volume2020-July
ISSN (Print)0743-1619

Conference

Conference2020 American Control Conference, ACC 2020
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDenver
Period7/1/207/3/20

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An Optimal Control Approach to Nudging via Default Setting in the Context of Indoor Thermal Comfort'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this