Development of emulation methods

An emulator is an artificial system which acts externally like a real system. A building emulator is a HVAC and control system testing facility which is comprised of both actual HVAC equipment and partly computer simulation models. An emulator for a building energy management system (BEMS) application consists of a simulated building and its (simulated) mechanical system connected to a real BEMS. Emulators are suitable for use in testing, product development, training, tuning control equipment, imitating plant fault, and performance evaluation of process equipment. The report presents a collaborative research effort which was carried out by IEA (International Energy Agency) Annex 17. Within the project six building emulators using different hardware and software were developed in different countries. The report describes the basic structure of these emulators and the validation tests performed. In addition, various applications emulators are discussed in general and for BEMS testing in particular. Guidelines for building an emulator and for evaluating BEMS performance are presented. An example of the use of emulation techniques for BEMS quality assessment is also described.