Assessment of the Capabilities of a Simplification Algorithm for Building Energy Modelling for the Evaluation of Control Strategies: a Case Study in Bolzano, Italy

The increase of the energy efficiency of the building stock is a national priority, especially in consideration of the recent energy crisis and of the 2050 decarbonisation goals of the European Union. Public buildings, in particular, are expected to lead the way and give examples of best practices and solutions for energy savings, some of them related to optimized controls of the building systems. In this context, however, many public administrations lack detailed technical competences, time, and resources to define and implement the best energy efficiency measures and controls for public buildings. To address these needs, fast and accurate simplified models for buildings energy simulation appear to be a promising solution. In this context, this research aims at evaluating the applicability and reliability of an approach previously proposed by the authors, i.e., the shoeboxing algorithm, for the study of operation control strategies. The analysis has been conducted on a public kindergarten, in Bolzano, Italy, comparing simplified and detailed building energy models. Results have shown a fairly good level of accuracy of the algorithm and consistency of energy savings, with a remarkably high simulation speedup.