A open source Modelica library for the Net Zero Energy Community (NZEC) is built to facilitate the design and operation of NZECs. Using this library, a virtual testbed is built based on Historic Green Village, a real-world NZEC on Anna Maria Island, Florida. The project site is here. The testbed consists of a framework and system models for different subsystems, including solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, ground-coupled source heat pumps, buildings, the electric grid, and so on. The framework streamlines the process for simulation and optimization with Python; the models include both physics-based ones and data-driven ones, designed for different data availability and application contexts. The models are validated against the measurement data.
Software Download
The development site of this software is at: https://bitbucket.org/sbslab-zuo/scc-nzec.
Training Workshop
- J. Wang, S. Huang, W. Zuo 2020 “Cyber-Physical System Modeling using Modelica for Smart and Sustainable Communities“, the free workshop on “Cyber-physical System Modeling using Modelica for Smart and Sustainable Communities” on September 18.
Release Notes
- 07/28/2020: SCC-NZEC library V1.1 released.
- Added new package OccupantBehavior which enables occupancy-dependent schedule generation for thermostat setpoints, etc.
- 03/27/2019: SCC-NZEC library V1.0 released.
- First release of the library. It contains component and system models supporting community-scale building load, domestic hot water, heat pump system and power source modeling.
Acknowledgment
The NZEC library was the outcome of the project “BIGDATA: Collaborative Research: IA: Big Data Analytics for Optimized Planning of Smart, Sustainable, and Connected Communities” sponsored by the National Science Foundation (Award No. IIS-1802017).
The development of the library was also supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Office, under contract no. DE-AC05-76RL01830.
Related Publications
- S. Huang, J. Wang, Y. Fu, W. Zuo, K. Hinkelman, R. M. Kaiser, D. He, D. Vrabie 2021. “An Open-source Virtual Testbed for a Real Net-Zero Energy Community”. Sustainable Cities and Society, 75, pp. 103255.
- J. Wang, S. Huang, W. Zuo, D. Vrabie 2021. “Occupant Preference-Aware Load Scheduling for Resilient Communities.” Energy and Buildings, 252, pp. 111399.
- J. Wang, K. Garifi, K. Baker, W. Zuo, Y. Zhang, S. Huang, D. Vrabie 2020. “Occupant Preference-Aware Load Scheduling for Resilient Communities” Energies, 13, pp 5683.
- J. Wang, W. Zuo, S. Huang, D. Vrabie 2020. “Data-driven Prediction of Occupant Presence and Lighting Power: A Case Study for Small Commercial Buildings.” American Modelica Conference 2020, Virtual Conference, September 22-24.
- D. He, S. Huang, W. Zuo, R. Kaiser 2016. “Demo Abstract: a Virtual Testbed for Net Zero Energy Communities.” Proceedings of the 3rd ACM International Conference on Systems for Energy-Efficient Built Environments (BuildSys 2016), pp. 211-212, November 16-17, Palo Alto, CA.
- D. He, S. Huang, W. Zuo, R. Kaiser 2016. “Towards to the Development of Virtual Testbed for Net Zero Energy Communities.” Proceedings of the ASHRAE and IBPSA-USA SimBuild 2016: Building Performance Modeling Conference, pp. 125-132, August 8-12, Salt Lake City, UT.