Public Research Seminar by Sustainable Energy and Environment Thrust, HKUST(GZ) - Non-uniform indoor thermal environment analysis and intelligent control of large space buildings

High occupant density and uneven distributions significantly affect the indoor thermal environment in large public buildings. Conventional air-conditioning systems often overlook this issue, leading to thermal non-uniformity and delayed responses. This study quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the effects of spatial-temporal occupant distribution on indoor thermal conditions through field investigations and co-simulations using Building Energy Modeling (BEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). An intelligent airflow control based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) has been proposed to quickly adapt to occupancy changes and improve the thermal comfort. This approach is also applicable for other buildings with fluctuating occupancy. Discussions will focus on integrating real-time monitoring, energy supply, and environmental control to support building digital twins, thereby improving the livability and sustainability of contemporary and future buildings.