Optimal control strategy of air-conditioning systems of buildings requiring strict humidity control

This paper presents a model-based optimal control strategy for multi-zone air-conditioning systems with strict humidity control. An adaptive full-range decoupled ventilation strategy is adopted for optimizing the set point of the outdoor air flow rate to minimize the energy cost as well as to achieve the temperature and humidity controls. Tests were conducted to evaluate the energy performance of the proposed control strategy. The results show that the proposed optimal control strategy can reduce energy consumption significantly, while maintaining a satisfactory indoor thermal environment.