Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Increasing user’s comfort and reducing the wastage of our electricity power is the major objective of this paper. Current designs used in building are not successful in incorporating the occupant comfort for the user and use of the power efficiently at the same time. In this paper, we present a novel utility-based building control system that optimizes the trade-offs between meeting the user comfort and reduction in the cost of operation by reducing the excess usage of energy. We present an implementation of the proposed approach as an intelligent interior lighting control system that significantly reduces the energy cost. Today in our lighting system for institutes and offices either incandescent lamps or fluorescent tubes are being used. The luminous efficiency of fluorescent tube is 67 (lux) while that of an incandescent lamp is just 22 (lux). So LED panels are a very efficient alternative for them which have a luminous efficiency as high as 100 (lux). Although LED panels have initial cost but they repay it in form of their long lives. This new stage intelligent lighting system has main features like the use of sensor networks to optimize the trade-off between fulfilling different light preferences at different areas of building and minimizing the energy consumption using sensors and controllers. We further extend our approach to optimally exploit the ambient light using ambient light sensors and using dimming techniques. One of the ways to implement this holistic concept is illustrated in this paper that will result in an energy efficient system.