The problem of energy consumption of buildings is complex and multidimensional, as it is a cross section of building envelope performance, indoor environmental conditions and user demands and preferences. In order to fulfil the EU goal stated in the 2020 climate and energy package and beyond, the implementation of high-performance buildings is crucial. Part of the solution is properly designed, flexible and adequately controlled building envelope that can contribute to reduced energy consumption and to increased occupancy comfort. In the presented chapter first, a structured treatment of the indoor environment formation is proposed that can be used in order to define appropriate fields of interventions when designing building automation systems. Furthermore, interaction between adaptive building envelope elements, indoor and exterior environment is discussed and elaborated. Second, the conventional and artificial intelligence control approaches used in building automation are discussed and commented, whereas advantages and disadvantages of each group are discussed. At the end, an example of building automation system designed on the principles of a holistic treatment of indoor environment in buildings is presented. The discussed system was designed at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering using a combination of conventional and artificial intelligence control methods.
Part of the book: Automation and Control Trends