Making buildings more energy efficient

Impressions from the Huawei Industrial Digital Transformation Conference

Huawei celebrated a three-day online event about accelerating digital transformation. In the Western world, many think that China is still competing on cheap labor. Everyone who has attended this event knows that this is not true anymore. China in general and Huawei, in particular, are moving towards an all-connected digital world.

At the conference, buildings played a key role. Digitalization can help reduce the energy consumption of modern campuses.

Smart campuses

Warming and cooling can be used in an intelligent way to make campuses more efficient. In warmer regions, chillers are the largest power load in most campuses. An optimized solution might reduce energy consumption significantly - this translates directly into carbon emission reductions and cost-savings.

Dynamic cooling optimization

With an accuracy of over 95% in a new Huawei approach, algorithms are introduced to provide more precise energy consumption prediction indicators and scenarios for cooling engine operations. Artificial intelligence continuously trains the chiller operations based on a cutting-edge IoT-based platform. Temperature and humidity data are combined with parameters of chillers, water pumps and cooling towers. This approach allows for dynamic chiller operations. Flexibilities of the air condition systems are leveraged on the power markets.

Forecasting power demand, saving up to 10% of energy usage, and reducing power costs

Huawei’s IoT-based optimization goes well beyond cooling. Load forecasts based on hour-level predictions ensure that the load is properly distributed among multiple incoming lines in the campus. Cluster analysis and decision tree algorithms are used to build these energy prediction models. Demand response can prevent the campus grid from being overloaded. Ideally, an adjustment plan is developed in advance to avoid exceeding the maximum demand. Long-term, this approach will reduce capacity charges for electricity, short-term peak-shaving will avoid excess charges.

The system can be set up in a way that a campus acts according to actual prices on the power market. It can also contribute to improving the emergency response capability of regions or enterprises.

Remark: The author of this article is a member of the Huawei key opinion leader program. He has received a contribution to participate in the conference and to do some background research.