Field evaluation of zone temperature response to control actions in cooling systems of small and medium-sized office buildings

Journal Article · Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Energy and Buildings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.116511· OSTI ID:3002822

Huang, Sen ^[1]; Lian, Jianming ^[1]; Katipamula, Srinivas ^[2]; Lutes, Robert ^[2]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

The response of zone temperature to control actions in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, known as zone temperature response, has been a central focus of building control research owing to its crucial role in determining control performance. However, existing studies often overlook the representativeness of the buildings being studied, resulting in unclear generalizations. In addition, those studies tend to focus on a single aspect of the response. Furthermore, this paper provides the first comprehensive characterization of zone temperature response applicable to a clearly defined building sector—small and medium-sized office (SMO) buildings (<5000 m²) in the US. Specifically, two representative SMO buildings, selected based on the US Department of Energy’s commercial prototype buildings, were studied. Field tests were conducted over a 2-month period during summer, and the collected data were analyzed with two key metrics—delay time and nonlinearity index—to quantify zone temperature response, capturing both short- and long-term patterns. Beyond this quantitative characterization, the analysis reveals that the HVAC system type, rather than factors like floor area or zone location, is the primary determinant of the zone temperature response. Drawing on the field test results, we recommend that building control strategies monitor zone temperatures at intervals shorter than 10 minutes, configure controls independently for VAV- and RTU-served zones, and implement nonlinear methods at the zone level—particularly for VAV zones—rather than across the entire building.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 3002822
• Journal Information: Energy and Buildings, Journal Name: Energy and Buildings Vol. 349; ISSN 0378-7788
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Building control
Cooling setpoint
Field test
Small and medium-sized office buildings
Zone temperature response