Stephanie Johnson
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Building Performance Engineer (Mechanical Engineer)
Speaker
Track G: Energy Services
Session G2: Building Commissioning and Optimization
September 26, 2024 | 9:30 am - 10:00 am
Rapid Functional Test for Quicker HVAC Commissioning
Commissioning and troubleshooting control issues in HVAC systems with a Building Automation System (BAS) is typically a manual process that requires an operator to manipulate components and observe the corresponding changes while waiting for the system to reach a steady-state. This can be a time-consuming process, especially if assessing multiple control loops and/or pieces of equipment. The Rapid Functional Test (RFT) is a novel approach that allows for quick active troubleshooting by introducing a short pulse signal and swiftly estimating the response time of the system. The RFT can aid with control loop tuning by calculating parameters for proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers. This presentation will provide an overview of the RFT approach and show how it’s implementation in real buildings can be used to correct control issues, increase the reliability of HVAC operations, and allow for the potential for deeper energy savings.
Speaker Bio
Stephanie’s experience at PNNL primarily consists of becoming an expert in whole building energy and water auditing and BAS optimization through implementing PNNL’s Re-Tuning methodology. Her work has included energy and water meter analysis and building energy modeling to identify cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, and has been performed onsite and virtually in both the Net Zero and Resiliency landscapes. She has also been the PI and technical lead for the Army Reserve’s Enterprise Building Control System (EBCS), where she gained experience in integrating the BAS of nearly 100 buildings, developing and implementing analytics to automatically detect optimization and O&M opportunities, and helping guide the technical direction of the program. Stephanie’s current goals are to help bridge the gap between research and “real world”, and to continue to advance energy efficiency in buildings through innovative methods.
