Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691 704

www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

Fault-tolerant control for outdoor ventilation air $ow rate in

buildings based on neural network
Shengwei Wanga; , Youming Chena; b
a Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
b Department of Building Environment and Services Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, Hunan,
Peoples Republic of China
Received 9 August 2000; accepted 13 September 2001

Abstract

This paper describes a supervisory control scheme that adapts to the presence of the measurement faults in outdoor air $ow rate control
using sensor-based demand-controlled ventilation, maintains an adequate indoor air quality and minimizes the resulting increase in energy
consumption. A strategy, which is based on neural network models, is employed to diagnose the measurement faults of outdoor and
supply $ow sensor, and accomplishes the fault-tolerant control of outdoor air $ow when faults occur. The neural network models are
trained using the data collected under various normal conditions. The residuals between the measurements of $ow sensors and the outputs
of the neural network models are used to diagnose the faults. When the fault of outdoor or supply air $ow sensor occurs, the recovered
estimate of outdoor or supply air $ow rate obtained on the basis of the neural network models is used in the feedback control loop to
regain the control of outdoor air $ow. Tests using dynamic system simulation are conducted to validate the strategy. The control, IAQ and
energy performances of the system under fault-tolerant control strategy in the presence of the faults in air $ow sensor are also presented.
c 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fault tolerant control; Ventilation control; Sensor fault; Fault diagnosis; Neural network

1. Introduction Research on the automatic FDD of HVAC system started

There has been much concern in fault detection and di-
agnosis (FDD) on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
(HVAC) in recent years. Reliable and accurate monitoring
and control of air-handling units (AHU) are essential for
building automation systems (BASs) to realize the intelli-
gent and optimal control to maintain adequate indoor air
quality with least energy consumption. The typical circum-
stances causing improper air $ow controls of AHU control
are faults of sensors and damper motor, stuck air damper
and improper control setting or algorithm. These problems
result in either inadequate outdoor air to meet ventilation
requirements, causing poor indoor air quality, or too much
outdoor air resulting in energy waste for cooling. The ap-
plication of BASs o<ers the possibility of automatic FDD
in air-conditioning system. In recent years, FDD on HVAC
systems has been concerned as one of the important topics
in the HVAC =eld.
Corresponding author. Department of Building Services Engineering,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel.:
+852-27665858; fax: +852-27746146.
E-mail address: beswwang@polyu.edu.hk (S. Wang).
since 1980s [1,2]. The e<orts have been mainly focused on
the HVAC system or component faults. Various faults in
HVAC systems have been addressed. The FDD techniques
were developed mainly for detecting and diagnosing the
complete failure of fan, control valve and supply air tem-
perature sensors [3 6], coiling fouling and leaking valve
[7,8], poor performance and leakage of heat exchanger [9],
faults that in$uence chiller performance [10 12] and faults
of outdoor air ventilation systems with economizers [13].
The FDD approaches applied to HVAC system include ARX
model extended Kalman =lter [5], residual and recursive pa-
rameter identi=cation methods [3], arti=cial neural network
methods [6,14,15] and knowledge-based expert system ap-
proach [16,17] and rule-based method [13]. Arti=cial neural
networks are trained on idealized residual patterns [6,14] or
fault patterns [15] and used to diagnose faults in AHU or
heating systems.
Most of the e<orts on fault diagnosis in HVAC =eld are
focused on the development of techniques for the FDD of
HVAC components. However, faults or reliability of sensors
or measurements are the key issues for proper and reliable
control, optimization and FDD. To improve the operational

0360-1323/02/$ - see front matter
c 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 6 0 - 1 3 2 3 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 7 6 - 2
692 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704

Nomenclature
A 2
area (m )
volume of $ow rate (m3 s1 )
C CO2 concentration (ppm)
DVR design ventilation rate (m3 s1 )
Eac ventilation e<ectiveness
N strength of CO2 source (kg s1 )
P number of occupants
R residual or outdoor air requirement
S strength of CO2 source (106 m3 s1 )
uD damper position or control signal
V volume of air (m3 )
SS =lter output
S actual measurement
reliability of control systems, it is necessary to validate sen-
sors (or measurement) online, isolate failed sensors, recover
the failed measurements, and therefore regain the relevant
control. Thus, one of the main tasks of FDD is to detect
the faults of sensors that are used in the control systems
and accomplish fault-tolerant control when the failures oc-
cur. However, only few e<orts of dressing sensor and mea-
surement faults in HVAC =eld were reported. A regression
equation was presented to recover an estimate of supply air
temperature sensor, which is used in the feedback loop to re-
gain control of the actual supply air temperature [6]. A =rst
law-based strategy is developed to estimate sensor bias of
central chilling system [18]. Fault-tolerant control scheme
was presented to adapt to the presence of degradation faults
and minimize any resulting increase in energy consumption
or deterioration in occupant comfort [19].
Sensor fault is one of the common faults found in HVAC
system. It includes complete and soft faults. The complete
fault is that sensor or the contact is broken down and the
measurement does not respond to the changes of measured
variable at all. The soft fault refers to the drift and bias of
sensors, which have serious e<ects on the control precision
of the control systems. In a control system, the complete
fault of a sensor will result in some symptoms that are help-
ful to detect and diagnose the fault. However, when a soft
fault appeared in the sensors of a control system, there are
no noticeable symptoms that indicate that a fault has oc-
curred. Some particular methods must be used to detect and
diagnose this kind of faults.
To provide adequate ventilation for an acceptable indoor
air quality, ASHARE Standard 62-1999 [20] requires that
the outdoor air ventilation rate should be based on the occu-
pancy in a space. CO2 -based demand-controlled ventilation
(DCV) is a suitable choice for HVAC systems, which
satis=es the requirement on outdoor air ventilation rate.
Demonstrations of the bene=ts in reducing energy consump-
tion from the use of CO2 -based DCV systems have been
presented for many di<erent applications [2123]. The
 standard deviation
Subscripts
B building
M measurement
NN neural network
O outdoor air
P occupant
S supply air
R room
Rtn return air
reliability of CO2 -based DCV systems strongly depends on
the sensors used in the systems. To maintain acceptable in-
door air quality and minimize the increase of energy con-
sumption in the presence of faults in outdoor air control sys-
tems, it is essential for the BASs to detect and identify the
sensor faults by validating the measurements, and regain the
control as far as possible in case of failure.
This paper =rst describes the faults and fault patterns
of concern in DCV control systems. A fault-tolerant con-
trol strategy based on neural networks is then presented to
accomplish exact control of outdoor air $ow rate in the
presence of sensor faults. Three neural network models are
developed to regain the control of AHU outdoor air $ow
rate. The neural network models are =rst used to detect and
identify the faults of the control system. They are then used
to recover the measurement of the outdoor air or supply
air $ow sensor when the $ow sensor failure occurs and re-
gains the control of outdoor air $ow rate to maintain ac-
ceptable energy performance and indoor air quality. The
air-conditioning system using DCV in an oLce building was
simulated to validate the fault-tolerant control strategy. Data
for training the neural network models were obtained from
the simulation tests under normal operating conditions. The
fault-tolerant control strategy and the models used in the
strategies are presented. Validation of the strategy by sim-
ulation tests are also presented that verify the IAQ and en-
ergy performance of the system under fault-tolerant control
strategy in the presence of faults on the outdoor or supply
air $ow sensor.
2. Overall approach of study and outdoor air ow
control using DCV
The general approach or steps of this study are illustrated
in a $ow chart shown in Fig. 1. First, the simulation mod-
els were programed for the air-conditioning system on the
TRNSYS platform and the performance data were obtained
 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704
Fig. 1. General approach of study.
from simulation tests under normal operating conditions.
Second, after being added random measurement noise, the
simulation data can be regarded and used as the measured
data from the real system. Third, the neural network models
were trained using the measured data. Fourth, a DCV su-
pervisory controller with FDD and fault-control strategy was
developed and added to the simulated air-conditioning and
P +
B = RP P + RB A: (1)
its control systems. Once the supervisory controller detects
the faults of the air $ow sensors, the corresponding neural
network model would be used to regain the measurement
signal of the sensor to implement the fault-tolerant control
of outdoor air. Finally, the FDD and fault-tolerant control
strategy were validated by comparing among the simulated
results under normal, faulty and fault-tolerant control
conditions.
In the applications of the fault-tolerant control strategy
to BASs to monitor the real air-conditioning systems, data
S CS
S CRtn = 0; (2)
measured by BASs will be used to train the neural network
models, to detect and diagnose the sensor faults and to
S Eac (CR CS )
regain the measurement signals of faulty air $ow
sensors.
The split-range control strategy is commonly accepted
as an optimal control strategy for outdoor air $ow control.
The strategy shown in Fig. 2 is an advanced vision of this
693
control strategy, which adapts DCV to ensure the necessary
indoor air quality in dynamic occupancy conditions. When
the outdoor temperature (or enthalpy) is high (region IV) or
very low (region I), outdoor air is controlled at its minimum
level acceptable for maintaining adequate indoor air quality
using sensor-based demanded ventilation control. Between
these two extreme outdoor conditions, the outdoor air is
controlled to at maximum (region III) or at proper level to
cool the building using outdoor air only (region II). As the
outdoor air enthalpy in the Hong Kong zone is high during
large part of a year, DCV control within region IV is a typical
optimal outdoor air $ow control in the Hong Kong climate.
Therefore, the fault-tolerant control for DCV is presented in
this paper. However, same strategy can be applied to other
regions of outdoor air control.
A DCV system satisfying the previous ASHRAE Stan-
dard 62-1989 can control CO2 concentration and other
pollutants generated by occupants within an acceptable
level. However, it cannot e<ectively control the concen-
tration of nonoccupant-generated pollutants, such as those
produced by building materials, furnishings, etc., which
may be harmful to occupants or make them uncomfortable
when they dominate the indoor pollutants [24,25]. Based on
the problem of pollutants generated by building materials,
furnishings, the ventilation systems, etc., ASHRAE consid-
ered to update its ventilation standard (ASHRAE Standard
62-1989R) [26] suggesting that the minimum requirement
for the outdoor air ventilation rate shall be determined not
only by the actual occupancy but also the occupied area as
shown in Eq. (1). This standard on the outdoor air ventila-
tion rate provides a solution for eLciently removing both
occupant-generated and nonoccupant-generated pollutants,
but it requires identi=cation of the actual occupancy in a
space. A steady-state method to detect the occupancy based
on CO2 concentration measurement is proposed rather than
controlling the CO2 level within a limit in the previous
standard:
DVR =
The steady-state detection method is employed in the oc-
cupancy detector. The method uses the steady-state balance
simpli=ed as Eq. (2). The actual space occupancy can be
calculated using Eq. (3), where S is an average genera-
tion rate of CO2 per person and Eac is the ventilation e<ec-
tiveness. The CO2 concentration of supply air is calculated
using the supply and outdoor air $ow rates and the CO2
concentrations of the return and outdoor air:
N +
P= : (3)
S
Previous studies [27,28] show that the occupancy estimated
using Eqs. (2) and (3) has signi=cant delay when the air
change per hour (AC) is not very high. For example, the
delay is over 1 h when AC is 4. It increases over 2 h when
694 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704

Fig. 2. Relationship between control signals and outdoor air enthalpy of combined enthalpy and DCV.

Fig. 3. Illustration of a VAV air-conditioning system with a DCV supervisory controller.

AC reduces to 2 and it increases over 3:5 h when AC reduces
to 1.
Fig. 3 shows the schematic diagram of the DCV system
for the AHU of VAV in accordance with the above require-
ments of the ASHRAE New Standard, 62-2000. The DCV
consists of an occupancy detector, outdoor air reset control
and outdoor air $ow controller. The occupancy detector
detects the actual occupancy of the air-conditioned space
using the above steady-state detection method. The outdoor
air reset control determines the set-point of outdoor air ven-
tilation rate according to the actual occupancy and building
area. The outdoor air $ow controller modulates the air
dampers to maintain the outdoor air $ow rate at its
set-point.
3. Fault detection and diagnosis method
3.1. Fault description
Six typical faults are associated with sensor-based DCV
control systems. Their dominant symptoms are described as
follows. Most of them are dealt with in the strategy presented
in the paper.
Fault 1 stuck damper: If the fault has taken place, an
occupancy change occurred will cause the control signal to
the actuator to saturate at either the minimum or the maxi-
mum voltage because the damper is unable to respond to the
control input. Generally, a linkage damper is used to con-
trol the outdoor, recirculating and exhaust air $ow rate. If
 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704
the damper is equipped with a position indictor, the position
signal available from BASs maintains unchanged when the
fault occurs. In this case, the fault can be discerned from the
two dominant symptoms of the position and control signals
by a rule-based method.
Fault 2 complete failure of the outdoor air 7ow sensor:
The measurement of the outdoor $ow sensor is used as the
feedback signal of outdoor air $ow control system to control
the outdoor air $ow rate at the set-point value according
to DCV requirements. When this fault occurs, a zero (or
maximum) reading is obtained for the outdoor $ow sensor
and the outdoor air $ow controller increases (or reduces) the
control signal to the actuator until its upper (or lower) limit.
Fault 3 complete failure of the supply air 7ow sen-
sor: The measurement of the supply $ow sensor is used to
detect the occupancy of the conditioned space and control
the di<erence between the total supply and return air $ow
rates so as to maintain a positive pressure in the space within
the upper and lower limits. When this sensor failed, a zero
(or maximum) reading is obtained for the supply $ow sen-
sor and the return fan controller decreases (or increase) the
return fan speed to its minimum (maximum) value attempt-
ing to maintain the $ow di<erence between the supply and
return ducts at the set-point value.
Fault 4 complete failure of the return air 7ow sen-
sor (i.e. air 7ow stations): When this sensor failed, a zero
(maximum) reading is obtained from the return $ow sensor
and the return fan controller increases the return fan speed
to its maximum (minimum) value attempting to maintain
the $ow di<erence between the supply and return ducts at
the set-point value. Although the return air $ow sensor is
not a component of DCV control system, it is necessary to
check whether its measurement is normal or not. When the
outdoor or supply air $ow sensor fails, the measurement of
the return air $ow sensor is used to recover the outdoor or
supply air $ow rate. Only its normal measurement can be
used for the recovery of the other two $ow sensors and re-
alize fault-tolerance control of outdoor air $ow.
Fault 5 soft fault, such as bias or drift of outdoor,
supply or return $ow sensors (i.e. air $ow stations). When
the soft fault occurs, it does not cause obvious symptoms.
A particular mathematical method should be employed to
detect and diagnose it. As far as the control of a system is
concerned, the soft and complete faults of sensors will lead
to quite di<erent results. The controlled variables will greatly
O ) is
deviate their set-point or the system cannot operate in the
presence of the complete faults. However, in the presence of
soft faults, the system usually operate normally except that
S ;
Rtn ) as
the controlled variable will be o<set up to a certain range.
O; NN = fNN (uD ;
S ;
Rtn ): (5)
The soft and complete faults are discussed separately in this
study.
Fault 6 failure of the CO2 sensors: Generally, this
fault is referred to as the failure of the CO2 sensor of return
air (indicating CO2 concentration of rooms). The CO2 con-
S; NN = gNN (uD ;
O ;
Rtn ); (6)
centration of return air varies as the space occupancy or out-
door air $ow changes. When the measurement of the CO2
Rtn; NN = hNN (uD ;
O ;
S ): (7)
695
concentration sensor is signi=cantly lower than the value of
the outdoor air, or close=equal to the maximum value of its
measurement range, it could be discerned that the CO2 con-
centration sensor has failed. Otherwise, there is no easy way
to determine whether the sensor has failed or not. When CO2
sensors are faulty, it is diLcult to determine the number of
occupants when CO2 -based DCV is used.
3.2. Fault diagnosis method
A method is presented here, which is based on arti=cial
neural network, to detect and diagnose the complete or soft
fault of three-$ow sensors.
3.2.1. Data preprocessing
To reduce the e<ects of random noises, =lters are applied
to the measurement of outdoor, supply and return air $ow
rates and CO2 concentrations of outdoor and return air. The
CO2 concentration sensor of return air is located in the return
duct. The control system measures CO2 concentration of the
outdoor air at the outdoor air intake. The measurements are
made after =lters are used by FDD, the occupancy detector
and the outdoor air controller. The =lter model is presented
in the following equation:
i1
iSS = iS + (1 )SS ; (4)
where SS is the =lter output,  is a =ltering weight factor,
S is the actual measurement, and superscripts i and i 1
are the current and previous sampling instants.
3.2.2. Neural network model of mixing process
An AHU is divided into mixing and cooling processes
when developing the strategy. The $ow characteristic of the
mixing process is nonlinearly related to damper position
(control signal), the pressure of the mixing box, and the
pressure at supply fan inlet and return fan outlet. The supply
$ow rate re$ects the pressure di<erence between the mixing
box and supply fan inlet. When the wind e<ect and the ef-
fect of mechanical clearance of damper are neglected, there
is a nonlinear function among the damper position (control
signal), the air $ow rate of outdoor, supply and return air.
For a =eld system, because it is diLcult to establish phys-
ical models, neural network is a proper method to model
the AHU sub-processes. The outdoor air $ow rate (
nonlinearly related to the damper position represented by
the control signal (uD ), the volume $ow rates of supply and
return air (
Similarly, two neural functions are used to establish the
inverse functions of Eq. (5), as
696 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704

a measurement of the last n samples, given in the following

expression:

1
n If RR i 3 then set RR i = 0;
RR i = Rik If 3 6 RR i 6 6 then set RR i = 1;
n
k=0 If RR i 6 then set RR i = 2;
(11)

Fig. 4. Neural network architecture of the mixing-process of AHU.
The architecture of the above three neural network models
is shown in Fig. 4. The activation functions of neurons in
the hidden layer are hyperbolic tangent f(x) = Kth(0 x=2),
where i represents the current sampling instant,  is the
standard deviation for a particular $ow sensor and 0, 1 and
2 represent the normal status, soft and complete faults, re-
spectively. In practical HVAC system, the standard devia-
tion of a sensor includes the e<ects of the imprecision of
sensor itself, the external disturbances (e.g. electromagnetic
disturbances) and the vibration of the measured medium.
This standard deviation in practical systems will be larger
than that indicated in the speci=cation of a sensor, which is
preferably and can be easily obtained by analyzing the mea-
surements of a sensor over a period in steady-state condi-
tions. In this study, a sensor is regarded as normal when the
mean residual (i.e. the di<erence between actual measure-
ments and predicted reference) is not signi=cant (less than
3). It is regarded as biased (i.e. soft failure) when the mean
while the output layer uses the linear activation function
residual is signi=cant (between 3 and 6). It is considered
f(x) = K0 x, where, K and K0 are constants representing the
to be a complete failure and the measurement is not used
slope of the activation functions, respectively. The number
of neurons in each layer is 3 10 1. For the practical
air-conditioning system employing BASs, these neural net-
work models can be trained by the measured data available
from the sensors in BASs. The used data include two types
of data sensor measurements and control signals and are
collected by BASs under various normal operating condi-
tions. In this study, the simulation data under various normal
operating conditions are used to train the neural network
models.
3.2.3. Fault diagnosis of 7ow sensors
The fault diagnosis method described by Lee et al. [6]
identi=es the patterns of residuals that can be used as sig-
natures for various faults. An arti=cial neural network was
trained with these patterns and then used to diagnose the sta-
tus of the AHU for actual experimental data. In this study,
the residuals are directly used to identify the fault of corre-
sponding $ow sensor. The residuals used here are:
RO =
O; NN
O; M ; (8)
RS =
S; NN
S; M ; (9)
RRtn =
Rtn; NN
Rtn; M ; (10)
where R is the residual, subscript NN is the prediction of
neural network model using the measured data and control
signal at the current sampling instant and subscript M is the
measured value at the current sampling instant.
Mean residuals are used to diagnose the fault of the
three-$ow sensors so that the faults can be discerned cor-
rectly. The mean residual is the mean value of residuals of
when the mean residual is large (over 6). That includes the
cases when the sensors are biased actually but the biases are
large resulting in low con=dence to use their measurements.
4. Fault-tolerant control strategy
The major tasks of a fault-tolerant control system are fault
detection, fault identi=cation and control system recon=g-
uration. In this study, a sensor recovery method is used to
regain the outdoor or supply air $ow rate and recon=gure
DCV control system so as to achieve the required outdoor
air $ow rate and indoor air quality if any $ow sensor fails.
When a reading of the outdoor or supply air $ow sensors
in DCV system is found erroneous, it is necessary to estimate
its true value using correlated measurement. The estimated
value is supplied to DCV control loop to realize the correct
outdoor air $ow control under faulty conditions. A simple
approach is used, which employs an estimating relation for
each sensor reading that needs to be recovered. To recover
the supply air temperature sensor by an estimate when it
fails, a regression equation is used to compute its expected
value in the study of Lee et al. [6]. In this study, two neural
networks shown in Eqs. (5) and (6) are used to predict the
expected value of the outdoor or supply air $ow rate. Once
the fault of the outdoor or supply air $ow sensor has been
diagnosed, the estimate of the outdoor air $ow rate is used
in the feedback control loop as the recovered measurement,
or the estimate of the supply air $ow rate is used to detect
the actual occupancy and reset the outdoor air $ow rate
set-point.
 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704
The neural network model is trained using a large num-
ber of data collected under various normal operating condi-
tions. The outputs of the neural networks (i.e. the estimated
outdoor or supply $ow rates) are expected to be accurate
assuming that the inputs to the neural networks are not erro-
neous. That is, if the conditions in the system deviate from
normal conditions (for instance, if the outdoor damper input
signal saturates at its maximum value) because of outdoor
air $ow sensor fault, the neural network model should give
an accurate value of the actual outdoor air $ow rate and,
therefore, be used for regaining control of the DCV system.
If, however, the conditions deviate because of another type
of fault, such as Fault 1 or 6, and this fault a<ects the inputs
to the neural network, the neural network will not provide
an accurate estimate of the actual outdoor air $ow rate. The
residual between the estimated and actual outdoor or supply
$ow rate will be used to diagnose the fault of the three-$ow
sensors. If there is signi=cant residual, it is =rst to determine
whether Fault 1 or 5 occurs or not. Hence, the neural network
model is used for sensor recovery only when the outdoor or
supply $ow sensor has been diagnosed as faulty. Test results
for validating the fault-tolerant control of DCV system are
presented in Section 5.
5. Tests and validation
5.1. Description of air-conditioning and control system
Fig. 3 shows a schematic of the VAV air-conditioning
system serving the oLce $oor, which is one open plan oLce
$oor in a high-rise building. The oLce $oor has an area
of around 1200 m2 , which is divided into eight zones in
simulation. Six of the zones are perimeter zones and the
Fig. 5. Schematic of DCV supervisory controller.
697
other two are interior zones. Four of the perimeter zones ori-
entating north are equipped with VAV and constant air vol-
ume (CAV) terminals, the others are equipped with VAV
terminals only. The chilled water $ow rates of the VAV
and CAV coils are modulated by two proportional, integral
and derivative (PID) controllers, respectively, to maintain
the supply air temperature. Two variable blade angle fans
are equipped to be the VAV supply fan and return fan, re-
spectively. The CAV supply fan is a constant fan. The pitch
angle of the VAV supply fan is modulated by a PID con-
troller to maintain the ex=ltration $ow rate as desired. This
controls the di<erence between the total supply and return
air $ow rates so as to maintain a positive pressure in the
space within the upper and lower limits by modulating the
pitch angle of the return. The sensors and the their location
in system are illustrated also in the =gure.
A DCV supervisory controller, shown in Fig. 5,
monitors and controls the outdoor air $ow rate of the
air-conditioning system. It includes the measurement =lter,
FDD, outdoor=supply air $ow rate recovery, occupancy de-
tector, outdoor air $ow reset module and controller. A PID
controller is used to modulate the positions of the three air
dampers to control the outdoor air $ow rate at its set-point
set by the outdoor air $ow reset module. The feedback sig-
nal of the control loop is the measurement of the outdoor
air $ow sensor when the outdoor air $ow sensor is normal.
It is the recovered measurement when the outdoor air $ow
rate is faulty. An on-line steady-state occupancy detector
detects the actual occupancy, which is used to determine
the set-point of the outdoor air $ow rate as required by
ASHRAE 62-1989R.
The VAV air-conditioning system is simulated on the
platform of the transient thermal system simulation program,
TRNSYS [29]. The building, coil, DDC control and other
698 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704
Fig. 6. Ambient temperature and examples of sol-air temperature.
component models used in the simulation tests are the
dynamic models presented in the previous publications
[30,31].
One VAV terminal and one CAV terminal in each zone
are simulated. The total capacities of the VAV and CAV of
each zone are simulated by multiplying the simulated $ow
rates with suitable factors. A fan model simulates the energy
and hydraulic performances of the supply and return fans.
The pressure-$ow balance of the system under di<erent fan
pitch angles and VAV damper positions is simulated using
a model, which simulates the pressure-$ow characteristics
of the coils, supply ducts, return duct, air dampers and VAV
terminals.
The energy and dynamic performances of the coils are
simulated by a model developed based on the model pro-
posed in IEA Annex 17. The thermal capacitance of a duct
is considered when simulating the heat exchange with the
local environment and the time lag is considered when
simulating the moisture and air pollutants transfer in the
duct, which depends on the air velocity inside the duct.
The dynamics of sensors and actuation devices are
simulated.
The realistic DDC models simulate the dynamic response
of the local PID DDC control loops and supervisory control
algorithms. The control loops simulated include the AHU
and VAV temperature control loops, the outdoor air con-
trol loop, the ex=ltration $ow control loop and VAV static
pressure control loop.
5.2. Simulation test conditions
The results presented are the results in four test condi-
tions of 1 day (i.e. two outdoor conditions and two occu-
pancy pro=les). Several tests with di<erent sensor status
and control strategies were conducted in each test condi-
tion (e.g. sensor normal, sensor faulty with conventional
control and sensor faulty with fault-tolerant control). The
fault-tolerant control strategy is used to control the outdoor
air ventilation rate under the faulty conditions of the air
$ow sensors. The weather data for the 2 days were selected
from the Hong Kong weather data in summer and spring,
respectively, shown in Fig. 6. Each test lasts 24 h (from
midnight to midnight). Two occupancy pro=les used in the
tests are shown in Fig. 7. The occupant activity level used
is 1:2 m.
5.3. Data collection and neural network training
The training data for neural network model are generated
by simulating the VAV air-conditioning system over the full
operating ranges of the air dampers and the VAV supply fan.
In order to evaluate the fault-tolerant control strategy, the
IAQ and energy performance of the VAV air-conditioning
system controlled under the fault-tolerant control strategy,
the training data are collected only under the condition of
the occupancy I in spring. During the tests, two sinusoid
signals with di<erent frequencies and initial phases are ap-
plied, respectively, to modulate the air dampers and VAV
supply fan. The outdoor, supply and return air $ow rates,
and control signal of outdoor damper are collected at a sam-
pling interval of 60 s. Random noises with zero mean are
applied to all measurement of $ow rates collected from the
simulation tests. After the $ow rates being =ltered using =l-
ter model as Eq. (4), all of the collected signals are used to
train the three neural networks of the mixing process using
the LevenbergMarquardt algorithm [32]. Using the operat-
ing data of 1 day with a sampling interval of 60 s, the com-
putation time for training one neural network needs about
30 s. The terminating condition of network training is that
the mean of the square of the error (MSE) between the target
 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704
Fig. 7. Total occupancy of the open oLce in simulation tests.
Fig. 8. The decreasing process of SME in training neural networks models.
values and the outputs of a neural network is 5:0 106 .
Fig. 8 shows the decreasing process of the MSE of the neu-
ral network model in Eq. (5). To examine the fault-tolerant
control method, the three trained neural networks are used
on-line to diagnose the $ow measurement faults and accom-
plish the fault-tolerant control of outdoor ventilation rate
when the measurement fault of outdoor or supply air $ow
sensor occurs.
5.4. Test results and discussion
Part of the results under fault-tolerant control for
failed outdoor air $ow measurements are presented here
and compared with those under normal control
conditions.
699
5.4.1. Validation of neural network models
Figs. 9 and 10 show sensors and neural network model
outputs of outdoor air $ow rates under normal DCV control
conditions in summer and spring test cases. It is observed
that the outdoor air $ow outputs of the neural network model
agrees well with the measured outdoor air $ow rate dur-
ing the tests under di<erent test conditions. In calculations,
it has also been found that the supply air $ow outputs of
the neural network model also fully agree with the outputs
of supply air $ow sensor under various test conditions. Ex-
perience shows that the neural networks have very good
$exibility to the wide change ranges of outdoor and supply
air $ow rates. In practice, the data to train the neural net-
works of the mixing process can be easily obtained by vary-
ing control signals of the mixing box dampers and supply
fan.
5.4.2. Validation of fault-tolerant control strategy
Figs. 11 and 12 show the results of the average CO2
concentration in the summer and spring test cases with
two di<erent occupancy pro=les under normal, faulty and
fault-tolerant control conditions. Under the normal condi-
tion, the measurement of outdoor air $ow sensor is used
as the feedback signal of DCV control system. The fault in
the tests presented in these =gures is the complete failure
of outdoor air $ow sensor. The neural network for outdoor
air $ow is used to recover the outdoor air $ow using an
estimate, which is used as the feedback signal of the DCV
control system under the sensor faulty condition. The results
show that the system operation performance indicated by
CO2 concentration, air $ow rates, etc., under fault-tolerant
control was very close to that under normal control in the
same conditions.
Under the normal, faulty outdoor air $ow measure-
ments and their fault-tolerant control, the daily energy
consumption of the cooling coils and fans in the tests
700 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704

Fig. 9. Sensor and neural network outputs of outdoor air $ow rate in summer.

Fig. 10. Sensor and neural network outputs of outdoor air $ow rate in spring.

is shown in Tables 1 and 2, and the maximum and
average CO2 concentrations during occupied period are
given in Tables 1 and 2. When the complete failure of
outdoor air $ow sensor occurred, the outdoor air $ow
controller fully opened the outdoor air damper and the
outdoor air $ow was at maximum rate, which was greatly
higher than that demanded. Therefore, the CO2 concen-
tration was lower than that at normal control. The main
objective of DCV control is to come to a compromise be-
tween IAQ and energy consumption. Although the carbon
dioxide concentration is rather low under the complete
failure of outdoor air $ow measurement, the correspond-
ing energy consumption increased dramatically due to the
vast increase of cooling load for outdoor air. Under the
faulty condition of the test, the daily energy consumptions
increased by 76.4% and 95% for Occupancy I and II
during summer and by 40.6% and 47.9% during spring,
respectively.
When there was a bias of 10% on outdoor air $ow mea-
surement, the controller controlled the outdoor air damper
up to about 10% higher than the demanded $ow rate. Al-
though the CO2 concentrations are slightly lower than that
under the fault free conditions, the daily energy consump-
tions increased by 7.3% and 9.3% for Occupancy I and II
during summer, and by 3.2% and 4.0% during spring, re-
spectively. To correct this soft fault, an estimate of outdoor
 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704 701

Fig. 11. Space CO2 concentration in spring under the complete fault of outdoor air $ow sensor.

Fig. 12. Space CO2 concentration in spring under the complete fault of outdoor air $ow sensor.

air $ow recovered by the neural network models for outdoor
air $ow is used as the feedback signal of the DCV control
system to accomplish the fault-tolerant control. The system
performance after employing fault-tolerant control was very
close to that under fault-free conditions. Under all condi-
tions tested, the total coil loads when using the output of
neural network as feedback signal under the complete failure
or biased outdoor air $ow sensor were in very good agree-
ment with that under normal outdoor air $ow measurement.
The fan and total energy consumption also has very good
agreement with each other under either normal or faulty out-
door air $ow measurement. Therefore, when the complete
failure or biased outdoor air $ow measurement occurs, the
fault-tolerant control strategy for outdoor air $ow control
can meet the control requirements of DCV and achieve the
satisfactory indoor air quality without resulting increase in
energy consumption.
Under the normal, faulty supply air $ow measurements
and their fault-tolerant control, the daily energy consump-
tion of the cooling coils and fans in the tests are shown in
Tables 3 and 4, and the maximum average CO2 concen-
trations during occupied period are also given in Tables 3
and 4. When the complete failure of supply air $ow sensor
occurred, the occupancy detector detected a zero occupancy
702 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704

Table 1
Daily energy consumption and maximum CO2 concentration in summer with faulty outdoor air $ow sensor

Occupancy Control Coil heat load (MJ) Fan (MJ) Overall Increasing Maximum
signal VAV CAV Total VAV Return CAV (MJ) (%) CO2 (ppm)

I Normal 4.020 1.029 5.049 0.667 0.514 0.160 6.390 1063

complete
failure 7.621 2.279 9.900 0.590 0.622 0.160 11.272 76.4 516
10% bias 4.382 1.132 5.514 0.668 0.515 0.160 6.857 7.3 985
NN 4.021 1.030 5.051 0.666 0.514 0.160 6.391 0.0 1069

II Normal 3.879 1.156 5.035 0.607 0.471 0.175 6.288 1052

complete
failure 8.290 2.483 10.773 0.637 0.681 0.175 12.266 95.0 515
10% bias 4.325 1.295 5.620 0.607 0.471 0.175 6.873 9.3 973
NN 3.882 1.156 5.038 0.606 0.471 0.175 6.290 0.0 1056

Table 2
Daily energy consumption and maximum CO2 concentration in spring with faulty outdoor air $ow sensor

Occupancy Control Coil heat load (MJ) Fan (MJ) Overall Increasing Maximum
signal VAV CAV Total VAV Return CAV (MJ) (%) CO2 (ppm)
I Normal 1.775 0.852 2.627 0.262 0.228 0.160 3.277 1038
complete
failure 2.113 1.113 3.226 0.595 0.625 0.160 4.606 40.6 522
10% bias 1.846 0.887 2.733 0.262 0.228 0.160 3.383 3.2 961
NN 1.776 0.843 2.619 0.262 0.228 0.160 3.269 0.0 1039

II Normal 1.721 0.879 2.600 0.263 0.229 0.175 3.267 1027

complete
failure 2.132 1.202 3.334 0.644 0.678 0.175 4.831 47.9 521
10% bias 1.808 0.923 2.731 0.263 0.229 0.175 3.398 4.0 949
NN 1.722 0.880 2.602 0.263 0.229 0.175 3.269 0.0 1030

Table 3
Daily energy consumption and maximum CO2 concentration in summer with faulty supply air $ow sensor

Occupancy Control Coil heat load (MJ) Fan (MJ) Overall Increasing Maximum
signal VAV CAV Total VAV Return CAV (MJ) (%) CO2 (ppm)

I Normal 4.020 1.029 5.049 0.667 0.514 0.160 6.390 1063

complete
failure 3.413 0.854 4.267 0.666 0.515 0.160 5.608 12:2 1472
+10% bias 4.181 1.073 5.254 0.675 0.521 0.160 6.610 3.5 993
NN 4.022 1.031 5.053 0.666 0.514 0.160 6.393 0.0 1068

II Normal 3.879 1.156 5.035 0.607 0.471 0.175 6.288 1052

complete
failure 3.181 0.934 4.115 0.606 0.472 0.175 5.368 14:6 1459
+10% bias 4.112 1.214 5.326 0.614 0.476 0.175 6.591 4.8 994
NN 3.881 1.157 5.038 0.606 0.471 0.175 6.290 0.0 1055

and the outdoor air $ow rate was set at a set-point that is
far less than that actually required. So, the CO2 concen-
tration increased over 1400 ppm, which was much higher
than that under normal condition. Thus, under faulty con-
dition, however, the daily energy consumptions reduced by
12.2% and 14.6% for Occupancy I and II during summer,
and by 7.8% and 9.3% during spring, respectively. When
there was a bias of +10% on supply air $ow measurement,
the occupancy detector detected an occupancy which was
10% higher than the actual occupancy and the outdoor air
$ow rate was set at a set-point higher than that required.
Although the CO2 concentrations were slightly lower than
that under normal conditions, the daily energy consump-
tions increase by 3.5% and 4.8% for Occupancy I and II
during summer, and by 2.7% and 3.0% during spring,
respectively.
 S. Wang, Y. Chen / Building and Environment 37 (2002) 691704 703

Table 4
Daily energy consumption and maximum CO2 concentration in spring with faulty supply air $ow sensor

Occupancy Control Coil heat load (MJ) Fan (MJ) Overall Increasing Maximum
signal VAV CAV Total VAV Return CAV (MJ) (%) CO2 (ppm)

I Normal 1.775 0.852 2.627 0.262 0.228 0.160 3.277 1038

complete
failure 1.602 0.771 2.373 0.261 0.228 0.160 3.022 7:8 1446
+10% bias 1.823 0.893 2.716 0.262 0.228 0.160 3.366 2.7 984
NN 1.776 0.853 2.619 0.262 0.228 0.160 3.269 0.0 1039

II Normal 1.721 0.879 2.600 0.263 0.229 0.175 3.267 1027

complete
failure 1.528 0.767 2.295 0.263 0.229 0.175 2.962 9:3 1434
+10% bias 1.834 0.897 2.731 0.263 0.229 0.175 3.365 3.0 978
NN 1.722 0.880 2.602 0.263 0.229 0.175 3.269 0.0 1029

For the complete failure and biased supply air $ow mea-
surement, an estimate recovered by the neural network for
supply air $ow was used as the input signal of the occupancy
detector to accomplish the fault-tolerant control. The con-
trol performances were very close to that under the healthy
supply air $ow measurement. Under various test conditions,
the total coil load when using the output of neural network
as the input signal to the occupancy detector for the com-
plete failure and bias fault of supply air $ow measurement
was nearly the same as that under healthy supply air $ow
measurement. The fan energy consumption and total energy
consumption were also almost the same under either healthy
or faulty supply air $ow measurement in same test condi-
tion. Therefore, when the complete failure or biased supply
air $ow measurement occurs, the fault-tolerant control strat-
egy for outdoor air $ow can meet the control requirements
of DCV and achieve the satisfactory indoor air quality with-
out resulting in increase of energy consumption.
6. Conclusions
The tests under various occupancy and weather conditions
show that the agreement between the actual and predicted
outdoor=supply air $ow rates during normal operation is
very good. Under the fault-tolerant control strategy in case
of the outdoor or supply air $ow measurement failure, the
IAQ and energy performances show satisfactory agreement
with that under normal conditions. The $ow sensor recov-
ery method based on neural network can be used for DCV
control purpose. The results under various failure condi-
tions demonstrate that the fault-tolerant control strategy can
maintain very good compromise between IAQ and energy
performances in the case of sensor=measurement failure.
The fault-tolerant control strategy developed in this paper
was tested and validated on DCV control of VAV systems
by simulation. It may also be applied to the other cases of
outdoor air control. It is easy to obtain the essential data to
train the neural network models of the mixing process. The
neural network models are very simple. The neural network
train is very fast using algorithms currently available. There-
fore, it is not diLcult to adapt the fault-tolerant strategy into
BASs.
Acknowledgements
The research work presented in the paper is =nancially
supported by a grant (RGC No. PolyU 5031=00E) of the
Research Grant Council (RGC) of the Hong Kong SAR.
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