The­sis tem­plate

Project content and motivation

The OptiFas project aims to implement the innovative concept of workplace-individualised daylight and artificial lighting control in a real office setting and to validate its efficiency and user acceptance through a long-term test with office users. To this end, a representative office space in the Faculty of Technical Sciences building will be equipped with the innovative control approach via the existing building management system. This includes individual control of the two louvre blinds (height position and inclination of the louvre) as well as individual control of the individual rows of luminaires in the office (on/off and dimming function).

As an innovative approach, the control algorithm is coupled with a simulation model that maps the office space including the interior and the façade system in detail. Based on the outdoor situation (irradiation, temperature), which is recorded centrally by sensors on the roof of the building, an optimised situation is created for the respective office user in terms of thermal comfort (avoidance of overheating), visual comfort (avoidance of glare) and non-visual comfort (melanopic effect of daylight) - while at the same time minimising the primary energy requirement for heating, cooling and artificial lighting. The realisation of this innovative control approach is expected to provide important insights in terms of functionality and user acceptance.

Task definition

The focus of the tasks within the Bachelor's/Master's thesis can be determined according to background knowledge, the time period of the work and personal interest. These can lie either in an increased collaboration on the hardware/software implementation of the new control approach in the existing building management system, the focus on simulation and model calculation, or the focus on measurement and data evaluation in the context of long-term monitoring. The tasks can be carried out in teamwork with project member Dr Andreas Frei, which ensures direct supervision and a great learning effect.

Workflow and methodology

• Literature research on the state of the art of integral façade control systems
• Support with preparatory hardware tests (e.g. control of louvre blinds)
• Support in thermal-lighting simulation modelling (room model, close shading, external shading) and derivation of the control core (ILM module)
• Carrying out simulation variants for theoretical testing of the developed control module
• Support in the design and installation of sensors and measurement hardware
• Supervision of the long-term test (planned from 07/22-12/22) and ongoing data evaluation

Acquired qualification

The candidate will acquire practical knowledge of the hardware and software integration of new components into existing building management systems, the analysis of measurement data in buildings, energy balancing and comfort analysis as well as the control of façade and artificial lighting systems in office buildings. In addition, a simulation tool for building and system simulation is used to create variant comparisons with the new control algorithm.