From white-box to grey-box modelling of the heat dynamics of buildings

Identifying the parameters of grey-box models requires enough data collected from sensors installed inside and outside of the building for long enough period of time. Consequently, this process is time consuming, costly especially in large buildings that require more sensors, and can only be conducted after the building is constructed.

This paper introduces a procedure for identifying greybox models from white-box models. Following this procedure, grey-box models can be identified using data generated by a white-box model, without any requirement for mounting sensors in a building. This reduces the cost and time of modelling, control design and prediction.

The introduced procedure is utilized to find a grey-box model of the heat dynamics of a four-floor building in Spain. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of this procedure.