A systematic engineering tool chain approach for self-organizing building automation systems

There is a strong push towards smart buildings that aim to achieve comfort, safety and energy efficiency, through building automation systems (BAS) that incorporate multiple subsystems such as heating and air-conditioning, lighting, access control etc. The design, commissioning and operation of BAS is already challenging when handling an individual subsystem; however when introducing co-operation between systems the complexity increases dramatically. Balancing the contradictory requirements of comfort, safety and energy efficiency and coping with the dynamics of constantly changing environmental conditions, usage patterns, user needs etc. is a demanding task. This paper outlines an approach to the systematic engineering of cooperating, adaptive building automation systems, which aims to formalize the engineering approach in the form of an integrated tool chain that supports the building stakeholders to produce site-specific robust and reliable building automation.