Comparison of user performance when applying system identification for assessment of the energy performance of building components

The application of system identification techniques to the energy performance assessment of buildings and building components requires a high level of knowledge of physical and mathematical processes. This factor, combined with the quality of the data, the description of the monitoring procedure and test environment, together with the experience of the user of the analysis software itself, can produce varying results from different users when applying different models and software packages. Past international system identification competitions (1994 and 1996) demonstrated the spread in results that can be expected regarding the application of different models and techniques to the same benchmark data. The PASLINK EEIG has attempted to consolidate and strengthen knowledge and expertise of system identification techniques within the grouping and also ensure that data analysis meets minimum quality levels. This paper compares the spread in results obtained during the previous competitions to that obtained during the workshops carried out by the PASLINK EEIG following 10 years of networking activities in the field. The objective is to identify the extent to which the networking activities have strengthened the position of the individual teams working in the field and to identify the areas where quality assurance is met and, furthermore, where further improvements can be made. A direct comparison of the quality of results obtained during data analysis from the previous decade is made with recent results after a significant period of collaboration and networking activities. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.