Multi-Criteria Model Predictive Controller for Hybrid Heating Systems in Buildings

Ali Soleimani, Paul Davidsson (), Reza Malekian and Romina Spalazzese
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Ali Soleimani: Sustainable Digitalisation Research Centre, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden
Paul Davidsson: Sustainable Digitalisation Research Centre, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden
Reza Malekian: Sustainable Digitalisation Research Centre, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden
Romina Spalazzese: Sustainable Digitalisation Research Centre, Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-23

Abstract: With more hybrid heating systems available, there is a need to optimize energy use intelligently from the end-consumer perspective. This paper focuses on a multi-criteria heating system optimization to optimize cost, carbon emission, and comfort level of building occupants. A discrete Multi-Objective Model Predictive Controller (MO-MPC) algorithm is proposed to optimally utilize two heating sources connected to a building, namely district heating (DH) and a building-integrated electrical heat pump (HP). The model is tested on a real-world building case simulated with a gray box building model. The results are compared to a conventional PID controller as well as the MPC scheme, each with a single heating input, and eight different cases are constructed to make this comparison more visible. The results indicate that, using MO-MPC, a cost saving of up to 10% and emission saving of up to 13% can be reached without additional thermal discomfort, while the potential savings on cost and emission with the hybrid system can be up to 25% and 77%, respectively. Further, a sensitivity analysis on price and emission parameters is conducted to investigate the changes in the provided solution.

Keywords: heat pump; district heating; model predictive control; multi-objective optimization; gray-box modeling; hybrid heating (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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