BSEG alumni Yimin Chen and Research Scientist Zhelun “Aaron” Chen have developed a pioneering approach to enhance fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) in HVAC systems, addressing a crucial gap in building automation systems. Their innovative method introduces two sensitivity indices to accurately assess the relevance of various measurements to specific HVAC system faults. This advancement promises significant improvements in the efficiency of FDD systems, measurement deployment, and control design by effectively pinpointing critical data points. Their findings, based on the extensive analysis using the HVACSIM+ dataset (developed by Aaron and BSEG group leader Prof. Jin Wen), offer a robust framework for optimizing building operations and maintenance strategies. 

Link to publication: A novel evaluation method of measurement sensitivities on common faults in VAV HVAC systems https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360132324005250