Smart building operations depend on the competencies of building operators. However, current lecture-based training only partially reflects the dynamic nature of actual buildings, inhibiting building operators from learning practical building interaction under diverse situations. This paper proposes a building operations emulator (BOEm) that integrates interactive building performance simulation into building operators' training. BOEm is a versatile simulation-based learning platform providing immersive training experiences to instruct realistic building responses with realistic building automation system (BAS) interfaces. The resulting enhancement of operator skills will pave the way to overcoming barriers hindering smart building operations.

The planned Ko‘olauloa community resilience hub (KCRH) in Hau’ula Hawaii is intended to serve a dual function as a 3,660 m2 community center, and a resilient storm shelter powered by a microgrid. This study considers the interaction of building energy efficiency and microgrid cost and performance. A building energy model of the KCRH is used to determine critical and noncritical loads for a business-as-usual system and a high-efficiency system. A techno-economic optimization was conducted using the Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources software considering two microgrid configurations, one with diesel backup, and the other with renewables-only, including photo-voltaic (PV) and storage battery. High energy efficiency reduces

estimated microgrid cost by 34% for the diesel-PV and by 36% for all-renewables in comparison to business as usual. A resilience analysis conducted with the Microgrid Design Toolkit reveals that the high-efficiency system option enables much higher resilience for the renewables-only microgrid that meets cost limitations. The results, showing tradeoffs between resilience, efficiency and cost may be used by the Hau‘ula community to make informed decisions about the final design of the KCRH.

The integration of renewable energy sources into power grids leads to increased instability due to their inherent intermittency (Li and Wang et al. 2020). These challenges necessitate the development of effective strategies (Li and Satchwell et al. 2022). Collaboration between building systems and the power grid, known as building-grid interaction, emerges as a promising solution to mitigate these challenges. This research examines building-grid interaction with a focus on an all-electric office building with thermally activated ceilings. A rule-based control algorithm is embedded within the simulation environment. The results demonstrate that such collaborative systems can significantly enhance grid stability while optimizing building energy performance.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems utilize fuel for on-site electricity generation while recovering waste heat to provide steam for heating. To achieve computational efficiency with minimum impacts on accuracy compared to the techno-economic and physical modeling approaches that dominate today, this study proposes, demonstrates, and evaluates a simplified physics-based CHP model for district energy application in the Modelica language. First, the model formulations are detailed, including the physical equations for topping and bottoming cycles. Then, the models are demonstrated and validated using manufacturing reference data and established models. The steady-state simulation results show errors within a range of ±0.01% to ±8%. The transient behaviors of a simple steam drum level control are compared and validated against the ThermoPower Library model. This comparison finds that the proposed model achieves a simulation speed enhancement of approximately 100 times while maintaining a coefficient of the variation of the root mean square error of 8%. The results have demonstrated that this simplified CHP model can achieve good accuracy with computational efficiency.

This study investigates a 28-year approach to minimize a building's operational carbon emissions. It delves into the complexities of operational emissions, encompassing electricity, gas, refrigerants, and energy tied to water usage. The findings reveal that in regions with carbon-intensive grids, heat pumps show potential for significant reductions in operational carbon emissions. However, incorporating embodied carbon emissions from construction materials mitigates the relative impacts, and including transportation emissions significantly impact the building's overall carbon footprint. Comparing ASHRAE 240P and ASHRAE 228 standards highlights their differences, with 240P's forward-looking approach considering more categories of emissions contributions and 228 relying on historical emissions data. The research underscores regional variations, refrigerants' significance, and the potential of solar photovoltaic systems, battery storage and heat pumps in emission reduction. It provides valuable insights for architects, builders, and policymakers striving for eco-friendly building solutions.