Building automation systems for energy and comfort management in green buildings: A critical review and future directions

Green building (GB) strategies are essential for mitigating energy wastage in the building sector, which accounts for nearly 40% of global energy consumption. However, due to the unpredictable nature of occupants’ behavior and inadequate energy management, actual power consumption in GB can exceed intended values by up to 2.5 times. Building Automation Systems (BAS) are increasingly important in improving energy efficiency in GB. This study, therefore, aims to comprehensively review 143 articles published from 2008 to 2022 to explore the nexus between BAS and GB. This paper systematically illustrates 1) BAS applications throughout the lifecycle of GB; 2) BAS applications in supporting GB indoor human comfort, including thermal comfort, visual comfort, ventilation comfort, and acoustic comfort; 3) a research framework for reducing the energy performance gap in GB; 4) five BAS and GB integration methods for improving energy efficiency; and 5) limitations, challenges and future research directions in the BAS-GB domain. The findings reveal that current research in the BAS-GB domain is insufficient and predominantly concentrates on improving energy efficiency and occupant comfort. There are four challenges to achieving comprehensive integration of BAS and GB: uncertainties, long-term prediction and control, BAS-supported sustainability goals, and privacy and security. This study provides essential guidance on BAS implementation for GB development. The five BAS-GB integration approaches lay the groundwork for future research into achieving trade-off objectives between energy efficiency and occupant comfort.