Papers by Stylianos Karatzas
International Conference on Smart Infrastructure and Construction 2019 (ICSIC), 2019
Business operations are an inseparable part of overall business services and energy consumption. ... more Business operations are an inseparable part of overall business services and energy consumption. Multiple levels of information regarding building components (architectural, electrical and mechanical), environmental conditions (outdoor and indoor) and occupant behaviour patterns, mostly driven by everyday business processes (schedules, loads, specific business episodes related to occupancy patterns and building operations), are considered necessary for effective and efficient modelling of building energy performance. Given the trend towards low energy consumption, actively engaging occupants during the building operation is critical to achieve high energy efficiency without scarifying end users comfort. The aim of this paper is to report the design and development of an innovative energy management framework to enable the alignment of fine-grain building energy use data to the organizational operational activities, allowing thus for a holistic view over the organizational energy performance. The main principle for the proposed framework is about linking Business Process Modeling (BPM) with Occupant Behaviour patterns and Building Information Modelling (BIM), the model that contains information for the building spaces and resources in terms of material and equipment. The exchange of information among these models is essential towards energy efficient buildings. By linking core operational aspects (equipment usage) and environmental conditions (temperature, humidity and luminance) to occupants' behaviours underlying business processes and organizational structures, the aim is to enhance the comprehensiveness and easy interpretation of building energy performance metrics within an extended enterprise performance evaluation framework.
Lean and Computing in Construction Congress - Volume 1: Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Computing in Construction, 2017
BIM and Lean-Business Process Reengineering for Energy Management Optimization of Existing Building Stock
Advances in Informatics and Computing in Civil and Construction Engineering, 2018
Global warming and energy shortage has drastically increased the necessity to reduce energy use i... more Global warming and energy shortage has drastically increased the necessity to reduce energy use in buildings. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is a key step-in achieving the energy and CO2 emission targets globally. In this effort, in the presented paper, advanced modeling methods like BIM and energy simulations are conjoined with lean waste elimination concepts into a building process-centric model. Integrating building systems, processes and energy data supports decision making for retrofitting and process reengineering actions within budget constraints. The proposed approach combines existing BIM-based energy performance tools with the development of a Business Process Reengineering architecture to develop an energy efficiency optimization model. In the first direction, BIM-based energy analysis is performed to automatically assess energy performance under varying building conditions. The Lean Business Process Reengineering (LBPR) architecture describes the fundamenta...
International Journal of System Dynamics Applications, 2021
In this paper the potential for conflict in the Middle East due to the depleting of regional wate... more In this paper the potential for conflict in the Middle East due to the depleting of regional water reserves is explored and the implications for regional policy making, in the light of other tensions are investigated. We use System Dynamics to develop a model for water resources management and explore via simulation issues that emerge as important, in order to highlight required policies. This analysis validates part of the existing thinking and policies in place and signifies further the need for transboundary cooperation and emphasis on areas that may not be viewed traditionally as key priorities (e.g. demand management, as opposed to continuity of supply).
Development of a Business-Process-Oriented Energy Management System for Buildings
International Journal of Digital Innovation in the Built Environment, 2021
The aim of this research paper is to identify and minimize the gap in energy performance of build... more The aim of this research paper is to identify and minimize the gap in energy performance of buildings, taking into consideration not only the qualitative assessment theoretically calculated according to design-phase assumptions about the operation of the building, but also its actual operation that involves occupancy effects. A smart energy management system is developed, focusing on the human factor and the individual operational procedures that are carried out and affect the energy efficiency of buildings. A dynamic approach based on the continuous monitoring of energy performance indicators for buildings is under development, considering all significant loads and creating a dynamic correlation between energy efficiency and the different ecosystem's elements (sites/offices, groups, and processes). The proposed system applies to facilities in the Department of Civil Engineering at University of Patras, and the results are positive towards reducing energy consumption.
Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 2020
For small and medium sized enterprises, portfolio management can be a difficult exercise; especia... more For small and medium sized enterprises, portfolio management can be a difficult exercise; especially when the available paths forwards are shrouded in mystery. To overcome this, they are required to research and decide upon the path to follow, but this can be difficult when the information to gather is unclear, leading to ad-hoc processes and inconsistency. The motivation for this project originated from a small and medium sized enterprise experiencing this problem of unknown critical information and a technological portfolio with significant potential. With no procedure or method in place, they conducted the research in an ad-hoc way resulting in uncertainty and low repeatability of decisions. To tackle this problem, innovation structuring frameworks were synthesised with appropriate risks and context to pose a new structure for information capture. The resulting structure was tested within the small and medium sized enterprise to investigate the repeatability of the information capture and the subsequent ranking. The proposed structure was also analysed by-process experts for its wider applicability. For the small and medium sized enterprise, this led to a consistent and repeatable method that delivered increased confidence about selecting a path forwards for its portfolio. In addition, it was found to be applicable to external organisations increasing the model's worth and applicability. The implications of this work have led to a change in the operational procedure of the small and medium sized enterprise to utilise the defined process for researching new ideas for their portfolio which can lead to repeatable and trustworthy decisions. This also has applicability to other similar companies and could lead them through a repeatable process as presented here.
Systems
Inelasticity of demand along with the distributed energy sources and energy market democratizatio... more Inelasticity of demand along with the distributed energy sources and energy market democratization pose significant challenges which have considerable negative impacts on overall grid balance. The need for increased capacity and flexibility in the era of energy market digitalization has introduced new requirements in the energy supply network which could not be satisfied without continuous and costly local power network upgrades. Additionally, with the emergence of Smart Homes (SHs) and Home Energy Management (HEM) systems for monitoring and operating household appliances, opportunities have arisen for automated Demand Response (DR). DR is exploited for the modification of the consumer energy demand, in response to the specific conditions within the electricity system (e.g., peak period network congestion). In order to optimally integrate DR in the broader Smart Grid (SG) system, modelling of the system parameters and safety analysis is required. In this paper, the implementation of...
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Papers by Stylianos Karatzas