Comparison of the Performance of Clustering Analysis using Data Reduction Techniques to Identify Energy Use Patterns

Identification of energy use patterns in buildings has a great opportunity for energy saving. To find what energy use patterns exist, clustering analysis has been commonly used such as K-means and hierarchical clustering method. In case of high dimensional data such as energy use time-series, data reduction should be considered to avoid the curse of dimensionality. Principle Component Analysis, Autocorrelation Function, Discrete Fourier Transform and Discrete Wavelet Transform have been widely used to map the original data into the lower dimensional spaces. However, there still remains an ongoing issue since the performance of clustering analysis is dependent on data type, purpose and application. Therefore, we need to understand which data reduction techniques are suitable for energy use management. This research aims find the best clustering method using energy use data obtained from Seoul National University campus. The results of this research show that most experiments with data reduction techniques have a better performance. Also, the results obtained helps facility managers optimally control energy systems such as HVAC to reduce energy use in buildings.