An Ontological Weather Representation for Improving Energy-Efficiency in Interconnected Smart Home Systems

Abstract

As energy-efficiency in the residential sector is a major challenge for developed countries, the demand for integrated smart home systems increases. In this context, weather forecast information plays a crucial role in optimizing building operation. An ontology of weather phenomena and conditions greatly enhances control strategy possibilities and thus improves building performance. Information gathered from local weather sensors and on-line services represented as ontology can be utilized to classify different beneficial or hazardous weather states. In this paper, an ontology for the weather forecasting domain is proposed. Reasoning is exploited for representing different states and reports. The knowledge representation can be utilized in a dedicated system operating in a residential home optimizing home energy efficiency. Additionally, the weather ontology is applicable to the area of smart grids and smart cities that benefit from the additional information to increase efficiency of distributed power generation and consumption.