An emulator consists of a real time simulation of a building and its HVAC system and a hardware interface that allows the simulation to be connected to a real control system. Recent studies have shown that an emulation can provide a flexible and low-cost method of testing real energy management and control systems (EMCS). As part of a research project, an experiment involving four different emulators with two different EMCS was performed to study the reproducibility of the emulation method. Presents the results of this experiment in the form of a comparison of the predictions of energy consumption, thermal comfort, and control activity obtained from test of the EMCS using emulators based on different design and simulation programs.

KEYWORDS: energy management, testing, controls, emulation, calculating.