Buildings nowadays are increasingly expected to need higher and more economic performance requirements. Energy consumption in buildings accounts for over 30% of total energy use. The Building Energy Management System (BEMS) and renewable energy (RE) technologies are considered as a potential measure to improve energy efficiency and reduce use of grid-power. It is, however, a challenge to utilise the intermittent energy supply of RE in building energy systems. This paper presents an experimental study on a RE-embedded BEMS. A control algorithm for the RE-embedded BEMS was designed to maximise the utilisation of RE and eventually to reduce electrical utility bill. The proposed system is tested at a laboratorial chamber with an air conditioner, fan and heater. The contribution of RE in building energy system is discussed to this end.

• Jin-Seok Oh