Explainability and Transparency of Classifiers for Air-Handling Unit Faults Using Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)

In recent years, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques have been developed to improve the explainability, trust and transparency of machine learning models. This work presents a method that explains the outputs of an air-handling unit (AHU) faults classifier using a modified XAI technique, such that non-AI expert end-users who require justification for the diagnosis output can easily understand the reasoning behind the decision. The method operates as follows: First, an XGBoost algorithm is used to detect and classify potential faults in the heating and cooling coil valves, sensors, and the heat recovery of an air-handling unit. Second, an XAI-based SHAP technique is used to provide explanations, with a focus on the end-users, who are HVAC engineers. Then, relevant features are chosen based on user-selected feature sets and features with high attribution scores. Finally, a sliding window system is used to visualize the short history of these relevant features and provide explanations for the diagnosed faults in the observed time period. This study aimed to provide information not only about what occurs at the time of fault appearance, but also about how the fault occurred. Finally, the resulting explanations are evaluated by seven HVAC expert engineers. The proposed approach is validated using real data collected from a shopping mall.