# Generalized Reinforcement Learning for Building Control using Behavioral Cloning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.00123 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.00123/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Decision transformers and sequence modeling, one of 13 directions in Offline RL and imitation learning from data.
- Builds on 9 of its 53 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 Mar 2021.

## Placed in

- Offline RL and imitation learning from data / [Decision transformers and sequence modeling](https://mlsanity.com/offlinerl/decision-transformers-and-sequence-modeling/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [XGBoost: A Scalable Tree Boosting System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.02754/) (2016)
- [Sequence to Sequence Learning with Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.3215/) (2014)
- [Asynchronous Methods for Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.01783/) (2016)
- [Behavioral Cloning from Observation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.01954/) (2018)
- [Query-Efficient Imitation Learning for End-to-End Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1605.06450/) (2016)
- [Learning an Approximate Model Predictive Controller with Guarantees](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.04167/) (2018)
- [MPC-Net: A First Principles Guided Policy Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.05197/) (2019)
- [Global overview of Imitation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.06503/) (2018)
- [A Comprehensive Study of Deep Bidirectional LSTM RNNs for Acoustic Modeling in Speech Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.06871/) (2016)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [A Teacher-Student MPC-PPO Coupled Reinforcement Learning Framework for Winter Temperature Control of Solar Greenhouses in Northern China](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.20815/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Advanced building control methods such as model predictive control (MPC) offer significant potential benefits to both consumers and grid operators, but the high computational requirements have acted as barriers to more widespread adoption. Local control computation requires installation of expensive computational hardware, while cloud computing introduces data security and privacy concerns. In this paper, we drastically reduce the local computational requirements of advanced building control through a reinforcement learning (RL)-based approach called Behavioral Cloning, which represents the MPC policy as a neural network that can be locally implemented and quickly computed on a low-cost programmable logic controller. While previous RL and approximate MPC methods must be specifically trained for each building, our key improvement is that our controller can generalize to many buildings, electricity rates, and thermostat setpoint schedules without additional, effort-intensive retraining. To provide this versatility, we have adapted the traditional Behavioral Cloning approach through (1) a constraint-informed parameter grouping (CIPG) method that provides a more efficient representation of the training data; (2) an MPC-Guided training data generation method using the DAgger algorithm that improves stability and constraint satisfaction; and (3) a new deep learning model-structure called reverse-time recurrent neural networks (RT-RNN) that allows future information to flow backward in time to more effectively interpret the temporal information in disturbance predictions. The result is an easy-to-deploy, generalized behavioral clone of MPC that can be implemented on a programmable logic controller and requires little building-specific controller tuning, reducing the effort and costs associated with implementing smart residential heat pump control.