Dynamic unit staging method for cooling system

A thermal management system for dynamic unit staging, the system comprising:

• a group of two or more cooling delivery units configured for cooling an environment;
• a local unit controller configured to manage the group of cooling delivery units;
• a supervisory system comprising:
• a memory configured for storage of:
• at least one group cooling capacity model associated with the group of cooling delivery units, each group cooling capacity model based on a unit cooling capacity model for each cooling delivery unit and at least one control profile for unit staging of the group of cooling delivery units;
• and
• at least one group energy consumption model corresponding to each group cooling capacity model, each group energy consumption model including a unit energy consumption model corresponding to each cooling delivery unit;
• and
• an optimization processor coupled to the memory, the optimization processor configured to execute at least one operation cycle comprising:
• receiving a current ambient temperature external to the environment;
• determining a cooling capacity requirement associated with the environment;
• and
• determining, based on the cooling capacity requirement and the at least one group energy consumption model corresponding to the received ambient temperature, one or more optimal switching thresholds corresponding to a minimal energy consumption by the group of cooling delivery units.