Defining and applying an electricity demand flexibility benchmarking metrics framework for grid-interactive efficient commercial buildings

Comparing simulated demand flexibility against actual performance in commercial office buildings

“…As the first attempt to build such a building demand flexibility dataset, it was essential to develop a standard data schema consistent with DF metrics framework [41] by leveraging existing field studies. The goal was to facilitate more field studies into this dataset with the standard data schema, and to improve the availability and consistency of these data across buildings and markets and among stakeholders.…”

“…The reasons for our focus on office sites that implement only the GTA control strategy include: (1) GTA is the most commonly used DF strategy in office buildings, and (2) the different combinations of DF control strategies for each building present a significant challenge of service]: W/m 2 , which is calculated as the amount of demand increase per building floor area), and (3) DDP (demand decrease percentage: %, which is calculated as the percent of load shed over the whole building power baseline). Those metrics are the most frequently used energy and demand related metrics in field studies [41]. With respect to the location, two climate zones are selected from the 19 climate zones for the U.S. as defined in the ASHRAE Standard 169-2013.…”

“…We used EP-Macro to param- eterize the IMF (input macro file) files for the pre-1980 prototype building models and used the OpenStudio [44] platform to generate each simulation model with built-in measures of demand flexibility for the post-1980 prototype building models. Then we adopted the proposed DF metrics framework [41] to calculate the DF performance metrics and attributes for each simulation case by following a DF metrics calculation procedure. Note that we compared performance in terms of magnitude (e.g., demand decrease intensity W/m 2 ) and variation (e.g., building type, vintage, and climate) rather than detailed model calibration for each building.…”

“…As highlighted in a recent review study [40], most building codes and standards primarily focus on energy performance, with limited emphasis on energy flexibility metrics. To fill this gap, in our recent companion paper [41], we defined a set of metrics for both "load shed" (Shed) and "load shift" (Shift), providing single-event metrics with an associated set of metric attributes. While some of the evaluation metrics used in these studies align, overall there is a need for a standard data schema to document, organize, and standardize DR performance-related data.…”

A Perspective of Decarbonization Pathways in Future Buildings in the United States

“…The grid experiences periods of high demand that necessitates big investments to build new power plants [68]. Demand-side management offers strategies that can reduce, shift, or shed building loads while preserving adequate levels of service and comfort [69]. Stabilizing power systems is another aspect that buildings need to consider.…”