Ten questions concerning integrating smart buildings into the smart grid

Abstract

Recent advances in information and communications technology (ICT) have initiated development of a smart electrical grid and smart buildings. Buildings consume a large portion of the total electricity production worldwide, and to fully develop a smart grid they must be integrated with that grid. Buildings can now be 'prosumers' on the grid (both producers and consumers), and the continued growth of distributed renewable energy generation is raising new challenges in terms of grid stability over various time scales. Buildings can contribute to grid stability by managing their overall electrical demand in response to current conditions. Facility managers must balance demand response requests by grid operators with energy needed to maintain smooth building operations. For example, maintaining thermal comfort within an occupied building requires energy and, thus an optimized solution balancing energy use with indoor environmental quality (adequate thermal comfort, lighting, etc.) is needed. Successful integration of buildings and their systems with the grid also requires interoperable data exchange. However, the adoption and integration of newer control and communication technologies into buildings can be problematic with older legacy HVAC and building control systems. Public policy and economic structures have not kept up with the technical developments that have given rise to the budding smart grid, and further developments are needed in both technical and nontechnical areas.

Local electricity market designs for peer-to-peer trading: The role of battery flexibility

“…The recent progress in the digitalisation of the distribution grid towards smart grids has opened the discussion of formulating local electricity markets. Smart grid is a broadly defined term used in various topics and applications, often describing some sort of digitalised control system or technology (Lawrence et al, 2016;Hossain et al, 2016). A more specified overview on smart grids in the British power sector is given by Jenkins et al (2015), with an in-depth description of current policy and technical drivers, as well as incentive mechanisms, and the recent progress of the power industry.…”

A survey on systems integration in the energy automation domain through OPC interface

“…The term Smart Building (SB) refers to buildings that include a BAS with communication capabilities to exchange data with the grid operator. SBs have the inherent potential to help to manage the electrical energy demand on the SGs [29]. The interaction with the SG is as follows: SBs respond to demand response requests from the utility operator to manage peak demand to minimize demand charges or to adjust operations based on the real-time price of electricity [29].…”

“…SBs have the inherent potential to help to manage the electrical energy demand on the SGs [29]. The interaction with the SG is as follows: SBs respond to demand response requests from the utility operator to manage peak demand to minimize demand charges or to adjust operations based on the real-time price of electricity [29]. In this sense, one big step helping with SB-SG communication is the development of standard protocols that allow equipment from different vendors to interact with the SG [29].…”

“…The interaction with the SG is as follows: SBs respond to demand response requests from the utility operator to manage peak demand to minimize demand charges or to adjust operations based on the real-time price of electricity [29]. In this sense, one big step helping with SB-SG communication is the development of standard protocols that allow equipment from different vendors to interact with the SG [29]. In this regard, in [17] a SCADA system is developed for energy management in intelligent buildings, i.e., SBs.…”

Innovative Policies for Energy Efficiency and the Use of Renewables in Households

“…It becomes apparent that the state as well as local governmental policies may encourage the development of more energy-efficient buildings and products, as well as encourage consumers, companies and industrial customers to take advantage of low-cost, energy-efficient measures and to invest in future energy-efficient improvements and technological solutions [12].…”