Co-quantification of building energy flexibility considering the synergistic effect of HVAC and lighting systems

Abstract

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, along with lighting systems, are flexible resources in buildings suitable for demand response. The electrical power adjustment of the lighting system directly impacts the heat dissipation, which indirectly affects the load and power consumption of the HVAC system. Therefore, when both systems are involved in demand response simultaneously, how to account for their synergistic effect to accurately quantify flexibility is a critical issue worth exploring. This paper proposes a co-quantification method for the building energy flexibility of HVAC and lighting systems. First, a method is defined to describe the flexibility of the HVAC and lighting systems, as well as their synergistic effect. Then, a dynamic co-simulation model that considers the coupling relationship between light, heat, and electricity is established for power calculation under flexible system operations. Finally, a parallel simulation and data processing mechanism, led by user strategies, is created to build a flexibility co-quantification platform. The flexibility and the synergistic effect between systems are evaluated throughout the cooling season, with a case study conducted on an office building in Tianjin, China. The results show that the synergistic effect influences various flexibility indicators of the HVAC system. In the peak shaving scenario, as the temperature adjustment decreases and the response duration increases, the synergistic effect gradually enhances the HVAC system’s average reduction power during demand response (0 % ∼ 300 %) and the maximum rebound power after the response (−90 % ∼ 30 %). Additionally, higher cooling loads further enhance the peak shaving benefits attributable to the synergistic effect.