Building energy flexibility assesment with static data

Buildings are evolving from energy consumers to energy prosumers. Energy in buildings is mainly produced by PV solar panels. As a result, the energy production profile is highly variable and out of balance with the energy consumption profile, resulting in peak demand on the electricity grid. Energy flexible buildings, i.e. buildings that can adapt their grid energy demand to the grid energy supply at any time, could reduce the impact of the widespread use of renewable energy production on the electricity grid. Current methods for assessing the energy flexibility of buildings use dynamic energy data, mainly generated by building energy simulations. This type of method makes it difficult to assess large building portfolios. This paper presents a method that provides an indication of the energy flexibility characteristics of buildings based on static data about the characteristics of the building and building services. The method analyses the building characteristics with a set of 32 questions divided into 11 categories and derives from them an estimate of the main energy flexibility indicators: amount of power, amount of energy, amount of time and speed at which the energy consumption of the building can deviate from the reference profile. The method makes it possible to identify which building elements can be modified in order to increase the energy flexibility of the building. This type of information can facilitate the development of a real state strategy to increase the energy flexibility of the building portfolio of large organisations, resulting in a significant positive impact on the national electricity grid. The proposed method is a first attempt to create a rapid energy flexibility assessment method and should be further developed to validate its accuracy and investigate the effect of combinations of building parameters.