From the Humble Building to the Smart Sustainable Grid: Empowering Consumers, Nurturing Bottom-Up Electricity Markets, and Building Collaborative Power Systems

Recent geopolitical developments have placed global decarbonization at the top of the global agenda. However, moving toward a low-carbon energy system is challenging. The exponential growth of renewable technologies introduces unprecedented uncertainty in the operators’ decision-making process, while the increasing electrification leads to drastic increases in demand, further straining the power grid. The behavior of electricity customers is no longer a passive parameter of system operation but an active part of it. Demand-side flexibility has been identified as a critical piece of the puzzle, i.e., stimulating customers to modify their consumption patterns and contribute to the energy supply through local production. Residential, office, and commercial buildings contribute roughly 30%–40% of the total energy consumption, hence holding massive potential to offer flexibility services.