A Simplified Functional Hybrid Operation Mode for Grid-Interactive Building Energy Management

This work presents a simplified hybrid operation mode that efficiently controls how passive residential building operates to simultaneously meet occupants’ thermal comforts and reduce its power demands. By function, the proposed mode maximizes the building’s use of passive energy strategies through natural ventilation to reduce cooling or heating loads from the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system operation. Simulation studies were performed for three selected residential buildings in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory building stocks varying from mild, warm, and humid-continental climates. The annual simulation results established a minimal number of periods that cooling or heating was needed to supplement natural ventilation. The hybrid control operation established significant heating demand reduction during the winter simulation periods and a widely varied cooling demand savings during the summer across the evaluated climate locations. The operation mode shows a scalable potential for model predictive control functions and other extensive applications in advanced demand management and transactive operations.