Abstract

Abstract
Reducing office buildings’ energy consumption can contribute significantly towards carbon reduction commitments since it represents ~40% of total energy consumption. Major components of this are lighting, electrical equipment, heating, and central cooling systems. Solid evidence demonstrates that individual occupants’ behaviors impact these energy consumption components. In this work, we propose the methodology of using virtual choreographies to identify and prioritize behavior-change interventions for office users based on the potential impact of specific behaviors on energy consumption. We studied the energy-related office behaviors of individuals by combining three sources of data: direct observations, electricity meters, and computer logs. Data show that there are behaviors with significant consumption impact but with little potential for behavioral change, while other behaviors have substantial potential for lowering energy consumption via behavioral change.

Abstract
This paper investigates the contribution of hydrogen electrolysers (HEs) as highly controllable loads in the context of the Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR), in future operation scenarios on the Iberian Peninsula (IP). The research question is whether HEs can mitigate system insecurity regarding frequency or Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF) in critical periods of high renewable energy penetration (i.e. low system inertia), due to the fact that these periods will coincide with high volume of green hydrogen production. The proposed simulation platform for analysis consists of a simplified dynamic model developed in MATLAB/Simulink. The results obtained illustrate how HEs can outperform conventional generators on the provision of FCR. It is seen that the reference incident of 1GW loss in the IP in a 2040 low inertia scenario does not lead to insecure values of either frequency or Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF). On the other hand, an instantaneous loss of inverter-based resources (IBR) generation following a short-circuit may result in RoCoF violating security thresholds. The obtained results suggest that the HEs expected to be installed in the IP in 2040 may contribute to reduce RoCoF in this case, although this mitigation may be insufficient. The existing FCR mechanism does not fully exploit the fast-ramping capability of HEs; reducing measurement acquisiton delay would not improve results. © 2022 IEEE.

Abstract

Abstract
Energy efficiency in buildings can be enhanced by several actions: encouraging users to comprehend and then adopt more energy-efficient behaviors; aiding building managers in maximizing energy savings; and using automation to optimize energy consumption, generation, and storage of controllable and flexible devices without compromising comfort levels and indoor air-quality parameters. This paper proposes an integrated Information and communications technology (ICT) based platform addressing all these factors. The gamification platform is embedded in the ICT platform along with an interactive energy management system, which aids interested stakeholders in optimizing “when and at which rate” energy should be buffered and consumed, with several advantages, such as reducing peak load, maximizing local renewable energy consumption, and delivering more efficient use of the resources available in individual buildings or blocks of buildings. This system also interacts with an automation manager and a users’ behavior predictor application. The work was developed in the Horizon 2020 FEEdBACk (Fostering Energy Efficiency and BehAvioral Change through ICT) project.