Towards critical performance considerations for using office buildings as a power flexibility resource-a survey

Abstract The continued growth in variable renewable energy sources (VRES) has created increased focus on the use of office buildings for power flexibility activities. Office buildings uniquely present opportunities for relatively easy control adaptation during power flexibility activities given their large thermal inertial and existing building automation. Though a number of studies have outlined the potentials of office buildings for power flexibility, however only few studies have clearly outlined associated critical performance characteristics as it relates to comfort. Subsequently, this paper uses structured literature survey to outline critical performance characteristics that should be considered when using office buildings as power flexibility resources. Understanding the performance characteristics that are critical for using office buildings as power flexibility resources is important not only for their effective control and coordination but also to avoid compromising the core role of office buildings which is the provision of a comfortable and productive environment for business transactions.