What are smart grid optimised buildings?

Smart Grid Optimised Building (SGOB) can be thought of as meeting its service obligations to its occupants and minimising its operational cost and footprint to its owner while actively engaging with the electricity provider, enabling in this way the best use of the available resources. SGOBs differ from Smart Buildings, regarding their aim and objectives, as their design and energy systems are optimised for the needs of the Smart Grid. Conceptually, they must have an active interaction with the energy network through responses to dynamic electricity prices and carbon emissions, similarly to Active Buildings. Instead of being considered as a passive element of the energy equation like conventional buildings, SGOBs follow an original and innovative approach and have the capacity to transform to prosumers, with the deployment of on-site renewable energy sources and by participating in a 2-direction power exchange with the Network Operator. The current literature and research have followed an ad-hoc approach by focusing on conventional strategies on existing buildings, such as increasing the building energy efficiency or reducing the current energy loads. On the other hand, SGOBs are expected to consist of several optimised design elements, including thermal mass, shape, orientation, insulation and glazing. Furthermore, SGOBs can meet their energy loads with electricity, either directly from the grid or using their incorporated energy storage systems e.g. batteries. Electricity can be stored at times of low demand when the electricity tariffs are cheaper, and used on the following day to cover part of the peak load. Another possibility includes the load-levelling service, where the building is notified by the Network Operator to maintain its consumption below a power limit for a specific time period. This paper is the first to present the concept and the philosophy on which SGOBs are based, along with initial results, demonstrating how a building can adjust its loads to reduce stress on the grid.