Benefits of multi-building electric load aggregation: Actual and simulation case Studies

The structure of the electric utility market and the complex relationship between suppliers and consumers has undergone (and is undergoing) changes in recent years as a result of electric deregulation and real-time pricing schemes. This paper reports some of the results from an ASHRAE research project entitled "Building Operation and Dynamics Within an Aggregated Load" (RP-1146), which was meant to (a) identify situations and conditions under which aggregating individual building loads is attractive for managing total, multi-building load, and (b) identify and evaluate operating and control strategies for use in individual buildings that will reduce energy operating costs at the aggregate level by taking advantage of the diversity in demand among buildings. This paper presents two case studies: one based on an actual urban university with multiple buildings of different types and functions and one based on a DOE-2 simulation study that consisted of aggregating three different building types (an office building, a hotel, and a retail store). The benefits of multi-building load aggregation and control are presented and discussed in this paper. It is found that both case studies are consistent in their results. About 5% to 6% demand savings can be achieved due to load aggregation across multiple buildings as compared to the sum of the individual peaks even when each of these buildings is under active load control.