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Integration of a Smart Outlet-Based Plug Load Management System with a Building Automation System

Conference ·

The growth of and reliance on renewable energy necessitate a multi-pronged approach to achieve grid reliability and economics. As they represent a notable portion of U.S. energy consumption, commercial buildings must play an active role in this effort. Conserving energy and responding to grid conditions through demand flexibility can be achieved through the integration of major building systems. Integration of plug and process loads with lighting and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems maximizes the effectiveness of integrated building energy management. In this research, we demonstrate the integration of smart outlets into a building automation system. We cover the installation process as well as the architecture required for smart outlets to communicate data to the building automation system and to receive commands back. After recording power measurements for one week as a baseline, we configured the building automation system to turn the smart outlets on and off according to a set schedule. This resulted in energy savings of 66% during 1 week on 25 plug loads. This work demonstrates that grid-interactive efficient buildings are achievable through building system integration.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
California Energy Commission; USDOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1983894
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5500-86432; MainId:87205; UUID:de8dbac4-94ed-4d7a-ad78-ea807a8fa22e; MainAdminID:69665
Resource Relation:
Conference: Presented at the 2023 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge), 10-13 April 2023, San Diego, California
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (1)