Modeling and evaluation of cyber-attacks on grid-interactive efficient buildings

Journal Article · 26 August 2021 · Applied Energy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117639 · OSTI ID:2331294

Fu, Yangyang ^[1]; O'Neill, Zheng ^[2]; Yang, Zhiyao ^[2]; Adetola, Veronica ^[3]; Wen, Jin ^[4]; Ren, Lingyu ^[5]; Wagner, Tim ^[5]; Zhu, Qi ^[6]; Wu, Terresa ^[7]

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1. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (United States); Texas A&M University
2. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (United States)
3. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
4. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
5. Raytheon Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (United States)
6. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (United States)
7. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (United States)

Grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) are not only exposed to passive threats (e.g., physical faults) but also active threats such as cyber-attacks launched on the network-based control systems. The impact of cyber-attacks on GEB operation are not yet fully understood, especially as regards the performance of grid services. To quantify the consequences of cyber-attacks on GEBs, this paper proposes a modeling and simulation framework that includes different cyber-attack models and key performance indexes to quantify the performance of GEB operation under cyber-attacks. The framework is numerically demonstrated to model and evaluate cyber-attacks such as data intrusion attacks and Denial-of-Service attacks on a typical medium-sized office building that uses the BACnet/IP protocol for communication networks. Simulation results show that, while different types of attacks could compromise the building systems to different extents, attacks via the remote control of a chiller yield the most significant consequences on a building system’s operation, including both the building service and the grid service. Furthermore, it is also noted that a cyber-attack impacts the building systems during the attack period as well as the post-attack period, which suggests that both periods should be considered to fully evaluate the consequences of a cyber-attack.

• Research Organization: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Bryan, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: EE0009150
• OSTI ID: 2331294
• Journal Information: Applied Energy, Journal Name: Applied Energy Vol. 303; ISSN 0306-2619
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English