Energy Management Systems of Grid-Connected Active Buildings

An active building typically owns some flexible energy resources, such as controllable loads, energy storages, or distributed generation units, that can be controlled to reduce the building’s total cost or benefit from providing the grid with required services. In this regard, the energy management system is responsible for scheduling/controlling these resources based on the targets of the active building. In addition, the energy management system needs to take into account the operational cost of each resource, the limits imposed by the owner, and those associated with the power system. This chapter will focus on these targets, objectives, and constraints. Moreover, the chapter reviews some existing algorithms utilized by the building’s energy management methods such as optimization-based, rule-based, and artificial intelligence-based approaches in order to control the flexible appliances of the building optimally.