Improving Climate Resilience and Thermal Comfort in a Complex Building through Enhanced Flexibility of the Energy System

Abstract

This research evaluates the impacts of flexible demand-side management on electricity load and indoor thermal comfort under extreme weather conditions, focusing on elderly people. For this purpose, an elderly care center in Ålesund, Norway is chosen as the pilot building. A high spatiotemporal resolution building energy model is developed including thermal zones and energy systems, verified against metered electricity use. The performance of the flexible demand-side management is assessed in relation with the installed PV production, during extreme warm conditions considering 13 future climate scenarios over the 30-year period of 2021-2050. Adaptation measures are applied to respond to the environment variations, providing flexibility while ensuring the thermal comfort of the residents. Results show 22% and 20% peak power and load curtailment, respectively. The discomfort hours are reduced by 22%. The performance of the flexible energy management appears when the PV production is not sufficient for the demand. Therefore, the impacts are on the grid electricity which leads toward a higher grid independency. The most significant change is the peak shaving in the afternoon hours when the grid experiences high loads. Further research is required to evaluate the effectiveness of installing battery system on load shifting.