Danish participation in IEA EBC Annex 67 Energy Flexible Buildings

High interest in renewable energy have emerged during recent decades. However, energy sources, such as wind and solar power, have an intrinsic variability that can seriously affect the stability of the energy system if they account for a high percentage of the total generation. Therefore, a future high penetration of renewable energy sources forces a transition from generation on demand to consumption on demand. In practice, this means that the energy consumption needs to become flexible. One way of introducing flexibility is via the energy demand in buildings.

All buildings have e.g. thermal mass embedded in their constructions, which makes it possible to store heat. Depending on the amount, distribution, speed of charging/discharging, etc. of the thermal mass it is possible to postpone heating or cooling for a certain period without jeopardizing the comfort in the building. If a building is excess pre-heated/cooled within the comfort range of the room temperature prior to a shutdown of heating/cooling it is possible to prolong the shutdown period. Buildings also contain other kinds of storages – e.g.  domestic hot water tanks, which might be excess pre-heated before low energy level situations.

The aim of IEA EBC Annex 67 is to create overview on how energy flexible buildings can be and how this can be obtained.