Demand Response Technology Readiness Levels for Energy Management in Blocks of Buildings

Fossil fuels deliver most of the flexibility in contemporary electricity systems. The pressing need to reduce CO2 emissions requires that new methods of providing this flexibility are found. Demand Response (DR) offers consumers a significant role in the delivery of flexibility by reducing or shifting their electricity usage during periods of stress or constraint. Blocks of buildings offer more flexibly in the timing and use of energy than single buildings. However, a lack of relevant scalable ICT tools hampers DR in blocks of buildings. To ameliorate this problem a current innovation project “Demand Response in Blocks of Buildings” (DR-BoB: www.dr-bob.eu) has integrated existing technologies into a scalable cloud based solution for DR in blocks of buildings. The degree to which the DR-BoB energy management solution can increase the ability of any given site to participate in DR is dependent upon its current energy systems i.e. the energy metering, the telemetry and control technologies in building management systems, and the existence/capacity of local power generation and storage plant. To encourage participation in DR by the owners and managers of blocks of buildings, a method of assessing and validating the technology readiness to participate in the DR energy management solutions at any given site is required. This paper describes the DR-BoB energy management solution and outlines what we have called the Demand Response Technology Readiness Levels (DRTRLs) for the implementation of such a solution in blocks of buildings.