ASHRAE has announced the release of its “Smart Grid Application Guide: Integrating Facilities with the Electric Grid.”
Created as part of 2018-19 ASHRAE President Sheila J. Hayter’s presidential initiative, the “Smart Grid Application Guide” provides building owners, managers and designers with guidance on the smart grid, applicable smart grid standards and regulations, as well as the design and operation of systems in this emerging industry.
“Harnessing the opportunities smart grid systems provide for creating more flexible and dynamic building systems is an integral part of our new energy future,” says Hayter. “This guide was specifically designed to help building professionals navigate the steps needed to prepare a building for the smart grid.”
Both the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) and the OpenADR Alliance were involved in working with ASHRAE on the development of the guide.
“The transformation to a smart grid has already begun,” says Steven Bushby, Fellow ASHRAE, chair of the guide’s ad hoc committee and leader of the Mechanical Systems and Controls Group of the Energy and Environment Division of NIST’s Engineering Laboratory. “The “Smart Grid Application Guide” is a resource to help building professionals understand what is happening during this transformation and the opportunities they can take advantage of now and in the future.”
The guide details the steps needed to prepare a building – whether new construction or renovation – for integration with the smart grid. It covers a variety of topics, including:
- Navigating regulatory environments that affect deployment of the smart grid
- Strategies to accrue benefits
- Utility bill savings and potential revenue streams
- Behind-the-meter distributed energy resources
- Demand-side management
- Customer aggregation for demand response
- Considerations for single- and multiple facility design and operations
- Microgrids
- Meeting building needs during interruptions to grid services
- Constraints on deployment options
The “Smart Grid Application Guide” will be available for purchase at the 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference being held Feb. 1–5, at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando, Fla. It can also be purchased online at the ASHRAE bookstore or by contacting the ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada), (404) 636-8400 (worldwide) or fax (678) 539-2129.