Quantification of energy flexibility potential in commercial buildings for demand response across various climate zones in China

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2025

Energy flexibility in commercial buildings plays an important role in the dynamic management of energy demand and supply, particularly in diverse climate conditions. This paper proposed a simulation-based method to comprehensively quantify the energy flexibility of commercial buildings across various climate zones in China. Firstly, 75 prototype building energy models from five climate zones with three vintages were generated automatically by AutoBPS-Prototype, covering small/large offices, small/large hotels, and shopping malls. Then, the power demand decrease intensity (DDI) and demand decrease percentage (DDP) of different buildings were evaluated after implementing demand response control strategies of cooling setpoint adjustment. The results showed the diversity of flexibility potential across different building types, vintages and climates. DDI in hotels and offices displayed higher values in hotter climates and decreased gradually with the vintage update, while DDP fluctuated with vintage. The shopping mall had higher DDI and DDP in a temperate climate. DDI and DDP in small buildings were higher than in large buildings. The indoor average temperatures of each prototype in different cities were checked to indicate that demand response strategies did not significantly affect thermal comfort. The overall assessment exhibited that small offices had the highest DDI compared to other building types, with a median of 5.9 W/m2. DDP showed relatively consistent distributions in five cities, with median values ranging from 12.5 % to 15.7 %, suggesting that DDP was less sensitive to climate zones than building types. This study can provide valuable insights for policymakers and building owners to develop targeted demand response programs for commercial buildings.