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HVDC High Voltage Direct Current IAM Incident Angle Modifier ICT Information and Computer Technology ID Integrated Design IED Integrated Energy Design IoT Internet of Things k-NN k-Nearest Neighbor KPI Key Performance Indicator LCA LifeCycle Analysis LCC LifeCycle Cost LCCA LifeCycle Cost Assessment LFC Linear Fresnel Collectors LFR Linear Fresnel Reflector LOLP Loss Of Load Probability MAPE Mean Average Percentage Error MS Member States MS Molten Salt MS-TES Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage NARX Nonlinear AutoRegressive network with eXogenous input NUS National University of Singapore NZEB Nearly Zero-Energy Building ORC Organic Rankine Cycle PCM Phase Change Material PEV Plug-in Electric Vehicles PLC Programmable Logic Controller PMP Performance Measurement Protocols PMV Predicted Mean Vote POD Point Of Delivery PPD Percentage of People Dissatisfied PSO Particle Swarm Optimization PTC Parabolic Trough Collectors PV PhotoVoltaic R Pearson's coefficient RES Renewable Energy Sources RforI Research for Innovation RH Relative Humidity RMSE Root Mean Squared Error SCTF Single Coil Twin Fan SDE School of Design and Environment SEER Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio SHC Solar Heating and Cooling SME Small and Medium Enterprises SMERC SMart grid Energy Research Center SMES Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences TES Thermal Energy Storage V2B Vehicle-to-Building V2G Vehicle-to-Grid VRFB Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries WT Wind Turbine ZEB Zero-Energy Buildings

      Chapter written by Nikos KAMPELIS.

      1

      The Role of Smart Grids in the Building Sector

      A smart grid is a dynamically interactive real-time infrastructure concept that encompasses the many visions of the stakeholders of diverse energy systems (El-Hawary 2014). Smart grids are electrical power grids that are more efficient and more resilient, and therefore “smarter”, than existing conventional power grids. The smartness is focused not only on the elimination of blackouts, but also on making the grid greener, more efficient, adaptable to customers’ needs, and therefore, less costly (El-Hawary 2014; Giordano et al. 2013). Smart grids incorporate innovative IT technology that allows for two-way communication between the utility and its customers/users. As a result, the sensing along the transmission lines and the sensing from the customer’s side is what makes the grid “smart”.

      Like the Internet, the smart grid consists of controls, computers, automation, new technologies, smart buildings and equipment working together, but in this case these technologies will work with the electrical grid to respond digitally to the quickly changing energy demands of the users. Therefore smart grids create an exceptional opportunity for the support of the development of smart zero-energy buildings and communities, and they offer a step towards the Internet of Things (IoT) for the Energy and Building Industry (Chen et al. 2013; Zhen et al. 2012).

      Smart grids open the door to new applications with far-reaching interdisciplinary impacts: providing the capacity to safely integrate more renewable energy sources (RES), smart buildings and distributed generators into the network; delivering power more efficiently and reliably through demand response and comprehensive control and monitoring capabilities; using automatic grid reconfiguration to prevent or restore outages (self-healing capabilities); enabling consumers to have greater control over their