AESC to Test Grid-Interactive Efficient Building Technology for the Department of Energy
AESC is honored to be selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the General Services Administration (GSA) to test Grid-interactive Efficient Building (GEB) technologies. AESC’s project is one of seven selected through a national DOE and GSA solicitation to demonstrate emerging technologies that advance commercial and government GEB technologies. AESC’s project is also being supported by Southern California Edison’s Emerging Technologies program.
AESC is kicking off a two-year study investigating the ability of the MelRok Touch Energy IOT gateway and cloud based software to enable energy efficiency and advanced load control at a State of California public facility in Santa Ana, in coordination with the site’s new island-able solar and storage system. The MelRok platform’s core features will support improved operational efficiency, load flexibility, participation in demand response programs, and extended operations under islanded resiliency mode in a power outage. AESC selected the MelRok gateway because of the combination of its advanced capabilities and its affordable price point, enabling it to have broad applicability to the widely inefficient medium commercial market.
What are Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs)?
Grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) are energy-efficient, grid-connected buildings that use distributed energy resources (DERs) and optimize energy use for grid services. Sometimes also called smart buildings, they feature information and communications technologies able to respond to signals from the grid to modify energy demand.
The four characteristics of a grid-interactive efficient building.
GEBs can help utilities manage grid operations and lower system costs, and they deliver customer value in the form of reduced bills, improved worker productivity, and enhanced comfort. Energy savings from GEBs can also help meet state, municipal, and utility energy efficiency and emissions goals. GEBs can be seen as part of the wider push for “smarter grids” and have been seen as advancing the role buildings can play in energy system operations and planning.
Grid-interactive efficient buildings were introduced, in part, to solve the issue of isolated distributed energy resources (DERs). The proliferation of DERs, such as energy efficiency measures, demand response strategies, distributed generation, and electric vehicle charging stations have greatly improved the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of powering homes, facilities, and cities. These technologies are typically installed, scheduled, and managed separately. GEB initiatives help building operators integrate, and continuously optimize their DERs as a complex network of high-performing energy equipment connected by smart technologies.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE EERE) has launched a major initiative on GEBS that includes technology demonstrations and evaluations, technical papers and presentations, and national partnerships.
About AESC, Inc.
AESC is an energy engineering and consulting firm that specializes in addressing today’s most demanding energy challenges with practice areas in engineering, technology, software and programs. Since 1994 AESC has supported utilities, governments and facilities with programs and projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, load management, and grid resiliency. AESC is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA with offices in Pasadena, Oakland, and Fresno, CA as well as in Portland, OR and Charlotte, NC.
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