Agent-based control for building energy management in the smart grid framework

Within the smart cities concept, smart buildings and smart grids have emerged as crucial solutions to increase energy efficiency, without jeopardizing the main objectives of such systems. As the power system go through the transition from a “centralized” and “vertical” structure, to a “decentralized” and “horizontal” one, its different building blocks need to guarantee energy efficiency and sustainability. In the built environment, Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) offer promising flexibility for Demand Side Management and Demand Responses (DSM&DR), while interacting with smart grids. Through the use of intelligent control techniques, BEMS can be optimized to exploit the built environment's demand flexibility in the smart grid context while ensuring the minimum comfort levels required by the buildings users. This paper proposes an agent-based control strategy for the operation of buildings. A fuzzy rule based decision making strategy to monitor and control the energy flows in a building is implemented. Through the exchange of relevant information, the operation of the building can be dynamically influenced to improve energy efficiency.