Information Mediator for Demand Response in Electrical Grids and Buildings

Complexity of algorithms and policies in energy systems has increased interactions among heterogeneous systems and information sources. Demand Response (DR) is a representative example where electrical grids and buildings communicate with each other to manage overall electricity demands. There are various industry standards that model the information and the interactions between grids and buildings. However, each building has all the burden of converting information from different models to its information model prior to using it. We envision a system-agnostic information model for these interactions that can reduce information conversion to/from buildings and invigorate the interaction. We propose an integration of ontologies and standards to express DR interactions and open the possibility of connecting other information models. We also suggest an information mediator system that interprets and delivers messages among grids and buildings and can mediate energy usage among buildings based on the system-agnostic model.