Methodology for classifying buildings at the city scale regarding their energy flexibility potential

The integration of intermittent renewable energies requires buildings to adapt their energy needs to energy networks and local climate conditions, while also meeting the needs of occupants. This concept is known as building energy flexibility or demand-side management.

At the building scale, the thermal mass of buildings can be activated as a form of energy storage, for flexibility purposes. While exploiting the flexibility potential of buildings on a city scale increases storage capacity, it also creates sources of flexibility by aggregating the energy needs of buildings, particularly when considering the asynchronous energy demands of residential and commercial sectors.

In order to evaluate building flexibility potential at the city scale, a methodology has been developped for identifying building archetypes representing the different energy flexibility potentials at the city scale. These archetypes will be aggregated in a later stage of the process. The methodology employs clustering techniques to categorize buildings based on their usage, geometry, morphology and urban surrounding, focusing on the characteristics that influence their flexibility potential. This approach represents an original classification system specific to energy flexibility.

The method has been developped for the French city of Nantes, but is also intended to be generalized to other cities, depending on the available data.