Connected communities of grid-interactive efficient buildings leverage smart controls, sensors, and analytics to engage with the electrical grid, effectively reducing carbon emissions and lowering energy costs. This seminar presents recent research from national labs aimed at promoting these connected communities. It begins by the study of advanced control strategies, such as transactive control and stochastic model predictive control, to address the complexities and uncertainties of community-level energy systems. The seminar then focuses on the development of a low-cost wireless communication platform designed to facilitate the large-scale implementation of control and management technologies that optimize energy consumption and enhance demand flexibility for small and medium-sized commercial buildings. Finally, the seminar highlights ongoing efforts to establish a nationwide federation of control testbeds that offers a scalable solution for large-scale interoperability and performance assessment of demand flexibility control strategies.
Biography:
Sen Huang is a senior research and development (R&D) staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research utilizes a variety of methods from control, optimization, and system modeling technologies, focusing on applications related to the power grid, building systems, and building-to-grid integration. Huang ‘s current work addresses the challenges of designing and operating modern energy systems that incorporate distributed energy resources and intelligent responsive loads. He has published 36 peer-reviewed journal articles and received the Best Paper Award from the Journal of Building Performance Simulation. Additionally, Huang has been honored with the Outstanding Young Contributor Award from the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA), the Emerging Contributor Award from IBPSA-USA, the Early Career Researcher Award from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and a Supplemental Performance Award from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.