ASHRAE and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) recently announced the publication of ANSI/ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201-2016, Facility Smart Grid Information Model.
ANSI/ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201-2016 provides a common basis for electrical-energy consumers to describe, manage, and communicate about electrical-energy consumptions and forecasts.
A “facility” in the context of the standard can be a single-family house, a commercial or institutional building, a manufacturing or industrial building, or multiple buildings, such as a college campus. The Facility Smart Grid Information Model (FSGIM) provides a common framework to guide the development of the control technologies used in these facilities so they can meet the control needs of a smart-grid environment.
“In a smart-grid world, facilities of all kinds will become partners in managing the electricity grid, sometimes providing local generation and moderating loads to balance variations in renewable-energy supply or meet other grid constraints,” Steve Bushby, chair of the Standard 201P committee, said. “The FSGIM provides a common path forward for residential, commercial, and industrial control technologies to implement the features needed to participate in the smart grid.”
Robert Hick, vice president, engineering, Leviton Manufacturing, and co-vice chair of the Standard 201P committee representing NEMA, said: “The technologies that are enabling high-performance buildings are evolving at a fever pitch, and the need for a common model for communication of energy data is essential. Adherence to this standard will insure interoperability of energy systems within all types of buildings and compatibility with the smart grid for current and future technologies. The contributors to this publication come from a broad collection of stakeholders in all the related industries, and their dedicated efforts to developing and publishing this standard could not be more timely.”
Aaron Smallwood, director of technology operations for SGIP, said: “SGIP’s Priority Action Plan (PAP) process is designed to identify standard gaps or needs and to facilitate the development, discussion, and recommendations for Smart Grid-related standards to advance grid modernization. We’re pleased that the Facility Smart Grid Information Model PAP17 resulted in the development and approval of ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201 and that we now have the opportunity to review Standard 201 for inclusion in SGIP’s Catalog of Standards.”
The standard provides a way to model real building systems as a combination of four abstract components: loads, generators, meters, and energy managers.
The kinds of functionality that will be enabled by the model include:
- On-site generation management.
- Demand response.
- Electrical storage management.
- Peak demand management.
- Forward power-usage estimation.
- Load-shedding-capability estimation.
- End-load monitoring (sub-metering).
- Power quality of service monitoring.
- Use of historical energy-consumption data.
- Direct load control.
The standard will be supported by a user’s manual that provides information about how to interpret the features of the model, defines a set of anticipated-use cases for facility interaction with a smart grid, and provides guidance on how to apply the standard to those use cases, Bushby said.
A ballot to approve Standard 201 as an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard via ISO/Technical Committee 205, Building Environmental Design, has been initiated. If approved, the ballot, which is expected to take several months to complete, would move the standard to publication as an ISO standard.
Standard 201 builds on and makes use of several other related standards applicable to the smart grid, including:
- IEEE 61850 (generators).
- OASIS WS-calendar.
- OASIS Energy Market Information Exchange.
- NAESB REQ Business Practices and Information Models to Support Priority Action Plan 10—Standardized Energy Usage Information (Green Button).
- OpenADR.
- Weather Exchange Model (WXXM).
The cost of ANSI/ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201-2016, packaged with the user’s manual, is $110 for ASHRAE members and $129 for non-members. The user’s manual will be available soon. Purchasers of the standard automatically will receive a complimentary PDF of the user’s manual upon its release.
Copies can be ordered online at www.ashrae.org/bookstore, by phone at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400, or by fax at 678-539-2129.