A Framework for Achieving Smart Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings: Defining the Grid-Building Interaction Levels and Comparing with Smart Readiness Indicator

The increasing urgency of the energy transition drives the interest in demand-side flexibility to alleviate grid congestion and facilitate greener electrification. This work introduces the Smart Grid-Interactive Efficient Building (SGEB) assessment to evaluate demand-side flexibility in buildings, adapted from the grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEB) concept. The framework is built upon ten flexibility-related requirements from the Smart by Powerhouse, a Norwegian framework to measure commercial buildings’ smartness. The SGEB assessment employs a multi-level scoring system that categorizes assets into three tiers: “grid-stressor,” “grid-capable,” and “Smart Grid-Interactive Efficient.” Assets evaluated include heating, cooling, ventilation, indoor spaces, domestic hot water, internal loads, and on-site generation, with the final SGEB score ranging from 0 to 100%, with each tier contributing equally to the overall score. Ten pilot buildings in Norway were assessed to validate the SGEB, while potential enhancements like indoor temperature modelling and load forecasting were explored to project future outcomes. A comparative analysis with the smart readiness indicator (SRI) reveals that SGEB better represents flexibility assets and grid-building interaction. In contrast, the current SRI implementation does not adequately differentiate between flexible assets and generation technologies.