Quantification of energy flexibility from air conditioning of residential buildings

Air conditioning (AC) for buildings is an energy demanding sector, showing an increasing trend in energy use worldwide. For this reason, demand side management (DSM) strategies addressing building thermal cooling loads have a paramount importance. In this paper several air conditioning systems are considered, composed of chillers and different distribution systems, such as radiant ceiling (panels and concrete ceiling), fan coils and splitters. The energy flexibility they can provide is quantified at design condition by means of a dedicated methodology, thus their performance is compared. Furthermore, the effect of their combination on the overall operating energy flexibility achievable is evaluated in order to draw some guidelines for optimal strategies of energy flexibility exploitation.