LOW CARBON HEATING & HVAC
THE ROLE OF SMART APPLIANCES IN GRID-INTERACTIVE BUILDINGS
Don Dulchinos, director at the OpenADR Alliance, discusses the role of standards in the integration of HVAC, heat pump water heaters and other smart appliances as part of grid-interactive buildings
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mart, flexible, electricity systems can help decarbonise our economies, while better
managing growing demand for energy and grid optimisation. Grid-interactive buildings are an interesting example of this. They can help transform energy management, offering greater flexibility and efficiency by balancing energy loads to reduce the strain on the grid. This type of intelligent building can adapt energy use dynamically, reducing demand when the grid is under stress, while storing and drawing power from a range of distributed energy resources like solar panels, battery storage and electric vehicles. We can take this a step further, however, by treating electric appliances as potential grid resources. Smart homes and appliances are nothing new. But with major advances in the technology, grid connectivity and compensation, and the integration of artificial intelligence for smarter automation, the market is set to really take off. As a global industry alliance, we are seeing
real-time innovation. Among our members are manufacturers of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems, including heat pump water heaters, and other connected devices helping to drive development of grid-interactive buildings. We are also seeing more use cases with the adoption of new technologies and solutions, unlocking the potential for residential and commercial premises to use energy more flexibly. When buildings and grids communicate with each
other, stress during peak times can be mitigated and peaks in energy demand smoothed out.
STANDARDS DRIVING INNOVATION IN THE US The role of standards is vital in driving this innovation. Standards play a crucial role in enabling efficient demand response within energy
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management systems, and by mandating standards, governments and regulatory bodies support the importance of compliance. Take the US market, for example, where the CTA-2045 technical specification – and certified version branded as EcoPort – enables devices to connect directly to energy management systems through a universal port. This promotes flexibility and adaptive energy consumption across appliances, playing a critical role in steering the energy sector towards a more sustainable future and encouraging consumers to be greener. Any EcoPort-certified control module, when
plugged into an appliance or energy system, can reliably establish communications that meet the requirements of the CTA-2045 standard. While initial implementations are in water heaters, as they are a significant source of load response across households, EcoPort provides a standard interface for energy management signals and messages to many other devices. These include an energy management hub, residential gateway, sensor, thermostat, and appliances ranging from pool pumps to EV charging stations. It’s encouraging to see that EcoPort is now mandated for all water heaters sold in two US states, Washington (since 2022) and Oregon. New York State is expected to follow. In California, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted program requirements for the Self- Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) program that was authorised in prior CPUC decisions. To take part
Don Dulchinos ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Summer 2025
in the program, HPWHs must incorporate an EcoPort-compliant communications port.
UK STANDARDS FOR ENERGY SMART APPLIANCES Two British standards published by BSI in 2021 – PAS 1878 and PAS 1879 – set out the requirements for energy smart appliances (ESA). The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) led the development of PAS 1878, incorporating OpenADR as one of the criteria that an electrical appliance needs to meet in order to perform and be classified as an ESA. PAS 1879, meanwhile, addresses the demand side response operation of these appliances. DESNZ has spoken publicly about how innovation
and technologies can contribute to the UK’s commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050 – and the role of standards in driving change. The UK government’s Flexibility Innovation
Program is playing a key role in this as it looks to support innovative solutions. This includes the development of ESA for the delivery of interoperable demand side response (IDSR) as part of its IDSR program. Industry bodies like OpenADR
Alliance, governments, authorities, and energy companies are committed to finding ways of solving problems through innovation, standards and programs. We are now closer than ever to creating new opportunities with grid-interactive solutions that can help buildings and even data centres become more resilient and sustainable in the future.
OpenADR Alliance
www.openadr.org
www.essmag.co.uk
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