Unlocking the potential for grid-interactive buildings through unified building automation system standards

Building automation systems (BAS) have revolutionized the way the built environment is designed, managed, and operated, improving occupant comfort and reducing costs. Yet after a century of incremental advancement, inconsistent building code standards are limiting the potential benefits of building controls and demand response. A standard approach to BAS deployment and operation can enable grid-responsive buildings that provide broader benefits to society through improved grid reliability, lower-cost electricity, room for load growth, and higher penetrations of clean energy. This study reviews the history of standards development in three adjacent sectors-building electrical systems, electrical grid systems, and computer network systems-and uses a comparative analysis of these industries to extract generalized lessons for the standardization of BAS and their interoperability with electric utilities. The comparative analysis yields a four-part framework for BAS standardization: strengthening the role of a governing standards body, incorporating BAS interoperability requirements into building codes, enhancing grid compatibility through utility interconnection requirements, and adopting common communication protocols to enable automated demand response. Examples show how these actions can overcome the challenges of vendor lock-in, closed systems, obsolescence, maintenance, cost, and cybersecurity. Unified BAS standards can reduce lifecycle costs, improve interoperability, accelerate deployment of grid-responsive buildings, and enable broader participation in demand response while fostering innovation within the building controls industry. Implementing standards is expected to have a net positive financial impact for contractors, consumers, and grid operators while incentivizing controls manufacturers to differentiate products in a commoditized market.