The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office (BTO) envisions a future in which buildings operate dynamically with the grid to make electricity more affordable and integrate distributed energy resources while meeting the needs of building occupants.

These definitions are for the purposes of the Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings Technical Report Series. They may be defined differently or more generally in other contexts. Grid servicesServices that support the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and provide value through avoided electricity system costs (generation and/or delivery costs); this report focuses on grid services that can be provided by grid-interactive efficient buildings. Distributed energy resource (DER)A resource sited close to customers that can provide all or some of their immediate power needs and/or can be used by the utility system to either reduce demand or provide supply to satisfy the energy, capacity, or ancillary service needs of the grid. Load profileA building's load profile describes when-time of day or hour of the year-the building is consuming energy (typically used to refer to electricity consumption but can also describe on-site fuel use); load shape and load curve are often used interchangeably, but all refer to the timing of energy use. Energy efficiencyOngoing reduction in energy use to provide the same or improved level of function. Demand flexibilityCapability of DERs to adjust a building's load profile across different timescales; energy flexibility and load flexibility are often used interchangeably with demand flexibility. Demand responseChange in the rate of electricity consumption in response to price signals or specific requests of a grid operator. Demand-side managementThe modification of energy demand by customers through strategies, including energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, energy storage, electric vehicles, and/or time-of-use pricing structures. Grid-interactive efficient building (GEB)An energy-efficient building that uses smart technologies and on-site DERs to provide demand flexibility while co-optimizing for energy cost, grid services, and occupant needs and preferences, in a continuous and integrated way. Smart technologies for energy managementAdvanced controls, sensors, models, and analytics used to manage DERs.GEBs are characterized by their use of these technologies.

Sensors, actuators, and controllers, which collectively serve as the backbone of cyberphysical systems for building energy management, are one of the core technical areas of investment for achieving the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office's (BTO's) goals for energy affordability in the national building stock-both commercial and residential. In fact, an aggregated annual energy savings of 29% is estimated in the commercial sector alone through the implementation of efficiency measures using current state-of-the-art sensors and controls to retune buildings by optimizing programmable settings based on occupant schedules and comfort requirements, as well as detecting and diagnosing equipment operation and installation problems (Fernandez et al. 2017).

These definitions are for the purposes of the Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings Technical Report Series. They may be defined differently or more generally in other contexts. Grid services Services that support the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and provide value through avoided electricity system costs (generation and/or delivery costs); this report focuses on grid services that can be provided by grid-interactive efficient buildings. Distributed energy resource (DER) A resource sited close to customers that can provide all or some of their immediate power needs and/or can be used by the utility system to either reduce demand or provide supply to satisfy the energy, capacity, or ancillary service needs of the grid. Load profile A building's load profile describes when-time of day or hour of the year-the building is consuming energy (typically used to refer to electricity consumption but can also describe on-site fuel use); load shape and load curve are often used interchangeably, but all refer to the timing of energy use. Energy efficiency Ongoing reduction in energy use to provide the same or improved level of function. Demand flexibility Capability of DERs to adjust a building's load profile across different timescales; energy flexibility and load flexibility are often used interchangeably with demand flexibility. Demand response Change in the rate of electricity consumption in response to price signals or specific requests of a grid operator. Demand-side management The modification of energy demand by customers through strategies, including energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, energy storage, electric vehicles, and/or time-of-use pricing structures. Grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) An energy-efficient building that uses smart technologies and on-site DERs to provide demand flexibility while co-optimizing for energy cost, grid services, and occupant needs and preferences, in a continuous and integrated way. Smart technologies for energy management Advanced controls, sensors, models, and analytics used to manage DERs. GEBs are characterized by their use of these technologies.

These definitions are for the purposes of the Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings Technical Report Series. They may be defined differently or more generally in other contexts. Grid services Services that support the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and provide value through avoided electricity system costs (generation and/or delivery costs); this report focuses on grid services that can be provided by grid-interactive efficient buildings. Distributed energy resource (DER) A resource sited close to customers that can provide all or some of their immediate power needs and/or can be used by the utility system to either reduce demand or provide supply to satisfy the energy, capacity, or ancillary service needs of the grid. Load profile A building's load profile describes when-time of day or hour of the year-the building is consuming energy (typically used to refer to electricity consumption but can also describe on-site fuel use); load shape and load curve are often used interchangeably, but all refer to the timing of energy use. Energy efficiency Ongoing reduction in energy use to provide the same or improved level of function. Demand flexibility Capability of DERs to adjust a building's load profile across different timescales; energy flexibility and load flexibility are often used interchangeably with demand flexibility. Demand response Change in the rate of electricity consumption in response to price signals or specific requests of a grid operator. Demand-side management The modification of energy demand by customers through strategies, including energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, energy storage, electric vehicles, and/or time-of-use pricing structures. Grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) An energy-efficient building that uses smart technologies and on-site DERs to provide demand flexibility while co-optimizing for energy cost, grid services, and occupant needs and preferences in a continuous and integrated way. Smart technologies for energy management Advanced controls, sensors, models, and analytics used to manage DERs. GEBs are characterized by their use of these technologies. This report analyzes connected lighting systems and consumer electronics/IT equipment technologies, as outlined in Table ES-1. All lighting technologies are assumed to be lighting-emitting diode (LED) or organic LED (OLED) technologies. These technologies are analyzed in two separate sections and the evaluations are not meant to be comparable to each other or other building technologies. Table ES-1. Connected Lighting and Consumer Electronics/IT Equipment Technologies Technologies Description Connected Lighting Advanced Sensors and Controls Connected lighting systems utilizing advanced controls and algorithms to automatically modulate lighting levels or potentially other power-consuming lighting features (e.g., spectrum, reduced sensor or network communication interface power) in response to external grid/pricing signals. Hybrid Daylight Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Systems Connecte...