Demand Respond Assessment Tool: A Cloud-Based Simulation Tool for Rapid Assessment of Demand Response Potential in Commercial and Institutional Facilities

Mid-to-large size commercial buildings are not significant participants in demand-response programs because of the risk and effort associated with predicting the actual amount of load they can shed. This paper describes a tool designed to rapidly predict the amount of demand reduction these buildings can provide. The tool uses commercial building reference models published by the Department of Energy. Users can adjust certain key parameters so that peak demands given by the reference model match actual billed demand. The paper describes the basic tool and provides field test results from several schools in El Paso, Texas.