Distributed DC-UPS for energy smart buildings

• Published in: Energy and buildings Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 93 - 100
• Main Authors: Moreno-Munoz, A., de la Rosa, Juan José González, Pallarés-Lopez, V., Real-Calvo, R.J., Gil-de-Castro, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building technical equipments; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Consumption; DC power supply; Direct current; Disturbances; Electric potential; Electrical equipment; Electromagnetic compatibility; Energy distribution; Energy management and energy conservation in building; Environmental engineering; Exact sciences and technology; High performance facilities; High tech building; Power quality; Smart buildings; Uninterruptible power supply (UPS); DC power supply; High tech building; Uninterruptible power supply (UPS); Power quality; High performance facilities; High performance; Electronic equipment; Methodology; Power supply; Climatic engineering; Building equipment; Intelligent building; Energetic efficiency; Quality; Reliability; Switching system; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0378-7788
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.08.018

Energy efficiency (EE) improvement is one of the most important targets to be achieved on every society as a whole and in buildings in particular. Energy Smart Building aims to accelerate the uptake of EE, healthy buildings that by integrating smart technology and solutions consume radically little resources while enhancing the quality of life. This paper addresses how uninterruptible power supply (UPS), particularly when configured in distributed DC mode, can become an Energy Efficient (EE) solution in high tech buildings, especially when integrated with complimentary Power Quality (PQ) measures. The paper is based upon PQ audits conducted at different IT-intensive modern building. Some of the mayor objectives of the PQ studies were: detecting the main involved disturbances by PQ monitoring, identifying the power disturbances root causes, characterizing the electromagnetic compatibility level of equipments and installation and providing guidelines for implementing energy-efficiency solutions. It was found that the main problems for the equipment installed were harmonics and voltage sag (dip). Finally, this paper demonstrates the impacts of generalized electronic devices on the PQ of the buildings and the implications on energy uses.