Original title: Coupling-Aware Aggregation of Multi-Zone HVAC Loads under Uncertainty: A Two-level Framework
Jingguan Liu, Han Jiang, Xiaomeng Ai, Shengshi Wang +5 · September 2026
Power grids need flexible power demand, and grouping building heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can help. However, rooms inside buildings share heat, which creates complex links and spreads uncertainty. This makes it hard to measure the total flexibility. To solve this, researchers built a two-level framework. At the building level, they use math steps to shrink complex room temperatures into a simpler, lower-dimensional equation. This step traces uncertainty, separates room interactions from the main system, and shapes the building's flexibility. At the aggregator level, a new matrix-transformation method maps this high-dimensional flexibility into a usable power space and solves it using a linear program. Tests confirm the framework is accurate, reliable, and scalable.
Imagine organizing a potluck where each dish's cooking temperature affects others because they share an oven. It's hard to plan without over or undercooking. Here, each room's air conditioning affects others in a building, so managing them individually for the power grid is messy. In this paper, the researchers create a way to simplify these connections, first within a building and then across buildings, to handle the potluck efficiently.
Power systems need flexible energy use to balance supply and demand. Buildings with air conditioning can adjust their energy use, but zone interdependencies make this hard to manage. This framework helps grid operators aggregate these loads more reliably, improving grid stability.
The abstract does not state specific limitations, but it relies on case studies for validation, which may not cover all building types or extreme conditions.
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Coupling-Aware Aggregation of Multi-Zone HVAC Loads under Uncertainty: A Two-level Framework — Jingguan Liu, Han Jiang, Xiaomeng Ai et al.
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.