Unlocking flexibility in urban heating facilities: Mitigating insufficient heat supply through building thermal inertia

Leveraging building thermal inertia for refined regulation stands as a pivotal pathway to mitigating insufficient heat supply and enhancing the resilience of urban heating systems. The objective of this study is to determine the downward flexibility potential of buildings complying with different energy efficiency standards under the coupling of multiple typical meteorological conditions, and to reveal the dispatchable flexibility boundaries of urban heating facilities under conditions of insufficient heat supply. To this end, a evaluation method for the flexibility potential of urban heating facilities is established. Under insufficient heat supply conditions, the downward flexibility potential of heating facilities is unlocked by reducing heat supply. The coupled impact mechanisms of outdoor meteorology and building envelope thermal performance are quantified using dynamic thermal simulations. Furthermore, the effects of delayed flexibility duration regulation schemes on indoor temperature and system energy consumption are systematically discussed. The results of this study show that the maximum continuous downward flexibility duration of urban heating facilities reaches 22 h. The load shifting capacity increases by up to 13% with higher building energy efficiency. And the peak shaving coefficient and heat saving rate achieve maxima of 31.81% and 40.28%, respectively.