  In this paper, we model energy use in commercial buildings using empirical
data captured through sMAP, a campus building data portal at UC Berkeley. We
conduct at-scale experiments in a newly constructed building on campus. By
modulating the supply duct static pressure (SDSP) for the main supply air duct,
we induce a response on the main supply fan and determine how much ancillary
power flexibility can be provided by a typical commercial building. We show
that the consequent intermittent fluctuations in the air mass flow into the
building does not influence the building climate in a human-noticeable way. We
estimate that at least 4 GW of regulation reserve is readily available only
through commercial buildings in the US. Based on predictions this value will
reach to 5.6 GW in 2035. We also show how thermal slack can be leveraged to
provide an ancillary service to deal with transient frequency fluctuations in
the grid. We consider a simplified model of the grid power system with time
varying demand and generation and present a simple control scheme to direct the
ancillary service power flow from buildings to improve on the classical
automatic generation control (AGC)-based approach. Simulation results are
provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for enhancing
grid frequency regulation.
