Overview
ISO/IEC 15067-3-31:2024 establishes an application-layer protocol for energy management agents (EMAs) to enable effective communication for demand-response (DR) energy management applications in home and community environments. This protocol, referred to as the EMA protocol (EMAP), provides structure for the logical interconnection of EMAs, whether embedded in thermostats, smart appliances, or other consumer energy devices. The standard is applicable to environments such as apartment buildings, residential communities, and campuses of houses or apartments. EMAP is designed to support both centralized and distributed energy resources (DERs), facilitating flexible and interoperable energy management, including the integration of renewable energy, energy storage systems, and smart grid infrastructures.
Key Topics
- Energy Management Agents (EMAs): Define roles and enable logical connections between devices managing energy consumption, production, and storage.
- Demand Response (DR) Communication: EMAP supports messaging for DR events, pricing, resource reporting, and user opt-in/opt-out services, aligning energy usage with supply and market signals.
- Community and Residential Focus: Facilitates communication between EMAs across individual residences and communal spaces, supporting both simple and complex campus-like environments.
- OSI Layer 7 Protocol: Utilizes application-layer messaging, ensuring interoperability across different network topologies, including mesh and hierarchical structures.
- Flexible Deployment: Supports point-to-point, hierarchical, and hybrid EMA configurations, accommodating various residential energy architectures.
- Message Formats and Procedures: Specifies procedures for registration, event handling, reporting, and opt operations to manage enrollment, monitoring, and participation in DR programs.
- Transport Mechanisms: Recommends the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) for efficient communication in environments with constrained resources and networks.
- Security and Data Integrity: Includes provisions for secure messaging and protocol conformance.
Applications
ISO/IEC 15067-3-31 is highly relevant for a range of smart energy management use cases:
- Smart Homes and Apartments: Integrating EMAs in consumer devices to automate and optimize energy usage based on real-time price signals or utility DR commands.
- Residential Communities and Microgrids: Supporting coordinated management of energy flows within and across buildings, enabling collective participation in energy markets or local energy trading.
- Smart Grid Integration: Enabling seamless communication between utility providers, local DERs (like solar panels or batteries), and end-user devices for grid stability and efficient energy dispatch.
- Demand-Response Aggregation: Facilitating third-party aggregators or building managers in monitoring and controlling grouped devices for maximal demand reduction or load shifting.
- Energy Resource Optimization: Allowing dynamic switching between grid-supplied, local, or stored energy sources according to availability, price, and consumer preferences.
- Energy Sharing and Reporting: Providing structured data exchange for community energy sharing programs, periodic status reporting, and energy data analytics.
Related Standards
- ISO/IEC 15067-3:2012: General model for HES demand-response energy management systems.
- ISO/IEC 15067-3-3:2019: Model of interacting energy management agents for DR management.
- ISO/IEC 30118 series: Standard for Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) resource models.
- IEC 62541 series: OPC Unified Architecture for industrial and building automation networking.
- ISO/IEC 14543 series: Standards for home and building electronic system interoperability.
- IETF RFC 7252 (CoAP): Constrained Application Protocol for Internet of Things and low-power networks.
- IEC 62746-10-1: Message and application-layer profiles for external DR service providers.
ISO/IEC 15067-3-31:2024 promotes universal interoperability for energy management agents and devices from multiple manufacturers, enhancing the flexibility and reliability of smart energy solutions across residential and community-scale deployments. This standard supports the evolution toward future-ready, interoperable energy management infrastructures.
Open preview (PDF)Information technology — Home Electronic System (HES) application model — Part 3-31: Protocol of energy management agents for demand-response energy management and interactions among these agents
