Practical limits to the use of non-intrusive load monitoring in commercial buildings

A non-intrusive load monitoring system (NILM) was installed in three commercial buildings, and evalu-ated for its ability to disaggregate electric loads. The system largely failed to identify specific loads, lead-ing the authors to identify three key factors that make non-intrusive load identification systematically difficult in mid-size commercial buildings, including the number and complexity of loads, difficulty in interpreting small changes in power consumption, and inability to identify continuously operating loads. Additionally, obtaining data sets for the evaluation of NILM technologies in actual buildings is hampered by disruptions to occupants, misidentification errors, measurement errors, and expense. Enhancements to basic NILM approaches include tagging key devices to facilitate identification, hybrid or supplemental metering, and applying insights from engineering knowledge and audits. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Non-intrusive load monitoring system (NILM) in commercial buildings faces challenges in load disaggregation due to the number and complexity of loads, difficulty in interpreting small changes in power consumption, and inability to identify continuously operating loads. Obtaining data sets for evaluation of NILM technologies in actual buildings is hindered by disruptions to occupants, misidentification errors, measurement errors, and expense. Enhancements to basic NILM approaches include tagging key devices, hybrid or supplemental metering, and applying insights from engineering knowledge and audits.