Do peak energy loads and peak GHG emissions correlate in buildings? Insights from emission duration curves and emission event duration curves analysis

This research proposes and applies emission duration curves (EDCs) and emission event duration curves (EEDCs) in a novel way for comprehensive analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in correlation with building energy consumption. Examining a 2018 high-rise building in Ottawa, we found a moderate Pearson correlation of 0.3 between hourly energy and GHG emissions, despite a significant p-value. This indicates that peak energy loads and emissions peaks do not necessarily align, underscoring the need for a new operational strategy. The EDC and Load Duration Curve (LDC) patterns further accentuated these differences, suggesting that electrical emissions are more concentrated in specific periods compared to electrical loads. For our case study, 12.04% of yearly GHG emissions occurred within just 1% of the year, contrasting with only 2.14% of the annual energy use. The study also highlighted the potential of a demand response event through a simulated voluntary outage during peak emission intervals as a viable GHG mitigation strategy. Collectively, these insights stress the importance of a comprehensive perspective on building operations, their interactions with the grid, and the necessity for tailored sustainable building management strategies moving forward.