The headline is misleading. They aren't proposing using the buildings as batteries. They are proposing that a large number of commercial buildings would switch on/off their HVAC systems for short periods of grid surplus/shortfall to help balance grid demand.
The only "battery like" thing is that short durations of turning off/on a large building's HVAC shouldn't change the internal temperature much. And that's stretching "battery like".
It's a "battery" in the grid sense that it's an energy buffer which can be used to balance demand. If you can get over that stretch of terminology it's sort of interesting. I've seen proposals for shifting HVAC systems to create even larger buffers - increasing or insulating chiller fluid capacity (or even creating large ice masses) so that during excess/low-cost power one can build up a reserve, then cooling from that reserve during high-demand periods.
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The headline is misleading. They aren't proposing using the buildings as batteries. They are proposing that a large number of commercial buildings would switch on/off their HVAC systems for short periods of grid surplus/shortfall to help balance grid demand.
The only "battery like" thing is that short durations of turning off/on a large building's HVAC shouldn't change the internal temperature much. And that's stretching "battery like".
It's a "battery" in the grid sense that it's an energy buffer which can be used to balance demand. If you can get over that stretch of terminology it's sort of interesting. I've seen proposals for shifting HVAC systems to create even larger buffers - increasing or insulating chiller fluid capacity (or even creating large ice masses) so that during excess/low-cost power one can build up a reserve, then cooling from that reserve during high-demand periods.