HomeMind for VPPs — Bottom-up Building Flexibility

ORLA / VPP application

Building flexibility. Without remote control.

You manage the portfolio and market. We prepare the buildings.

ORLA is the whole-building energy autopilot. It coordinates equipment as one system and uses that understanding to determine a feasible change in demand. Every building has its own ORLA agent. The VPP receives a flexibility envelope, predicted outcome and measured result.

Building-side flexibilityPortfolio online

Building 01its own ORLA agent
Building 02its own ORLA agent
Building 03its own ORLA agent
Owner ruleslocal limits
HomeMindFlexibility APIone interface
VPP platformmarket need
AvailabilitykW · time · confidence
Activationlocal execution
M&Voutcome · rebound
Edge-firstVendor-agnosticOn-prem capableM&V-readyWhite-label

Flexibility is not created in the VPP. It starts locally.

VPP participation is one application of ORLA, not a separate product. The foundation is the same: understanding interactions and coordinating the whole building. Explore the ORLA autopilot →

Division of roles

The VPP says what it needs. The building decides how.

We integrate devices, learn site behaviour, calculate a safe flexibility envelope and turn the VPP signal into local actions. Then we measure the real response.

Your platform owns the market and portfolio relationship. HomeMind owns building-side intelligence and safe execution.

Your platform

Market, portfolio and settlement

  • publishes a need, event or price
  • selects assets and manages the portfolio
  • operates the market product and settlement
  • retains its brand and customer relationship
HomeMind

Building, availability and delivery

  • integrates heterogeneous devices
  • enforces comfort and local constraints
  • calculates a live flexibility envelope
  • executes events and supplies M&V
The aggregator problem

The potential exists. The execution layer is missing.

Small and mid-sized buildings remain invisible to flexibility markets not because they lack controllable loads, but because devices are fragmented and their live availability is unknown.

No common language

  • different protocols and devices
  • incomparable data
  • no repeatable onboarding route

No reliable offer

  • static declarations instead of live state
  • rebound cost left unmodelled
  • unknown confidence and comfort margin
10–20%

of commercial building peak load may be temporarily managed according to PNNL. HomeMind helps turn a sector benchmark into a measured site-level resource. PNNL source ↗

Bottom-up aggregation

Stop guessing centrally. Let buildings submit offers.

Every ORLA agent runs locally and understands its own site. The portfolio is built from offers that are current, owner-constrained and ready to execute.

1. Conditions

The owner defines comfort, hours, devices, price and priorities.

2. Potential

Each building calculates availability from live state and forecasts.

3. VPP need

The platform publishes reduction or increase, location and timing.

4. Local execution

ORLA selects devices and response strategy for every site.

5. Measurement

The VPP receives power, energy, timing, deviation, comfort and rebound.

Flexibility product

Not raw device access. A qualified response.

For every site, the Flexibility API can expose the parameters needed to select, activate and settle the resource.

kW

Available power

Increase or reduction, activation window, duration and response time.

°C

Comfort margin

Distance from local limits and operational constraints.

%

Confidence

Probability of delivering the declared response.

M&V

Outcome and rebound

Baseline, delivery, deviation and post-event recovery cost.

Architecture advantage

Control stays local. Aggregation can be global.

Raw data and detailed control logic can remain inside the building. The VPP receives the parameters required for delivery and settlement.

01

Smaller attack surface

No permanent direct access to every thermostat and controller is required.

02

Offline resilience

Local autonomy survives temporary internet loss, with existing automation as fallback.

03

Live model

Availability reflects the current building state rather than a one-time profile.

04

Data protection

Operational data can stay on-prem while the VPP receives only the required outcome.

05

Local safeguards

The existing BMS, thermostat or controller remains a safety layer.

06

Visible rebound

The offer includes likely energy recovery after activation.

One layer

Heterogeneous devices. One VPP interface.

Every device does not need a dedicated aggregator protocol. ORLA translates a shared energy need into actions the local installation can execute.

HVACHeat pumpsElectric heatingHot waterRefrigerationPVBESSEVHome AssistantBACnetModbusRelays

Every new installation can become a new VPP node.

Scale through HVAC installers, BMS integrators, manufacturers, facility-management firms and repeatable building portfolios. Existing partner customers become a natural pipeline for further deployments.

Offer scope

HomeMind as the building-side flexibility layer.

The modular offer can run under the HomeMind, VPP operator, manufacturer or integrator brand.

ORLA Edge Agent

Local learning, prediction, control, constraints and fallback.

Flexibility API

Availability, events, confirmations, execution and owner conditions.

Portfolio Service

Aggregate multiple building offers before the core VPP platform.

Device integrations

Home Assistant, BACnet, Modbus, OEM systems and local controllers.

M&V and baseline

Measure response, energy, power, comfort and rebound.

Deployment Kit

Procedures, tests, system images and training — including white-label delivery.

Partner pilot

Prove bottom-up flexibility on real buildings.

Together we define the product, integrate representative sites, start in shadow mode and only then run controlled activations.

1. Product definition

Response, timing, communication, baseline, M&V and settlement.

2. Sites

Select representative installations and use cases.

3. Shadow mode

Calculate availability and simulate response without control.

4. Activations

Safe events with measurement of real building response.

5. Rollout

M&V and a repeatable deployment package for partners.

The outcome must be measurable.

available kWshifted kWhresponse timeactivation accuracyreboundcomfortonboarding costcost per active kW
Build the network

Thousands of locally intelligent buildings.

You provide market access, aggregation and settlement. HomeMind provides local intelligence, integrations and safe building-side execution.

VPP integration is currently offered as a partner pilot. Available power, reliability and economics require validation on real sites.