Computer-implemented engineering review of energy consumption by equipment

• US 10,043,144 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2017
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Leidos, Inc. (Leidos Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Leidos, Inc. (Leidos Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fontaine, Eric James, Brasz, Lars Johan, Kezar, Kristi Jo
• Primary Examiner(s): Coupe, Anita Yvonne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Knox, Tyler W
• Application Number:
  US15/716,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20180025302A1
• Time in Patent Office: 315 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/82 Energy audits or management systems therefor

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method are disclosed for performing engineering review of energy consumption by one or more equipment. One or more computers are connected to a specifications database. The computers are configured to receive end-user configurations corresponding to first equipment; retrieve one or more second equipment, as well as second equipment specifications from the specifications database; calculate an invoicing statement for the second equipment; and provide an engineering review report of the energy savings realized by implementing the second equipment. The first equipment may be an existing equipment, while the second equipment is one or more energy-efficient replacement alternatives to the first equipment. Each step is performed in real-time, using automated software modules and sub-modules. The engineering review report is applicable as an instant approval or pre-approval, qualifying the end-user for purchase incentives, which apply when the energy-efficient equipment alternatives are adopted by the end-user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating an engineering review report, including one or more purchase incentives, to facilitate replacement of one or more pieces of energy-use equipment located in a building envelope, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a computer, end-user configurations corresponding to one or more first energy-use equipment, identification of building envelope configuration information, a zip-code of a geographic location of the one or more first equipment and a selection of one or more enrollment programs, wherein the one or more first equipment is directly or indirectly configured to consume energy from one or more energy sources, and each enrollment program corresponds to one or more methodologies for calculating energy savings obtained when the one or more first energy-use equipment is replaced by one or more second energy-use equipment;

determining, by a tracking module on the computer, environmental conditions at the geographic location of the one or more first energy-use equipment based on the provided zip-code;

receiving, from a specifications database to the computer, an identification of the one or more second energy-use equipment and second energy-use equipment specifications, the one or more second energy-use equipment being a proposed replacement for the one or more first energy-use equipment and each second energy-use equipment specification corresponding to the selected enrollment program, each second energy-use equipment specification comprising each of;

a demand consumption value for the one or more second energy-use equipment;

one or more purchase incentives offered by one or more entities related to the selected enrollment program and the one or more second energy-use equipment, the one or more entities being selected from a manufacturer of the one or more second energy-use equipment and an energy provider;

an attribute value corresponding to a demand consumption value of each component in the one or more second energy-use equipment; and

one or more eligibility rules for determining if the one or more second energy-use equipment qualifies for one or more prescribed measures corresponding to one or more purchase incentives;

calculating, by the computer, an incentive amount in accordance with the one or more purchase incentives offered by the one or more entities related to the selected enrollment program and the one or more second energy-use equipment, wherein the selected enrollment program includes an incentive amount cap;

calculating, by the computer, an energy savings value calculated from the demand consumption value, the end-user configurations, the environmental conditions and the building envelope configuration information, wherein the energy savings value for the one or more second energy-use equipment in the specifications database is generated by storing and re-calculating, in real-time, the actual demand consumption values for the one or more second energy-use equipment from users of the one or more second energy-use equipment other than the end- user;

preparing, by the computer, an engineering review report for the one or more second energy-use equipment, the engineering review report including the energy savings value for replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment, a mapping of the one or more second energy-use equipment to the end-user configurations, and the calculated incentive amount in accordance with the one or more purchase incentives offered by the one or more entities related to the selected enrollment program and the one or more second energy-use equipment, including the incentive amount cap;

transmitting, from the computer, the engineering review report to an end-user, thereby enabling an end-user to access engineering review of the energy savings realized by replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment, wherein the energy savings to be realized by replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment indicated in the engineering review report is electronically accepted by the end-user;

receiving, by the computer, an indication by the end-user that the end-user accepts the engineering review report, including energy savings and the calculated incentive amount for replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment described in the transmitted engineering review report; and

replacing by the end-user the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment in accordance with the project.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the engineering review report is an instant approval or pre-approval certification provided to the end-user for use of the one or more second energy-use equipment to replace the one or more first energy-use equipment.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the purchase incentives are stored and updated in the specifications database, in real-time, as the purchase incentives change over time.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the attribute value in the specifications database corresponds to a demand consumption value of each component in the one or more second energy-use equipment.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the eligibility rules for the prescribed measures in the specifications database include one or more of:

rules for qualification under an equipment-related prescribed measures and a minimum performance-related prescribed measures.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 5, wherein the equipment-related prescribed measures include compliance with one or more of:

an EnergyStar®

certification, a Consortium of Energy Efficiency®

(CEE) certification, and a DesignLights Consortium®

(DLC) certification.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 5, the minimum performance-related prescribed measures include compliance with one or more of:

an Efficiency Energy Ratio (EER), a Coefficient of Performance (COP), and a fixture efficiency.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the purchase incentives include one or more of:

an interior rate incentive, an exterior rate incentive, an equipment type incentive, per piece of equipment incentive, per unit size of a piece of an equipment type incentive, per energy saved type incentive, or an operating entity incentive offered by the operator of an energy supply utility company.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the second energy-use equipment specification in the specification database is available for one or more of:

different geographical locations based on weather stations;

different hours of operation;

different set points;

different building envelope values and baseline designs;

different manufacturers'"'"' specifications; and

for any combination of the component within the one or more second energy-use equipment, if the component had to be replaced by one or more new components.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the specification database is selectively available for access by the end-user using the computer.

11. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising:

calculating, by the computer, an invoicing statement corresponding to the end- user configurations and the one or more second energy-use equipment, the invoicing statement comprising a bill of materials for the one or more second energy-use equipment and fields to receive an actual unit cost for one or more entries in the bill of materials; and

receiving, by an invoicing module of the computer, in accordance with an invoicing statement in the engineering review report for the one or more second energy-use equipment, invoice details including quantity and unit cost paid for the one or more second energy-use equipment by the end-user and facilitating application of the calculated incentive amount to the end-user.

12. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the enrollment program is one of a customized enrollment program or predetermined listing of enrollment programs, each of the customized or predetermined enrollment programs available from the one or more entities.

13. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the enrollment program is enforced using enrollment program rules, the enrollment program rules applied by a dedicated software module.

14. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the energy savings and the demand consumption values of the equipment specifications are calculated using a modified DOE-2 building envelope specification in accordance with the identified building envelope configuration information.

15. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the building envelope configuration information is identified in accordance with end-user selection from a predetermined list of prototype building envelope configurations in accordance with the attributes of the building envelope and end-user input of at least one modification to the prototype envelope configuration in accordance with the attributes of the building envelope.

16. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the environmental conditions include hour-by-hour outside temperature readings retrieved by the tracking module from a closest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reporting station to the provided zip-code.

17. A computer-implemented method for facilitating replacement of one or more pieces of energy-use equipment located in a building envelope, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a computer, end-user configurations corresponding to one or more first energy-use equipment, identification of building envelope configuration information, a zip-code of a geographic location of the one or more first equipment and a selection of one or more enrollment programs, wherein the one or more first equipment is directly or indirectly configured to consume energy from one or more energy sources, and each enrollment program corresponds to one or more methodologies for calculating energy savings obtained when the one or more first energy-use equipment is replaced by one or more second energy-use equipment;

determining, by a tracking module on the computer, environmental conditions at the geographic location of the one or more first energy-use equipment based on the provided zip-code;

receiving, from a specifications database to the computer, an identification of the one or more second energy-use equipment and second energy-use equipment specifications, the one or more second energy-use equipment being a proposed replacement for the one or more first energy-use equipment and each second energy-use equipment specification corresponding to the selected enrollment program, each second energy-use equipment specification comprising each of;

a demand consumption value for the one or more second energy-use equipment;

one or more purchase incentives offered by one or more entities related to the selected enrollment program and the one or more second energy-use equipment, the one or more entities being selected from a manufacturer of the one or more second energy-use equipment and an energy provider;

an attribute value corresponding to a demand consumption value of each component in the one or more second energy-use equipment; and

one or more eligibility rules for determining if the one or more second energy-use equipment qualifies for one or more prescribed measures corresponding to one or more purchase incentives;

calculating, by the computer, an incentive amount in accordance with the one or more purchase incentives offered by the one or more entities related to the selected enrollment program and the one or more second energy-use equipment;

calculating, by the computer, an energy savings value calculated from the demand consumption value, the end-user configurations, the environmental conditions and the building envelope configuration information, wherein the energy savings value for the one or more second energy-use equipment in the specifications database is generated by storing and re-calculating, in real-time, the actual demand consumption values for the one or more second energy-use equipment from users of the one or more second equipment other than the end-user;

preparing, by the computer, an engineering review report for the one or more second energy-use equipment, the engineering review report including the energy savings value for replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment, a mapping of the one or more second energy-use equipment to the end-user configurations, and the calculated incentive amount in accordance with the one or more purchase incentives offered by the one or more entities related to the selected enrollment program and the one or more second energy-use equipment;

transmitting, from the computer, the engineering review report to an end-user, thereby enabling an end-user to access engineering review of the energy savings realized by replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment;

receiving, by the computer, an indication by the end-user that the end-user electronically accepts the engineering review report, including energy savings and the calculated incentive amount for replacing the one or more first energy-use equipment with the one or more second energy-use equipment described in the transmitted engineering review report; and

replacing by the end-user the one or more first equipment with the one or more second equipment in accordance with the project.

18. The computer-implemented method according to claim 17, further comprising:

calculating, by the computer, an invoicing statement corresponding to the end- user configurations and the one or more second energy-use equipment, the invoicing statement comprising a bill of materials for the one or more second energy-use equipment and fields to receive an actual unit cost for one or more entries in the bill of materials; and

receiving, by an invoicing module of the computer, in accordance with an invoicing statement in the engineering review report for the one or more second energy-use equipment, invoice details including quantity and unit cost paid for the one or more second energy-use equipment by the end-user and facilitating application of the calculated incentive amount to the end-user.