Methods and system for reducing energy use in buildings

• US 10,338,559 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2015
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mariner Partners Inc
• Original Assignee: Mariner Partners Inc
• Inventors: Holleran, Charles L., Curry, Andrea, O'Connor, Dan, Aske, Tim, Ogden, Gary, Sansom, Brock
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Vincent H
• Application Number:
  US15/314,608
• Publication Number:
  US 20170115650A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,496 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/0001 for ventilation F24F11/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/77 by controlling the speed of ventilators
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/84 using valves
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/85 using variable-flow pumps
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2011/0002 for admittance of outside air
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/048 Monitoring; Safety
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00 Circuit arrangements for providing remote indication of network conditions, e.g. an instantaneous record of the open or closed condition of each circuitbreaker in the network; Circuit arrangements for providing remote control of switching means in a power distribution network, e.g. switching in and out of current consumers by using a pulse code signal carried by the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2821 Avoiding conflicts related to the use of home appliances cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; protocols for network security H04L63/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2823 Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 : Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/20 : End-user application control systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 : Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for reducing energy use in buildings. A data center receives source data from one or more building systems and/or one or more external sources. A plurality of energy optimization strategies are applied to at least a subset of the source data to determine a set of proposed output values for each energy optimization strategy, independently of each other, wherein each set of proposed output values includes at least one equipment set point. Conflicts between the sets of proposed output values are resolved, to generate a set of harmonized output values. The set of harmonized output values is transmitted to the one or more building control systems through one or more gateway devices.

Claims

1. A system for reducing energy use in buildings, the system comprising:

one or more gateway devices; and

a data centre connected to one or more building systems of a building through the one or more gateway devices, the data centre comprising one or more databases and a processor, the processor being configured to;

receive source data from at least one of;

the one or more building systems and one or more external sources;

store the source data in the one or more databases;

apply a plurality of energy optimization strategies to at least a subset of the source data to determine a set of proposed output values for each energy optimization strategy, independently of each other, wherein each set of proposed output values includes at least one equipment set point;

resolve any conflicts between the sets of proposed output values determined for the plurality of energy optimization strategies, to generate a set of harmonized output values; and

transmit the set of harmonized output values to the one or more building control systems through the one or more gateway devices; and

wherein the processor is further configured to automate self-repair upon detecting equipment problems by;

saving a record of the equipment problems;

attempting to correct the equipment problems;

saving a record of attempts to correct the equipment problems; and

notifying a technician if the equipment problems persist.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to perform calculations in accordance with and for each of the plurality of energy optimization strategies using input information including at least one of:

equipment configuration information, space requirements information, or utility price information.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the processor is configured to resolve conflicts between the sets of proposed output values determined for the plurality of energy optimization strategies by:

rejecting any value in the sets of proposed output values that would result in an operational requirement not being met anywhere in the building;

rejecting any value in the sets of proposed output values that would contravene operational requirements of any equipment in the building;

determining a minimum total energy required for the building; and

producing the set of harmonized output values that yields the least amount of energy that is not less than the minimum total energy required for the building.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the processor is configured to determine the minimum total energy required for the building using the space requirements information.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to apply an energy optimization strategy to optimize a ratio of fresh air and return air in an air handler by:

receiving multiple dry bulb temperature values, wet bulb temperature values, and dew point temperature values;

comparing the dry bulb temperature values relative to each other, the wet bulb temperature values relative to each other, and the dew point temperature values relative to each other, to classify a set of proposed values from the multiple sets of proposed values as being one of a plurality of pre-defined cases;

calculating an optimized mixture of fresh air and return air for the air handler according to a set of rules defined for the one of a plurality of pre-defined cases; and

setting the ratio of fresh and return air in the air handler to be the optimized mixture of fresh and return air.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to apply an energy optimization strategy to coordinate static pressures of zones in the building by:

monitoring forces affecting pressure and air flow between zones in the building;

making adjustments to static pressures of one or more zones affected by changes in the forces, such that building operational requirements continue to be met; and

making corresponding adjustments to zones associated with the one or more zones affected by changes in the forces.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to detect and diagnose potential equipment failure by:

monitoring a plurality of processes in the building;

detecting abnormal input to a building system based on an analysis of the plurality of processes in the building; and

signaling an alarm regarding potential failure of one or more pieces of equipment in the building.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the analysis of the plurality of processes in the building comprises examining current and past behaviour of the plurality of processes in the building and considering operating requirements for each of the plurality of processes in the building.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the gateway devices are configured to monitor for a connection to the data centre and, upon detection of a lost connection, return the building systems to a default state.

10. A method for reducing energy use in a building, the method comprising:

receiving, at a data centre, source data from at least one of;

one or more building systems of the building and one or more external sources, the data centre being connected to the one or more building systems through one or more gateway devices and comprising one or more databases and a processor;

storing the source data in the one or more databases;

applying a plurality of energy optimization strategies to at least a subset of the source data to determine a set of output values for each energy optimization strategy, independently of each other, wherein each set of proposed output values includes at least one equipment set point;

resolving any conflicts between the sets of proposed output values determined for the plurality of energy optimization strategies, to generate a set of harmonized output values; and

transmitting the set of harmonized output values to the one or more building control systems through the one or more gateway devices; and

the method further comprising automating self-repair upon detecting equipment problems by;

detecting equipment problems;

saving a record of the equipment problems;

attempting to correct the equipment problems;

saving a record of attempts to correct the equipment problems; and

notifying a technician if the attempts to correct the equipment problems do not correct the equipment problems.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein performing calculations in accordance with and for each of the plurality of energy optimization strategies is done using input information including at least one of:

equipment configuration information, space requirements information, or utility price information.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein resolving conflicts between the plurality of energy optimization strategies comprises:

rejecting any value in the sets of proposed output values that would result in an operational requirement not being met anywhere in the building;

rejecting any value in the sets of proposed output values that would contravene operational requirements of any equipment in the building;

determining a minimum total energy required for the building; and

producing the set of harmonized output values that yields the least amount of energy that is not less than the minimum total energy required for the building.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining the minimum total energy for the building is done using the space requirements information.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the plurality of energy optimization strategies includes a method of optimizing a ratio of fresh air and return air in an air handler by:

receiving multiple dry bulb temperature values, wet bulb temperature values, and multiple dew point temperature values;

comparing the multiple dry bulb temperature values relative to each other, comparing the wet bulb temperature values relative to each other, and comparing the multiple dew point temperature values relative to each other, to classify a set of proposed values from the multiple sets of proposed values as being one of a plurality of pre-defined cases;

calculating an optimized mixture of fresh air and return air for the air handler according to a set of rules defined for the one of a plurality of pre-defined cases; and

setting the ratio of fresh and return air in the air handler to be the optimized mixture of fresh and return air.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the plurality of energy optimization strategies includes a method of coordinating static pressures of zones in the building by:

monitoring forces affecting pressure and air flow between zones in the building;

making adjustments to static pressures of one or more zones affected by changes in the forces, such that building operational requirements continue to be met; and

making corresponding adjustments to zones associated with the one or more zones affected by changes in the forces.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprising detecting and diagnosing potential equipment failure by:

monitoring a plurality of processes in the building;

detecting abnormal input to a building system based on an analysis of the plurality of processes in the building; and

signaling an alarm regarding potential failure of one or more pieces of equipment in the building.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the analysis of the plurality of processes in the building comprises examining current and past behaviour of the plurality of processes in the building and considering operating requirements for each of the plurality of processes in the building.

18. The method of claim 10 further comprising the gateway devices monitoring for a connection to the data centre and, upon detection of a lost connection, returning the building systems to a default state.