System and method for forecasting seasonal fuel consumption for indoor thermal conditioning with the aid of a digital computer
First Claim
1. A method for forecasting seasonal fuel consumption for indoor thermal conditioning with the aid of a digital computer, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining historical daily fuel consumption for thermal conditioning of a building during a time period;
identifying internal gains within the building over the time period;
adjusting the internal gains based upon season and the amount of fuel required by the HVAC system that provides the thermal conditioning of the building based on the HVAC system efficiency;
accepting ratio terms representing a change in the thermal conductivity of the building, a change in indoor temperature, a change in the internal gains within the building, and a change in the HVAC system efficiency, comprising;
setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in indoor temperature as the difference of an average indoor temperature minus an average outdoor temperature;
obtaining the HVAC system efficiency;
setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in the HVAC system efficiency to the HVAC system efficiency;
performing at least one of;
setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in thermal conductivity ratio to the product of the ratio of thermal conductivity over HVAC system efficiency times the HVAC system efficiency;
setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in the internal gains ratio to the product of the adjusted internal gains times the HVAC system efficiency; and
estimating the internal gains from a solar resource as a function of the internal gains less the internal gains from electricity and the internal gains, wherein the internal gains comprise internal gains from electricity, internal gains from occupants, and internal gains from the solar resource; and
forecasting seasonal fuel consumption for the building as a function of the historical daily fuel consumption, the adjusted internal gains, and the ratio terms.
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Abstract
A Thermal Performance Forecast approach is described that can be used to forecast heating and cooling fuel consumption based on changes to user preferences and building-specific parameters that include indoor temperature, building insulation, HVAC system efficiency, and internal gains. A simplified version of the Thermal Performance Forecast approach, called the Approximated Thermal Performance Forecast, provides a single equation that accepts two fundamental input parameters and four ratios that express the relationship between the existing and post-change variables for the building properties to estimate future fuel consumption. The Approximated Thermal Performance Forecast approach marginally sacrifices accuracy for a simplified forecast. In addition, the thermal conductivity, effective window area, and thermal mass of a building can be determined using different combinations of utility consumption, outdoor temperature data, indoor temperature data, internal heating gains data, and HVAC system efficiency as inputs.
67 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for forecasting seasonal fuel consumption for indoor thermal conditioning with the aid of a digital computer, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining historical daily fuel consumption for thermal conditioning of a building during a time period; identifying internal gains within the building over the time period; adjusting the internal gains based upon season and the amount of fuel required by the HVAC system that provides the thermal conditioning of the building based on the HVAC system efficiency; accepting ratio terms representing a change in the thermal conductivity of the building, a change in indoor temperature, a change in the internal gains within the building, and a change in the HVAC system efficiency, comprising; setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in indoor temperature as the difference of an average indoor temperature minus an average outdoor temperature; obtaining the HVAC system efficiency; setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in the HVAC system efficiency to the HVAC system efficiency; performing at least one of; setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in thermal conductivity ratio to the product of the ratio of thermal conductivity over HVAC system efficiency times the HVAC system efficiency; setting a base value for the ratio term representing the change in the internal gains ratio to the product of the adjusted internal gains times the HVAC system efficiency; and estimating the internal gains from a solar resource as a function of the internal gains less the internal gains from electricity and the internal gains, wherein the internal gains comprise internal gains from electricity, internal gains from occupants, and internal gains from the solar resource; and forecasting seasonal fuel consumption for the building as a function of the historical daily fuel consumption, the adjusted internal gains, and the ratio terms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for forecasting base seasonal fuel consumption for indoor thermal conditioning with the aid of a digital computer, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining historical daily fuel consumption for thermal conditioning of a building during a time period; identifying internal gains within the building over the time period; adjusting the internal gains based upon season and the amount of fuel required by the HVAC system that provides the thermal conditioning of the building based on the HVAC system efficiency, comprising at least one of; determining the adjusted internal gains for the time period QAdj.Internal in accordance with; - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for function-based forecasting of seasonal fuel consumption for indoor thermal conditioning with the aid of a digital computer, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining historical daily fuel consumption for thermal conditioning of a building during a time period; identifying internal gains within the building over the time period; adjusting the internal gains based upon season and the amount of fuel required by the HVAC system that provides the thermal conditioning of the building based on the HVAC system efficiency; accepting ratio terms representing a change in the thermal conductivity of the building, a change in indoor temperature, a change in the internal gains within the building, and a change in the HVAC system efficiency; and forecasting seasonal fuel consumption for the building as a function of the historical daily fuel consumption, the adjusted internal gains, and the ratio terms, wherein the forecast seasonal fuel consumption QFuel* is determined in accordance with;
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Specification