System that Captures and Tracks Energy Data for Estimating Energy Consumption, Facilitating its Reduction and Offsetting its Associated Emissions in an Automated and Recurring Fashion

• US 20110137763A1
• Filed: 11/16/2010
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Dirk Aguilar
• Original Assignee: Dirk Aguilar
• Inventors: Aguilar, Dirk
• Application Number:
  US12/947,640
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137763A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/84 Greenhouse gas [GHG] management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/845 Inventory and reporting systems for greenhouse gases [GHG]

Abstract

A system and method for automatically and routinely capturing and tracking energy data, estimating energy consumption, facilitating the reduction of consumption, and offsetting energy emissions.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring energy usage and emissions in a system of users comprising:

creating a plurality of user profiles for a plurality of system users;

obtaining energy usage information from one or more user in the system of users;

analyzing the energy usage information obtained to track energy usage and to provide energy reduction recommendations to said plurality of users; and

reporting said recommendations to said plurality of users.

2. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 1, further comprising:

managing said plurality of users profiles via an administrative interface operatively coupled to said plurality of users via a network.

3. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 2, further comprising:

providing said plurality of system users with an offset marketplace that offers energy usage offsets.

4. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 3, further comprising:

tracking the sale of said energy usage offsets by purchasers;

charging said purchasers with a commission for each sale of said energy usage offset; and

accounting said commission to the operator of said administrative interface.

5. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 2, wherein energy reduction recommendations comprise referrals to consult with businesses offering energy reducing services.

6. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 5, further comprising:

tracking said referrals;

charging said businesses with a commission upon a user acting on said referral; and

accounting said commission to the operator of said administrative interface.

7. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 2, further comprising:

charging each of said plurality of system users with at least one fee for access to said profile and said recommendations; and

accounting said at least one fee to the operator of said administrative interface.

8. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining energy usage information further comprises one or more users from among said plurality of system users manually uploading energy usage information.

9. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining energy usage information further comprises automatically obtaining energy usage information by data mining said one or more users'"'"' financial records to determine an amount of money spent on energy

10. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 9, wherein said financial records are selected from among a group consisting of smart meter hardware and software;

online utility accounts;

travel planning tools, environmental data providers, energy monitors, vehicle electronics, financial institution accounts;

billing or payment notifications;

payment transactions;

personal finance software;

corporate finance applications;

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems; and

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.

11. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 9, wherein the step of automatically obtaining energy usage information further comprises calculating the amount of energy used by each of said one or more users by dividing the amount of money spent on energy by the cost per unit of energy.

12. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 9, wherein data mining said one or more users'"'"' financial records comprises linking at least one user profile with a personal finance software application configured for determining an amount of money spent on energy by said at least one user.

13. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 1, further comprising:

allowing a first user from among said plurality of users and at least one additional user from among said plurality of users to interact via a social interface.

14. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 2, further comprising:

configuring said administrative interface with an application programming interface (API); and

conditionally allowing at least one third-party developer access to said system of users via said API.

15. The method of monitoring energy usage and emissions according to claim 9, wherein the step of automatically obtaining energy usage information further comprises performing Enhanced Level II and Level III data capture techniques

16. An energy management system comprising:

an energy management processing engine comprising a processing core operatively coupled with at least one memory device and a network interface, wherein said energy management processing engine is operatively coupled with a plurality of users via said network interface, and wherein said plurality of users access said energy management processing engine via a browser-based graphical user interface;

an energy assessment module operatively coupled with said energy management processing engine, wherein said energy assessment module is configured for obtaining energy data from said plurality of users;

an energy optimization module operatively coupled with said energy management processing engine, wherein said energy optimization module is configured to analyze said energy data and to provide energy reduction recommendations to said plurality of users for reducing their energy usage; and

a reporting module configured for reporting said recommendations to said plurality of users.

17. The energy management system according to claim 16, wherein said energy assessment module is configured to access personal financial records of at least one user, and wherein said energy assessment module is configured for automatically obtaining energy data by data-mining said personal financial records.

18. The energy management system according to claim 16, wherein said energy assessment module is configured to accept manually uploaded energy data from at least one user.

19. The energy management system according to claim 16, further comprising an administrative accounting module configured for managing accounts for said plurality of users.

20. The energy management system according to claim 19, further comprising an energy offset marketplace module configured for providing said plurality of users with a point of sale for energy offsets.

21. The energy management system according to claim 20, wherein said administrative accounting module is further configured for tracking the sale of said energy usage offsets by purchasers, charging said purchasers with a commission for each sale of said energy usage offset, and accounting said commission to the operator of said administrative interface.

22. The energy management system according to claim 19, wherein said energy optimization module provides energy reduction recommendations in the form of referrals to consult with businesses offering energy reducing services.

23. The energy management system according to claim 22, wherein said administrative accounting module is further configured for tracking said referrals, charging said businesses with a commission upon a user acting on said referral, and accounting said commission to the operator of said administrative interface.

24. The energy management system according to claim 16, further comprising a social module configured for allowing a first user from among said plurality of users and at least one additional user from among said plurality of users to interact via a graphical user interface.

25. The energy management system according to claim 16, further comprising an interoperability module configured for conditionally allowing third-party developers access to said energy management system via an application programming interface (API).

26. An energy management system comprising:

an energy management processing engine comprising a processing core operatively coupled with at least one memory device and a network interface, wherein said energy management processing engine is operatively coupled with a plurality of users via said network interface, and wherein said plurality of users access said energy management processing engine via a local client application;

wherein said local client application comprises;

an energy assessment module configured for obtaining energy data from the user of said local client application;

an energy optimization module operatively coupled with said energy management processing engine, wherein said energy optimization module is configured to analyze said energy data and to provide energy reduction recommendations to said user for reducing energy usage; and

a reporting module configured for reporting said energy data to said energy management processing engine and for reporting said recommendations to said user

wherein said energy management processing engine further comprises;

an administrative accounting module configured for managing accounts for said plurality of users;

an energy offset marketplace module configured for providing said plurality of users with a point of sale for energy offsets based on said reporting of said energy data by said local client application.

27. The energy management system according to claim 26, wherein said administrative accounting module is further configured for tracking the sale of said energy usage offsets by purchasers, charging said purchasers with a commission for each sale of said energy usage offset, and accounting said commission to the operator of said administrative interface.

28. The energy management system according to claim 26, wherein said energy optimization module provides energy reduction recommendations in the form of referrals to consult with businesses offering energy reducing services.

29. The energy management system according to claim 28, wherein said administrative accounting module is further configured for tracking said referrals, charging said businesses with a commission upon a user acting on said referral, and accounting said commission to the operator of said administrative interface.