Building energy management method and system

• US 20120035776A1
• Filed: 08/05/2010
• Published: 02/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trane Us Incorporated (Trane Technologies plc)
• Original Assignee: Valence Energy, Inc. (Serious Energy, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zaragoza, Alberto Fonts, Altamura, Frank Carl Jr., Dattatreya, Mohan Ram, Joshi, Himansho Monty
• Granted Patent: US 8,918,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 13/00006 characterised by information or instructions transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated power network element or electrical equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• 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: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/00 Management or operation of end-user stationary applications or the last stages of power distribution; Controlling, monitoring or operating thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/221 General power management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/12 characterised by data transport means between the monitoring, controlling or managing units and monitored, controlled or operated electrical equipment
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

An energy management system within a building obtains energy usage data over several cycles to determine a minimum feasible load. The minimum feasible load corresponds to operational conditions of the building, such as occupied or unoccupied. The energy usage data is binned according to the operational condition under which it was obtained. A threshold based on the minimum feasible load is used to monitor energy usage within the building and to identify anomalies in energy demand for possible action.

Claims

1. A method for managing energy usage within a building, the method comprising:

obtaining at least one energy usage value for an operational condition of the building over a cycle;

binning the at least one energy usage value according to the operational condition;

determining a minimum feasible load for the operational condition based on a plurality of binned energy usage values obtained over a plurality of cycles;

determining whether a data point for energy usage corresponding to the operational condition is above a threshold based on the minimum feasible load; and

taking an action when the data point is above the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an operational condition map having a plurality of operational conditions, including the operational condition.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the taking action step includes quantifying a cost for the data point above the threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring energy usage within the building on a periodic basis.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the minimum feasible load includes taking a median value of a plurality of minimum energy usage values for the operational condition.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the minimum feasible load after every cycle.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the taking action step includes storing the data point.

8. A method for managing energy usage within a building, the method comprising:

obtaining energy usage data points over a plurality of cycles for a plurality of operational conditions;

placing each energy usage data point into a bin within an operational conditions map having the plurality of operational conditions;

determining a minimum feasible load for each of the plurality of operational conditions based on the energy usage data points stored in bins of the operational conditions map; and

monitoring energy demand within the building according to a threshold based on the minimum feasible load according to each operational condition.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a data point for energy usage above the threshold.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising storing the data point.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining step includes determining a minimum energy usage data point for each bin for each cycle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining step includes determining a median value from the minimum energy data points, wherein the median value corresponds to the minimum feasible load.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the obtaining step includes obtaining energy usage data points from devices within the building.

14. An energy management system for a building comprising:

a network of at least one device to obtain energy usage data for the building, wherein the energy usage data is stored in a server; and

an energy system manager coupled to the network to determine a minimum feasible load for an operational condition of the building based on the energy usage data, wherein a problem condition is determined when an energy usage data point obtained over the network exceeds the minimum feasible load.

15. The energy management system of claim 14, wherein the at least one device obtains energy usage data for a unit within the building, such that each unit within the building produce energy usage data.

16. The energy management system of claim 14, wherein the energy usage data corresponds to energy use by a computer or electronics within the building.

17. The energy management system of claim 14, wherein the at least one device obtains energy usage data on a heat, ventilation, air conditioning system within the building.