DETERMINING ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN A STRUCTURE

• US 20120065789A1
• Filed: 12/03/2010
• Published: 03/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Netesco, LLC
• Original Assignee: Netesco, LLC
• Inventors: Scelzi, Michael Craig, Scelzi, James, Vaitses, Allan H., Bonwell, William Shawn, Hartman, Mark Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,416 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/024 for remote indication
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/026 arrangements for monitoring a plurality of temperatures, e.g. by multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/00 Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 17/20 across a radiating surface, combined with ascertainment of the heat transmission coefficient materials therefor G01K17/08
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/04 the object to be measured not forming one of the thermoelectric materials
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 25/18 by investigating thermal conductivity by calorimetry G01N25/20; by measuring change of resistance of an electrically-heated body G01N27/18
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/00 Arrangements for measuring electric power or power factor G01R7/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 21/133 by using digital technique
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1393 characterised by the use of electric means
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 Inference or reasoning models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/00 Fire alarms; Alarms responsive to explosion
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 80/20 using renewable energy
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/84 Greenhouse gas [GHG] management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49007 Indicating transducer

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided for measuring the supply of a consumable product/energy source, such as electrical power, to a facility over time and analyzing the measurements to determine the consumption or supply of the product by one or more loads and/or sources in the facility, and to determine induced and residual heat flow through the facility'"'"'s envelope. Various aspects compare the measured supply of the consumable product to a database of consumption signatures, which characterize access to the consumable product by particular users. In doing so, costs for the product may be more accurately divided between different tenants of the facility without having to install individual services or measurement equipment for each individual tenant. Operating conditions and facility characteristics, such as temperatures, load factors, insulation factors, etc., may be further considered in determining a particular user'"'"'s access of the consumable product. To aid in the controlling of energy use, thermal resistance factors of the building are determined, which are based on the induced and residual heat flow through the facility. Various algorithms are used including smart agents (e.g. neural networks) to determine the consumption of the consumable product by a particular user, to create the database of consumption signatures, and to determine the thermal resistance factors.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a measured value of a consumable product supplied through a distribution system, the distribution system connecting multiple users in a facility to the consumable product;

retrieving one or more signatures from a database, each signature characterizing access to the consumable product by one or more of the multiple users; and

determining with an autonomous processor an amount of the consumable product accessed by a particular user of the multiple users based on the measured value and the one or more signatures including any divergence from common usage.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the autonomous processor determines the amount of the consumable product accessed by the particular user using an artificial intelligence process.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating with the autonomous processor a customized report of the access to the consumable product by the particular user over a fixed duration.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a cost for the access to the consumable product by the particular user over the fixed duration; and

generating with the autonomous processor a report including the cost.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the consumable product is a public electrical power utility and the cost is based on tiered utility rates over the fixed duration.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the consumable product is electrical power and the one or more users are electrical loads.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the consumable product is a public utility.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

autonomously measuring the consumable product supplied through the single service of the distribution system;

generating the measured value; and

transmitting the measured value to the autonomous processor.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple users include HVAC components or facility lighting.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an operating condition of the particular user, wherein the determining with the autonomous processor the amount of consumable product accessed by the particular user is further based on the operating condition.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

retrieving the operating condition from the database.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

receiving the operation condition as a measured value from the facility.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the operating condition includes, for a portion of a facility, one of a load factor, an area square footage, and an insulation factor.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the operating condition includes a measured count of persons within a portion of the facility.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

autonomously counting the number of persons within the portion of the facility;

generating the measured count; and

transmitting the measured count to the autonomous processor.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the operating condition further includes a time interval of when the persons are in the portion of the facility.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein the operating condition includes a temperature outside of the facility.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

requesting with the autonomous processor the measured value from a meter at the facility, wherein the autonomous processor is located remotely from the facility.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the measured value is received through a wireless communication network.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of the consumable product accessed by the particular user is an amount of the consumable product produced by the particular user.

21. A method comprising:

measuring access to a consumable product by a plurality of users over a fixed period of time;

determining with a processor one or more signatures based on the measured use by the plurality of users, each signature characterizing access to the consumable product by one or more of the plurality of users;

storing the signatures to a database.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the one or more signatures are combinable to uniquely reflect use of the consumable product by a combination of the plurality of users when the use by the combination is measured from a single service.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the consumable product is electrical power and each of the one or more of the multiple users is an electrical load or source.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein one of the signatures reflects an operating condition of the one or more of the multiple users characterized by the one signature.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

storing in the database a measured value of an operating condition for the one or more of the multiple users characterized by the one signature.

26. The method of claim 24 wherein the operating condition includes a measured count of persons within a portion of a facility served by the one or more of the multiple users characterized by the one signature.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein the operating condition includes a temperature outside of the facility.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the operating condition includes, for a portion of a facility, one of a load factor, a area square footage, and an insulation factor.

29. The method of claim 21 wherein the processor determines of the one or more signatures based on the measured use by the plurality of users using an artificial intelligence process.

30. A method comprising:

receiving, with an automated data collection processor, measurements of inside and outside environments of a building envelope, and measurements of one or more measured energy sources supplied through a building envelope; and

determining with the processor;

an induced heat flow through the building envelope produced by the one or more measured energy sources,

a residual heat flow through the building envelope based on the induced heat flow and changes in the inside and the outside environments, and

a thermal resistance of the building envelope based on the calculated residual heat flow and the changes between the inside and the outside environments.

31. The method of claim 30:

wherein the automated processor calculates the thermal resistance as a time function of the inside and outside environments approaching equilibrium, while the one or more measured energy sources have been inhibited from entering the building envelope.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the thermal resistance is based on the inside and outside environments measured until the inside environment reaches equilibrium with the outside environment.

33. The method of claim 31:

further including;

determining a thermal mass within the building envelope.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

including within a construction contract, a requirement that the building envelope meet a required thermal resistance which meets the determined thermal resistance.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

including within the construction contract, a requirement for determining monetary loss due to a difference between the required thermal resistance and the determined thermal resistance.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein the thermal resistance is determined to include conduction, infiltration, and solar radiation components of heat flow.

37. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

periodically updating the thermal resistance, wherein the measurements of inside and outside environments and the one or more measured energy sources supplied through the building envelope are monitored in real-time at a predetermined rate of sampling.

38. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

autonomously controlling the inside environment with a climate control system, based on the periodically updated thermal resistance, and a forecasted outside environment.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the autonomous controlling of the inside environment with the climate control system is further based on a thermal mass within the building envelope and a varying cost rate of at least one of the one or more measured energy sources.

40. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

determining variations in the thermal resistance resulting from variations over time of at least one of;

the inside environment, the outside environment, and one of the measured energy sources.

41. The method of claim 30, wherein the one or more measured energy sources includes human occupants, and wherein heat flow through the building envelope produced by the human occupants is determined by measured heat signatures of the human occupants entering the building envelope.

42. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

monitoring the inside environment with one or more temperature transducers embedded between layers of material forming the building envelope.

43. An apparatus comprising one or more processors and memory storing instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

receive measurements of inside and outside environments of the building envelope, and measurements of one or more measured energy sources supplied through a building envelope;

determine an induced heat flow through a building envelope produced by the one or more measured energy sources;

determine a residual heat flow through the building envelope based on the induced heat flow and changes in the inside and the outside environments, and

determine a thermal resistance of the building envelope based on the calculated residual heat flow and the changes between the inside and the outside environments.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to calculate the thermal resistance as a time function of the inside and outside environments approaching equilibrium, while the one or more measured energy sources have been inhibited from entering the building envelope.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the thermal resistance is based on the inside and outside environments measured until the inside environment reaches equilibrium with the outside environment.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to determine a thermal mass within the building envelope.

47. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the thermal resistance is determined to include conduction, infiltration, and solar radiation components of heat flow.

48. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to periodically update the thermal resistance, wherein the measurements of inside and outside environments and the one or more measured energy sources supplied through the building envelope are monitored in real-time at a predetermined rate of sampling.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to autonomously control the inside environment with a climate control system, based on the periodically updated thermal resistance, and a forecasted outside environment.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the autonomous controlling of the inside environment with the climate control system is further based on a thermal mass within the building envelope and a varying cost rate of at least one of the one or more measured energy sources.

51. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to determine variations in the thermal resistance resulting from variations over time of at least one of:

the inside environment, the outside environment, and one of the measured energy sources.

52. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the one or more measured energy sources includes human occupants, and wherein heat flow through the building envelope produced by the human occupants is determined by measured heat signatures of the human occupants entering the building envelope.

53. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to monitor the inside environment with one or more temperature transducers embedded between layers of material forming the building envelope.

54. One or more non-transitory computer readable medium having executable instructions stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors within a system, cause the system to:

receive measurements of inside and outside environments of the building envelope, and measurements of one or more measured energy sources supplied through a building envelope;

determine an induced heat flow through a building envelope produced by the one or more measured energy sources;

determine a residual heat flow through the building envelope based on the induced heat flow and changes in the inside and the outside environments, and

determine a thermal resistance of the building envelope based on the calculated residual heat flow and the changes between the inside and the outside environments.

55. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 54, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

calculate the thermal resistance as a time function of the inside and outside environments approaching equilibrium, while the one or more measured energy sources have been inhibited from entering the building envelope.

56. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 54, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

periodically update the thermal resistance, wherein the measurements of inside and outside environments and the one or more measured energy sources supplied through the building envelope are monitored in real-time at a predetermined rate of sampling; and

autonomously control the inside environment with a climate control system, based on the periodically updated thermal resistance, and a forecasted outside environment.

57. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 54, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to:

determine variations in the thermal resistance resulting from variations over time of at least one of;

the inside environment, the outside environment, and one of the measured energy sources.

58. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 57, wherein the one or more measured energy sources includes human occupants, and wherein heat flow through the building envelope produced by the human occupants is determined by measured heat signatures of the human occupants entering the building envelope.

59. A method of constructing building structure comprising:

assembling a first layer of the building structure;

detecting thermal resistance properties of the first layer using a thermal imaging camera before a second layer of the building structure is assembled over the first layer;

assembling the second layer of the building structure over the first layer; and

detecting thermal resistance properties of the second layer using the thermal imaging camera.