Continuous optimization energy reduction process in commercial buildings
First Claim
1. A method for optimizing energy use of a building of interest, said method comprising the steps of:
- determining the “
building characterization”
of said building of interest with the minimum amount of parametric data, where the step of determining said “
building characterization”
includes the sub steps of;
a. determining how said building of interest responds to current use by current occupants;
b. determining how said building of interest responds to external weather conditions;
c. determining how actual installed plant used to heat/cool and ventilate said building of interest interacts with said building of interest;
determining how the running times of said actual installed plant affect occupant comfort levels during one or more predetermined time periods,using said building characterization to model energy usage of said building of interest, so that for any time period of interest, said building of interest may be optimized with respect to the energy consumption of said building of interest.
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Abstract
The invention provides a method and system for optimizing energy usage (where “energy” means electric, gas, and other energy sources) in commercial buildings. In one embodiment of the invention, historical energy consumption data is used, along with occupant data, to determine appropriate adjustments in energy usage. The invention further provides for ongoing monitoring and reporting of energy savings.
A system according to the invention implements a process which consists of six stages of analysis: Usage/Energy Use Mapping and data collection, Occupant Comfort Analysis (aka Energy Zoning), Load Matching/Plant scheduling, Occupant Comfort Data Collection/Building Characterization, Design Iterative Building Energy Strategies and Energy Usage/Savings Reports/Detailed Advice Reports.
20 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for optimizing energy use of a building of interest, said method comprising the steps of:
-
determining the “
building characterization”
of said building of interest with the minimum amount of parametric data, where the step of determining said “
building characterization”
includes the sub steps of;a. determining how said building of interest responds to current use by current occupants; b. determining how said building of interest responds to external weather conditions; c. determining how actual installed plant used to heat/cool and ventilate said building of interest interacts with said building of interest; determining how the running times of said actual installed plant affect occupant comfort levels during one or more predetermined time periods, using said building characterization to model energy usage of said building of interest, so that for any time period of interest, said building of interest may be optimized with respect to the energy consumption of said building of interest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of collecting data pertaining to a building of interest, such that said data enables design of an energy model of said building of interest, and said energy model enables continuous optimization of said energy consumption of said building of interest.
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15. A method of continuous optimization of energy usage of a building of interest, said method providing means whereby the step of collecting a limited dataset provides a sufficient characterization of said building of interest thereby enabling design of iterative building energy strategies, such that an action plan whereby energy use of said building of interest may be minimized may be implemented.
Specification