Estimating energy savings and carbon offsets for buildings in real-time
First Claim
1. A method for real-time monitoring of an energy characteristic of a building, the method comprising:
- during nighttime steady-state conditions, recording nighttime steady-state thermal load data of the building and recording steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data of the building;
computing a heat transfer coefficient of the building from the nighttime steady-state thermal load data and from the steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data;
during nighttime transient conditions, recording transient indoor temperature data of the building and nighttime transient thermal load data of the building;
computing a thermal inertia of the building from the transient indoor temperature data and the nighttime transient thermal load data of the building;
during daytime, recording daytime thermal load data of the building, daytime indoor and outdoor temperature data of the building, and incident solar radiation data;
computing a solar radiation gain coefficient from the daytime thermal load data, the daytime indoor and outdoor temperature data, the incident solar radiation data, and the computed heat transfer coefficient;
estimating in real-time the energy characteristic of the building from the heat transfer coefficient, the thermal inertia, and the solar radiation gain coefficient, wherein the energy characteristic comprises (a) an energy performance of the building, or (b) a carbon offset of the building, or both (a) and (b).
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Accused Products
Abstract
Real-time monitoring of an energy characteristic of a building such as an energy performance of the building or a carbon offset of the building is performed by first computing a heat transfer coefficient of the building from nighttime steady-state thermal load data of the building and from nighttime steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data of the building. A thermal inertia of the building is then computed from nighttime transient indoor temperature data of the building and nighttime transient thermal load data of the building. During daytime, a solar radiation gain coefficient is computed from daytime thermal load data, daytime indoor and outdoor temperature data, incident solar radiation data, and the heat transfer coefficient. The energy characteristic of the building is then estimated in real time from the heat transfer coefficient, the thermal inertia, and the solar radiation gain coefficient.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for real-time monitoring of an energy characteristic of a building, the method comprising:
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during nighttime steady-state conditions, recording nighttime steady-state thermal load data of the building and recording steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data of the building; computing a heat transfer coefficient of the building from the nighttime steady-state thermal load data and from the steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data; during nighttime transient conditions, recording transient indoor temperature data of the building and nighttime transient thermal load data of the building; computing a thermal inertia of the building from the transient indoor temperature data and the nighttime transient thermal load data of the building; during daytime, recording daytime thermal load data of the building, daytime indoor and outdoor temperature data of the building, and incident solar radiation data; computing a solar radiation gain coefficient from the daytime thermal load data, the daytime indoor and outdoor temperature data, the incident solar radiation data, and the computed heat transfer coefficient; estimating in real-time the energy characteristic of the building from the heat transfer coefficient, the thermal inertia, and the solar radiation gain coefficient, wherein the energy characteristic comprises (a) an energy performance of the building, or (b) a carbon offset of the building, or both (a) and (b). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for determining thermal characteristics of a building, the method comprising:
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during nighttime steady-state conditions, recording nighttime steady-state thermal load data of the building and recording steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data of the building; computing a heat transfer coefficient of the building from the nighttime steady-state thermal load data and from the steady-state indoor and outdoor temperature data; determining from the heat transfer coefficient the thermal characteristics of the building, wherein the thermal characteristics comprise (a) a building energy score, (b) a building heating requirement, (c) a building energy retrofit estimate, (d) a building quality assurance value, or any combination of (a), (b), (c), and (d). - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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Specification