Adaptive environment control system
First Claim
1. An adaptive environment control system for dynamically modifying operation of an HVAC system to control interior temperature of a building as a function of thermal properties of the building, comprising:
- means for repeatedly determining the interior temperature and temperature outside of said building;
means connected to said determining means for repeatedly estimating, from said determined temperatures, values of said thermal properties;
means connected to said estimating means and responsive to said estimated values of said thermal properties for controlling the operation of said HVAC system based on said estimated values to bring the interior temperature of said building to a pre-set temperature at a predetermined time;
means connected to said estimating means for repeatedly predicting future values of said thermal properties from said estimated values; and
means connected to said estimating means and said predicting means for generating an alarm indication if values predicted for a given time differ from values estimated for said given time by more than a predetermined amount.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This adaptive environment control system provides an HVAC control system that adapts to the continually-changing thermal characteristics of the building in which it operates. The adaptive environment control system periodically estimates the thermal characteristics of the building and uses these estimates to control the operation of the HVAC system. The adaptive environment control system also periodically measures the performance characteristics of the HVAC system to obtain data with which to update these thermal characteristic estimates. These thermal characteristic estimates enable the adaptive environment control system to determine both the length of time it takes the building to heat up and cool down when the HVAC system idles, as well as the amount of time it takes the HVAC system to heat or cool the building. These measurements and estimates are taken on a dynamic basis so that the adaptive environment control system responds to any changes in the environment, either within or without the building, including degradation of the operation of the HVAC system. The adaptive environment control system can calculate, through the estimates and measurements, the thermal performance of both the building and the HVAC system, so that the HVAC system is operational sufficiently early to maintain the building interior temperature within a predetermined range of the set-point threshold level of the thermostat.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. An adaptive environment control system for dynamically modifying operation of an HVAC system to control interior temperature of a building as a function of thermal properties of the building, comprising:
- means for repeatedly determining the interior temperature and temperature outside of said building;
means connected to said determining means for repeatedly estimating, from said determined temperatures, values of said thermal properties; means connected to said estimating means and responsive to said estimated values of said thermal properties for controlling the operation of said HVAC system based on said estimated values to bring the interior temperature of said building to a pre-set temperature at a predetermined time; means connected to said estimating means for repeatedly predicting future values of said thermal properties from said estimated values; and means connected to said estimating means and said predicting means for generating an alarm indication if values predicted for a given time differ from values estimated for said given time by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- means for repeatedly determining the interior temperature and temperature outside of said building;
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13. An adaptive environment control system for controlling operation of an HVAC system to bring interior temperature of a building to a pre-set temperature, comprising:
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means for storing a set of building characteristic data; means for repeatedly determining the interior temperature and temperature outside of said building; means connected to said storing means and to said temperature-determining means and responsive to said building characteristic data and said determined temperatures for repeatedly estimating values of thermal properties of said building; means connected to said estimating means and responsive to said estimated thermal properties for controlling the operation of said HVAC system based on said estimated thermal properties to bring the interior temperature of said building to said pre-set temperature at a predetermined time; means connected to said estimating means for repeatedly predicting future values of said thermal properties from said estimated values; and means connected to said estimating means and said predicting means for generating an alarm indication if values predicted for a given time differ from values estimated for said given time by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of controlling operation of an HVAC system to regulate interior temperature of a building as a function of thermal properties of the building, comprising the steps of:
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repeatedly determining the interior temperature and temperature outside of said building; repeatedly estimating, from said determined temperatures, values of said thermal properties; controlling the operation of said HVAC system using estimated thermal properties to bring the interior temperature of said building to said pre-set temperature at a predetermined time;
repeatedly predicting future values of said thermal properties from said estimated values; andgenerating an alarm indication if values predicted for a given time differ from values estimated for said given time by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of controlling operation of an HVAC system to bring interior temperature of a building to a pre-set temperature, comprising the steps of:
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storing a set of building characteristic data; repeatedly determining the interior temperature and temperature outside of said building; repeatedly estimating values of thermal performance properties of said building using said building characteristic data and said determined temperatures; controlling the operation of said HVAC system using said thermal performance properties to bring the interior temperature of said building to said pre-set temperature at a predetermined time; repeatedly predicting future values of said thermal properties from said estimated values; and generating an alarm indication if values predicted for a given time differ from values estimated for said given time by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method of controlling operation of a building HVAC system comprising the iteratively-performed steps of:
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storing a set of building characteristic data; determining temperature inside of said building; determining temperature outside of said building; estimating values of thermal performance properties of said building using said building characteristic data and said determined inside and outside temperatures; controlling the operation of said HVAC system using said thermal performance properties to bring the interior temperature of said building to a pre-set temperature at a predetermined time; measuring operational characteristics of said HVAC system; calculating a new set of building characteristic data from said measured operational characteristics for storage in place of the previously-stored set of building characteristic data; predicting future values of said thermal performance properties from said estimated values; and generating an alarm indication if values predicted for a given time differ from values estimated for said given time by more than a predetermined amount. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46)
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Specification