Building management system controlling HVAC based on received HVAC, door, lighting, and occupancy states

• US 7,925,383 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2008
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kwon, Do-Hyung, Youn, Sang-Chul, Jeon, Duck-Gu
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett; Ryan A
• Application Number:
  US11/972,687
• Publication Number:
  US 20080186148A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,187 Days
• Field of Search: 700/275, 700/276, 700/277, 700/278, 700/19
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/40 Damper positions, e.g. open or closed
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2638 Airconditioning
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house

Abstract

A building management system controls an operation of a system related to state information provided from multiple systems within the building management system among the multiple systems. Because the building management system is operated to control the multiple systems in an interworking manner, the operation efficiency of the building management system can be improved.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a plurality of management systems in a building comprising:

establishing a network connection between a central controller and an air-conditioning management system, a door management system, a lighting control system, and an occupancy detection system provided in a building, wherein the network connection is based on a network protocol;

receiving a first state information from the air-conditioning management system including a state of an HVAC unit provided in the building;

receiving a second state information from the door management system including a state of a door positioned in the building;

receiving a third state information from the lighting control system including a state of a light in the building;

receiving a fourth state information from the occupancy detection system including an occupancy status of the building detected by the occupancy detection system;

retrieving at the central controller a predetermined building state control information stored on a database connected to the network;

determining at the central controller whether an operating state for the plurality of systems should be changed based on the retrieved predetermined building state control information and the received first state information that the HVAC unit is either on or off, the second state information that the door is either open or closed, the third state information that the lights in the building are on or off, and the fourth state information that the building is either occupied or unoccupied; and

transmitting a first control signal from the central controller to the air-conditioning management system to control the HVAC unit to be either on or off based on the determination whether the operating state should be changed, wherein the central controller determines that the operation of the HVAC unit should be stopped when the HVAC unit is on, the door has been open for a predetermined amount of time, the lights are turned off, and the building is unoccupied.

2. A central building management system for remotely managing a plurality of management systems in a building, comprising:

a plurality of network interface devices configured to establish a network connection between a central controller and an air-conditioning management system, a door management system, a lighting control system, and an occupancy detection system provided in a building, wherein the network connection is based on a network protocol;

a receiver provided on the central controller configured to receive a first state information from the air-conditioning management system including a state of an HVAC unit provided in the building, receive a second state information from the door management system including a state of a door positioned in the building, receive a third state information from the lighting control system including a state of lights in the building, receive a fourth state information from the occupancy detection system including an occupancy status of the building detected by the occupancy detection system, and receive a predetermined building state control information stored on a database connected to the network; and

a processor provided at the central controller configured to retrieve the predetermined building state control information, determine whether an operating state for the plurality of systems should be changed based on the retrieved predetermined building state control information and the received first state information that the HVAC unit is either on or off, the second state information that the door is either open or closed, a third state information that the lights in the building are either on or off, and the fourth state information that the building is either occupied or unoccupied, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit a first control signal from the central controller to the air-conditioning management system to control the HVAC unit to be either on or off based on the determination whether the operating state should be changed, wherein the central controller determines that the operation of the HVAC unit should be stopped when the HVAC unit is on the door has been open for a predetermined amount of time, the lights are turned off, and the building is unoccupied.