Automatic energy management and energy consumption reduction, especially in commercial and multi-building systems

• US 20080177423A1
• Filed: 08/14/2007
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intercap Capital Partners LLC
• Original Assignee: Intercap Capital Partners LLC
• Inventors: Noyes, Mark, Weaver, David, Brickfield, Peter J., Mahling, Dirk
• Granted Patent: US 8,078,330 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2203/20 Simulating, e g planning, reliability check, modelling or computer assisted design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/60 Limiting power consumption in the network or in one section of the network, e.g. load shedding or peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/64 The condition being economic, e.g. tariff based load management
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/003 Load forecast, e.g. methods or systems for forecasting future load demand
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/008 involving trading of energy or energy transmission rights
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/14 by switching loads on to, or off from, network, e.g. progressively balanced loading
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/3225 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 40/70 Smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the energy generation sector
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 80/10 Efficient use of energy, e.g. using compressed air or pressurized fluid as energy carrier
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/50 Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

Automatic energy management is provided, in even the most complex multi-building system. The necessity of a human operator for managing energy in a complex, multi-building system is reduced and even eliminated. Computer-based monitoring and computer-based recognition of adverse energy events (such as the approach of a new energy peak) is highly advantageous in energy management. Immediate automatic querying of energy users within a system of buildings for energy curtailment possibilities is provided. Such immediate, automatic querying may be answered by the energy users through artificial intelligence and/or neural network technology provided to or programmed into the energy users, and the queried energy users may respond in real-time. Those real-time computerized responses with energy curtailment possibilities may be received automatically by a data processing facility, and processed in real-time. Advantageously, the responses from queried energy users with energy curtailment possibilities may be automatically processed into a round-robin curtailment rotation which may be implemented by a computer-based control system. Thus, impact on occupants is minimized, and energy use and energy cost may be beneficially reduced in an intelligent, real-time manner. The invention also provides for early-recognition of impending adverse energy events, optimal response to a particular energy situation, real-time analysis of energy-related data, etc.

Claims

1-64. -64. (canceled)

65. A computer based method of avoiding a new energy peak, comprising:

priming a computer-based system with data as to energy peak(s) already reached in a building system;

for current energy usage in the building system, obtaining, in real-time, computer-readable data from which to automatically forecast if a new energy peak is approaching; and

real-time automatic processing the obtained computer-readable data to forecast whether or not a new energy peak is approaching.

66. The computer-based method of avoiding a new energy peak of claim 65, wherein the building system comprises at least two buildings.

67. The computer-based method of claim 66, including compiling a complete array of historical data in computer-readable form, determining one or more patterns thereform, and comparing therewith current real-time data to forecast if a new peak is going to be reached.

68. The computer-based method of claim 66, including neural network based prediction.

69. The method of claim 65, wherein, if the real-time automatic processing of the obtained computer-readable data provides a forecast that a new energy peak is approaching, initiating an immediate, real-time, automatic response.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein no human operator intervention is involved in either the automatic processing to forecast whether or not a new energy peak is approaching nor the immediate, real-time, automatic response to the forecast that a new energy peak is approaching.

71. The method of claim 69, wherein the computer-readable data from which to automatically forecast if a new energy peak is approaching comprises data from the energy users in the building system.

72. The method of claim 69, wherein the computer-readable data is from a source selected from the group consisting of sensing devices;

electric meters used for billing; and

information from individual devices.

73. The method of claim 69, wherein demand for each individual device is forecast based on temperature forecasts;

patterns historically observed and learned via artificial intelligence and under continual update; and

occupancy where the individual device is provided.

74-112. -112. (canceled)