Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080215186 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SOLAR AFFECTED ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL - The present invention relates to systems and methods for environmental control. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a solar affected environmental control system. The system includes a set of input devices, a priority device, an output device, and a control module. The input devices measure environmental values such as temperature, light, environmentally generated water heat, and environmentally generated electricity. The priority device interfaces with a user to define a goal that corresponds to a hierarchy of environmental objectives. For example, the goal may define temperature, visual light, and then environmentally generated electricity as the hierarchy in which the user wishes to prioritize the environmental objectives. The output device is an adjustable solar module that has an affect on the environmental values. For example, a rotatable skylight mounted panel may have an adjustable effect on both temperature and visual light, depending on the angle of rotation. The control module is an electrical device that includes a mathematical algorithm configured to correlate the environmental values and the user-defined goal so as to generate a set of output device settings. The control module is electrically coupled to the output device to facilitate adjustment according to the output device settings, so as to affect the environmental values in a manner consistent with the goal. A second embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for controlling a set of environmental values, including the acts of receiving environmental values, receiving a user-defined goal corresponding to a priority of environmental objectives, applying an algorithm to correlate the environmental values and the goal to generate a set of solar output device settings, and adjusting a solar output device according to the output device settings so as to affect the environmental values in a manner consistent with the goal. | 09-04-2008 |
20080294291 | BUILDING AUTOMATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING INTERACTING CONTROL LOOPS - A method for maintaining a first climate control setpoint for a first building zone having an environment that is effected by a second building zone's environment includes the steps of providing the first climate control setpoint to a first control loop configured to control the environment of the first building zone. The method further includes providing a second climate control setpoint to a second control loop configured to control the environment of the second building zone. The method yet further includes receiving information about the actual climate of the first building zone and the actual climate of the second building zone; and modifying the first climate control setpoint and the second climate control setpoint to compensate for interaction between the first control loop and the second control loop. | 11-27-2008 |
20090030555 | PRIORITY CONDITIONING IN A MULTI-ZONE CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM - A method and mechanism for performing a prioritized determining of a climate conditioning to be provided to a zone in a multiple zone structure. In one embodiment of the invention, the determining of a climate conditioning to be provided to a zone is to be a prioritized determining, where a climate control condition is determined to satisfy a priority condition of the first zone. In another embodiment, the first priority condition associated with the first zone is based at least in part on an assigning of a first priority to the first zone. | 01-29-2009 |
20090076658 | BUILDING CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD - The climate in a primary space within a building having a secondary space open to and above the primary space is controlled by creating a primary microclimate within the primary space that is resistant to convection phenomena in the primary and secondary spaces. When the temperature in the secondary space is higher than the temperature in the primary space, air is drawn from the secondary space and discharged into the primary space at an initial air exchange rate which causes the temperature in the primary space to rise and the temperature in the secondary space to fall. When the temperature in the primary space is greater than or equal to the temperature in the secondary space, the air exchange rate is set at a primary microclimate maintenance rate such that the temperature in the primary space remains equal to or greater than the temperature in the secondary space, thereby establishing the primary microclimate in the primary space. | 03-19-2009 |
20090112369 | SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING ROOM TEMPERATURE IN BUILDING USING PREDICTIVE CONTROL - In a building which has at least two floors, an apparatus for controlling and regulating room temperature having a hierarchical structure includes a predictive device on the top level, that provides optimal control of the use of at least one free energy source, and at least one device on a lower level which is used for feedback regulation of at least one additional energy source. The predictive device uses a building model and repeatedly optimizes the energy requirement or the energy costs. The regulation strategy of the predictive device uses characteristics of a passive heat accumulator of the building. | 04-30-2009 |
20090143917 | Residential Environmental Management Control System Interlink - Various ways of expanding the capability, practicality and/or convenience of residential environmental management systems are contemplated. In one embodiment, a residential environmental management system may include a first master control, a second master control and an interlink operably connected to the first and second master controls. The system may further include a user interface that is operably connected to the interlink. | 06-04-2009 |
20090171506 | ENERGY CONSERVATION SYSTEM - An energy conservation system is provided to lower energy consumption in an unoccupied room. A master controller provides control of power consumption to an occupant of a room through an occupant action to create an occupied mode and otherwise be in an unoccupied mode. A thermostat is controlled by the master controller. A radio frequency transceiver is located within the master controller and a second radio frequency transceiver remote from the master radio frequency transceiver is provided. The second radio frequency transceiver is coupled to an electrical switching circuit responsive to a radio frequency signal received from said radio frequency transceiver. A controlled power device is coupled to the electrical switching circuit such that an energy input to the device is controlled by the master controller in the unoccupied mode. | 07-02-2009 |
20090210095 | HUMIDITY CONTROL FOR MULTIPLE UNIT A/C SYSTEM INSTALLATIONS - An air conditioning (A/C) system that may have a plurality of air conditioning units disposed in different zones of an area that each operate to cool the different zones, a humidity sensor for sensing the humidity in the area, and a controller. The controller may be adapted to analyze a sensible heat load being experienced by each of the air conditioning units and to control a latent heat removal being performed by each air conditioning unit such that a percentage of latent heat removal performed by each air conditioning unit does not exceed a percentage of sensible heat removal being performed by each air conditioning unit. | 08-20-2009 |
20090216380 | Adaptive algorithm for setting the proportional integral (pi) gains in lag-dominated hvacr systems - A method to determine and apply PI gain constants to an HVAC PI controller used to control an HVAC component includes the steps of: recording an opened loop HVAC component dynamic step response; fitting the HVAC component dynamic response to a transfer function model; calculating the PI gain constants from the model; entering the calculated PI gains into a PI control algorithm; and running the PI control algorithm on the HVAC PI controller to control the HVAC component. The inventive method can be used with an HVAC system comprising, an HVAC system component; an HVAC system component controller electrically connected to the HVAC system component to control the operation of the HVAC system component; and a PI algorithm. The PI algorithm uses PI gain constants calculated from the open loop transfer function of the HVAC system component. | 08-27-2009 |
20090216381 | CLOSED DATA CENTER CONTAINMENT SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED METHODS - A containment system includes a control unit comprising a cooling system and a control panel in communication with the cooling system. The containment system also includes a containment unit in communication with the control unit for containing a plurality of electronic components. The containment unit includes a base including a damper, a plurality of sidewalls extending upwardly from the base, and a top overlying the base and having a passageway formed area. The base, the plurality of sidewalls and the top define a containment area there between for containing the plurality of electronic components. Cold air is passed from the cooling system to the base of the containment unit through the damper and into the containment area. Warm air is removed from the containment area through the passageway formed in the top thereof and back to the cooling system. The warm air removed from the containment area is cooled by the cooling system, and the control panel is adapted to be in communication with the electronic components contained in the containment area. | 08-27-2009 |
20090259342 | SURROGATE-BASED CONTROL SYSTEM - A system for surrogate control of a space that incurs an ineffective sensor connection with its controller for running environmental conditioning equipment to maintain the space at one or more certain environmental parameters such as temperature. A selection of a surrogate space from which the surrogate control is obtained, may be made by correlation of data over time and specifications of other spaces in a building complex. The surrogate control may be from the controller of the space selected for control of the space having the ineffective sensor connection. The surrogate space may be a construct of one or more spaces. It may be based on a virtual space that combines behaviors of other spaces for a good match. Diagnostics may be effected from information about spaces in the system. | 10-15-2009 |
20090276095 | Arrangement for Operating a Data Center Using Building Automation System Interface - An arrangement includes a computer server management system, a data management station of a building environmental control system and a data interface therebetween. The computer server management system is configured to coordinate the usage of a plurality of server computers, the computer server management system executing virtualization software configured to manage application processing on the plurality of server computers located in at least one data center. The data management station is operably coupled to controllers, sensors and actuators of the building environmental control system. The data management station is configured to provide at least some data via the data interface to the computer server management data system. | 11-05-2009 |
20090287355 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING HYDRONIC SYSTEMS HAVING MULTIPLE SOURCES AND MULTIPLE LOADS - A system and method are provided to control hydronic systems having a plurality of on-demand sources, semi-on-demand sources, and intermittent sources that are fluidly or thermally coupled to a plurality of load zones. The hydronic system device obtains performance measurements for system components to provide system metrics, including failure diagnostics, energy capture, and usage optimization. The hydronic system device may also calculate British Thermal Units produced and used by the plurality of sources and loads to calculate incentives, including renewable energy credits. | 11-19-2009 |
20100070087 | AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM - A remote controller includes a display part and an operation part. Since the display part switches plural kinds of specifications to display behavior and setting conditions of an air conditioner, plural kinds of specifications are prepared in the display part. From a central controller a communication part receives a command for air conditioning behavior of an air conditioner and switching of the display specification. The command includes packet for storing information which indicates switching of the display specification. As a result, the central controller can centrally and individually control both the air conditioning behavior of the air conditioner and switching of the display specification in the display part without operating the display part for each of the air conditioners from a distance. | 03-18-2010 |
20100070088 | AIR-CONDITIONING ALGORITHM FOR WATER TERMINAL FREE COOLING - A building air conditioning system control scheme to optimize water terminal capacity and create energy savings by utilizing a building management system signal to run in a mode that maximizes the conditions of the outside air to condition their local zones and potentially require no thermal pre-treatment of outside air by an air handling unit. | 03-18-2010 |
20100070089 | HVAC CONTROLLER USER INTERFACES - Controllers for controlling heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and cooling (HVAC) systems are provided. The controllers include graphical user interfaces for user adjustment of system settings. In certain embodiments, the graphical user interfaces may include slide bars for adjusting temperature set points. In certain embodiments, the graphical user interfaces may include selectable calendars for adjusting program schedules for the HVAC systems. In certain embodiments, the graphical user interfaces may include screens for adjusting a nightlight feature of the controller. | 03-18-2010 |
20100082162 | AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROL - An air conditioning system and control method to allow individual zone thermostats to directly control a variable capacity compressor and adaptively adjust the indoor supply air volume to meet zoning demands, without using static pressure or flow sensors or entering a set of pre-defined air flow values for each zone into a controller. The method controls an air conditioning system that is able to receive signals or commands from individual zone thermostats and give priority to a highest demand zone/thermostat. For example, a priority thermostat can be used to directly control the variable capacity compressor via an indoor controller and outdoor controller. | 04-01-2010 |
20100106329 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONING SYSTEM - An apparatus for controlling an environmental conditioning system serving an indoor space and having at least one environmental conditioning device coupled with a communication bus structure includes: (a) at least one user interface coupled with the communication bus structure for effecting access to the system by a user; and (b) at least one controller coupled with the communication bus structure for effecting operational control of the system. The at least one controller communicates on the communication bus structure with the at least one environmental conditioning device, the at least one user interface and any other devices coupled with the communication bus structure. The at least one user interface communicates on the communication bus structure with the at least one environmental conditioning device, the at least one controller and any other devices coupled with the communication bus structure. | 04-29-2010 |
20100106330 | DEVICE ABSTRACTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A DISTRIBUTED-ARCHITECTURE HEATING, VENTILATION AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM - The disclosure provides an HVAC data processing and communication network and a method of manufacturing the same. In various embodiments, the network includes a subnet controller configured to control networked devices via a data bus. The subnet controller is configured to be addressable over the data bus. An environmental sensor is configured to provide environmental data to the subnet controller, and is further configured to be addressable over the data bus independent of addressing the subnet controller. A user interface is configured to provide access by an operator to the network. The user interface is further configured to be addressable over the data bus independently of addressing the subnet controller and the environmental sensor. | 04-29-2010 |
20100106331 | EXTREMUM SEEKING CONTROL WITH ACTUATOR SATURATION CONTROL - An extremum seeking control method optimizes a control process for a plant such as an air handling unit. The method improves the performance of an extremum seeking control strategy by limiting, removing or preventing the effects of an actuator saturation condition, particularly as the extremum seeking control strategy relates to HVAC applications. | 04-29-2010 |
20100131109 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSESSING AND MANAGING DATA CENTER AIRFLOW AND ENERGY USAGE - A system and method for providing energy assessment and optimization in a data center that includes at least one cooling provider, and at least one cooling consumer, the at least one cooling consumer having cooling requirements. The method according to one aspect includes receiving data regarding cooling availability and power consumption for the at least one cooling consumer, cooling capacity of the at least one cooling provider, and a physical relationship between the at least one cooling consumer and the at least one cooling provider in the data center, storing the received data, determining airflow distribution effectiveness between the at least one cooling consumer and the at least one cooling provider, and displaying at least one value representative of the effectiveness of the distribution of airflow in the data center between the at least one cooling consumer and the at least one cooling provider. | 05-27-2010 |
20100174413 | Environmental Apparatus Control System - An environmental apparatus control system provides and transmits a message voluntarily to each resident as to the current control being made to residential space or environment in which the residents are presence. The system includes an apparatus for controlling the residential environment and a plurality of personal terminals belonging to individual residents in the residential environment. Each terminal is utilized to enter one of opposed demands with regard to the residential environment. The system analyzes which one of the opposed demands is predominant and determines a control project of controlling the apparatus in a direction of satisfying the predominant demand. An information provider is included in the system to provide a message indicating the number of each one of the opposed demands, and transmit the message to the personal terminals voluntarily. Thus, each resident can be regularly informed of the control project or how the control is made in consideration of the demands from the individual residents without making any particular requesting action. | 07-08-2010 |
20100204836 | Multi-Zone Controller for Pumps - The present invention relates to a multi-zone controller that may be attached to and control one or more pumps. The combination of multi-zone controller with a single zone pump enables that pump to provide water cooling for multiple applications either independently or simultaneously. For example, the multi-zone controller and single zone pump may be used in conjunction with multiple normally air cooled air conditioner or refrigeration condensers, or heat exchangers, and the like for cooling indoor or outdoor areas. The combination of multi-zone controller and a single zone pump is capable of cooling all zones simultaneously. Typical zones might be one or more air conditioner condensers, heat exchangers, or the like; or one or more outdoor or indoor areas. Misting around an air conditioner condenser is normally off and is triggered only when the air conditioning unit's compressor is running. Misting of an outdoor area is activated by turning on the exterior or interior mounted electrical wall switch controlling the zone for that outdoor area, or by turning on a switch for that zone mounted on the multi-zone controller, or on a multi-zone controller/pump assembly, or by remote control. | 08-12-2010 |
20100211224 | HEATING AND COOLING CONTROL METHODS AND SYSTEMS - The present invention is related to the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). More particularly, the present invention is related to methods and systems for controlled heating and cooling in order to reduce costs and the carbon footprint of said heating and cooling by optimizing the use of fresh air ventilation. The present invention is directed to mathematical algorithms incorporated into a controller and a method of determining control signals that are dependent on said mathematical algorithms and user programming that integrates information from multiple sensors, thermostats as well as weather information. Used in any home or building, the controller controls heating, cooling and ventilation systems in order to reduce costs and the carbon footprint of said heating and cooling by optimizing the use of fresh air ventilation. The controller works with typical HVAC systems generally in buildings and homes. The Smart-Stat algorithms are programmed into the controller and enable the controller to identify user-determined set-points alongside data from one or multiple internal temperature sensors. The user-determined set-points are also linked to time of day and day of week in a manner typical for typical thermostat devices available today. In such typical thermostat devices the controller will call for cooling or heating depending on the set points and conditions determined by the sensors in the building. The present invention is capable of interrupting the call for cooling or heating depending on whether the mathematical algorithms identify suitable outside weather conditions that permit the use of outside air cooling or outside air heating. Thus the call for heating or cooling can be redirected to call for ventilation instead of heating or cooling. | 08-19-2010 |
20100235004 | Predictive Conditioning In Occupancy Zones - A method and system for predictively controlling environmental conditions of multiple occupancy zones in an occupancy space are provided. Occupancy and environmental conditions of each of the occupancy zones are detected and identified. The detected occupancy is stored in an occupancy database. Patterns of occupancy of each of the occupancy zones are determined using the occupancy database. Future occupancy of the occupancy zones is predicted based on the occupancy patterns of the occupancy zones. The environmental conditions of the occupancy zones are controlled based on the detected occupancy and/or the predicted future occupancy. The environmental conditions of the occupancy zones in the occupancy space are thereby predictively controlled by simultaneously incorporating an occupant's desired settings, existing and historical temperature data within the occupancy space, and weather data. The predicted occupancy can be combined with demand response signal and energy tier rates to make optimal conditioning decisions. | 09-16-2010 |
20100262298 | System and Method for Climate Control Set-Point Optimization Based On Individual Comfort - A system and method for calibrating a set-point for climate control includes a sensor network having a plurality of sensors configured to report a climate condition. A database is configured to receive reports from the sensors and generate one or more profiles reflecting at least one of historic climate control information and occupant preferences. A controller is configured to receive information from the profiles to generate a set-point based upon an optimization program. The optimization program is implemented to balance competing goals to generate the set-point for controlling climate control equipment in accordance with the set-point. | 10-14-2010 |
20100298992 | System for Controlling the Heating and Housing Units in a Building - The present invention is a system for controlling the heating of a plurality of individual housing units in a building. The system includes at least one heating unit contained in each individual housing unit for heating said individual housing unit and a control unit coupled to each of the heating units for controlling the heat output of the control units. At least one outside temperature sensor is coupled to the control unit for providing the control unit with the measured temperature of the air outside the building. The control unit has an algorithm which is configured to decrease the heat output of the heating units when the temperature of the air outside the building increases beyond a predefined minimum outside temperature. | 11-25-2010 |
20100305761 | Automatic Mold and Fungus Growth Inhibition System and Method - Apparatus for automatic environmental control includes an enclosed, zoned structure. A heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is incorporated into the structure. Each zone includes separate controls, separately-controlled air flow into and out of each zone, and separate intake, vent, damper, thermostat and humidistat for each zone. Temperature and humidity are separately controllable for each zone, and controller is in communication with HVAC system for controlling HVAC system and for controlling the damper for each zone, the controller having a map comprising a plurality of relative humidity and temperature combinations and one or more actions for automatic execution based on the combinations of temperature and humidity. A temperature sensor, a relative humidity sensor are included in each zone, and an indicator array/interface panel is in communication with the controller. The system provides for the automatic elimination of environmental conditions favorable to mold and fungus growth for each zone individually. | 12-02-2010 |
20100318226 | INTELLIGENT GRID-BASED HVAC SYSTEM - An HVAC system includes a grid of intersecting ducts having one or more inlets, outlets, and intersections. Air may be received into the inlets and directed through the outlets into one or more zones of a building. One or more HVAC units may be connected to the inlets and mechanical valves may be located at the intersections to control the air flow through the grid. A control system may be provided to control the temperature of each zone by adjusting the mechanical valves (and/or turning selected HVAC units “on” or “off”). In certain embodiments, the HVAC system includes at least one reading device to read temperature preference information associated with an occupant of a zone. The control system may then align the temperature of the zone with the temperature preference information when the occupant is inside the zone. A corresponding method and apparatus are also disclosed herein. | 12-16-2010 |
20110022235 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMAL COORDINATION CONTROL AND SOFT REPAIR OF MULTIPLE ROOFTOP HEATING AND COOLING UNITS - Techniques are described that may be implemented in an adaptive control device to regulate multiple zone environmental units based upon multiple temperature values and multiple airflow values, where each temperature value and each airflow value is related to the temperature and the airflow in a specific zone. In an implementation, the input interface of the adaptive control device is configured to receive multiple temperature values and multiple air flow values from multiple zone sensors. The adaptive control device may calculate multiple operational values based on the multiple temperature values and the multiple air flow values. An operational value indicates a power state (e.g. power on/power off) for a zone environmental unit's fan, compressor, heater, exhaust fan, and damper. The adaptive control device's output interface is operable to transmit multiple sequencing commands to the plurality of zone environmental units. | 01-27-2011 |
20110054700 | SYSTEM FOR USING A PLURALITY OF REMOTE SENSING DEVICES FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT - A system for energy management using a plurality or remote sensor devices. The system includes a plurality of sensor device spatially disposed in one or more regions of a building structure. The sensor device comprises a sensor element coupled to a transmitter device, which can be selected from a format including Zigbee, Zwave, 6-LoWPAN, Ultra-Low-Power WiFi, RFID, Bluetooth, or others. The system also has a gateway apparatus. | 03-03-2011 |
20110077780 | HVAC CONTROLLER WITH CHECKOUT UTILITY - A zone control panel that is easy and intuitive to use and to program. In some embodiments, a zone control panel may be configured to have an easy to use, single level menu structure with, for example, a configuration mode and/or a checkout mode. The configuration mode may, if present, include a number of menu screens sometimes without any sub-menu levels. Likewise, the checkout mode may, if present, include a number of menu screens sometimes without any sub-menu levels. A mode selector may be provided to select a particular mode, after which, the menu screens that correspond to the selected mode may be sequentially displayed to the user. Other features and aspects are also disclosed. | 03-31-2011 |
20110082593 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING HYDRONIC SYSTEMS HAVING MULTIPLE SOURCES AND MULTIPLE LOADS - A system and method are provided to control hydronic systems having a plurality of sources, including at least one of an on-demand source, a semi-on-demand source, and an intermittent source that are fluidly or thermally coupled to a plurality of load zones. The hydronic system device obtains performance measurements for system components to provide system metrics, including failure diagnostics, energy capture, and usage optimization. The hydronic system device may also calculate British Thermal Units produced and used by the plurality of sources and loads to calculate incentives, including renewable energy credits. | 04-07-2011 |
20110112693 | Water cooling system of building structure for air conditioning system - A water cooling control for a building structure includes a temperature sensor device and a zone controller. The temperature sensor is adapted for detecting a temperature difference of the water at each of the end loop terminals of the duct system for determining the amount of heat removed from the respective heat exchanger in responsive to heat exchange of the water. The zone controller is operatively linking with the temperature sensor device for adjustably regulating a flow rate of the water through a control valve of the delivering device in responsive to said temperature difference at each thermal zone until the water is maintained at the optimum flow rate to ensure the respective heat exchanger being operated at an optimum condition while being energy efficient. | 05-12-2011 |
20110112694 | Cooling Medium Distribution Over A Network Of Passages - A system for managing distribution of a cooling medium includes a sensor configured to detect a condition, a first agent configured to receive the detected condition and to determine whether a characteristic of the cooling medium controlled via a first actuator is to be manipulated based upon the detected condition. The system also includes a second agent configured to receive at least one of the detected condition and the flow manipulation determination of the first actuator and to determine whether a characteristic of the cooling medium controlled by a second actuator is to be manipulated based upon the at least one of the detected condition and the characteristic manipulation determination of the first actuator. | 05-12-2011 |
20110118880 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POLICY BASED AUTOMATED CONTROL OF BUILDING EQUIPMENT USING SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT - A system and method for automated control of building equipment. Systems management information including, for example, key stroke information, mouse movement information, host name information and/or IP address information may be utilized to determine a location of a managed resource in a building from which the systems management information is received. Based on, the systems management information, the determined location and/or one or more policies, one or more requests to control appropriate building equipment may be triggered. | 05-19-2011 |
20110130881 | CENTRAL AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM - Regarding rooms other than a room being targeted, a controller controls the rooms in energy-saving conditioning mode when a person is not detected in the rooms, even when the rooms are scheduled to be controlled in ordinary conditioning mode in a temperature control schedule. At this time, when the controller judges that the person has exited the room, the controller controls the targeted room in energy-saving conditioning mode, in rapid conditioning mode. As a result, the room is rapidly conditioned such that the temperature changes from an energy-saving temperature t to an ordinary set temperature by the time the person who has exited the room enters the room. As a result, unnecessary conditioning of the room set to be conditioning in ordinary conditioning mode can be reduced, and energy consumption can be reduced. In addition, comfort of the person entering the room can be ensured by prediction of the movement of the person. | 06-02-2011 |
20110137468 | Optimized Control System For Cooling Systems - A cooling system for providing conditioned air to a facility includes a chiller or other cooling subsystem, a cooling tower subsystem and one or more air handling units or process cooling units. The cooling subsystem may advantageously include one or more chillers (e.g., variable speed chillers, constant speed chillers, absorption chillers, etc.) and chilled fluid pumps. The cooling tower subsystem includes one or more cooling tower units and condenser fluid pumps. In some implementations, the air handling unit has a cooling coil and a variable volume fan. In some implementations, direct expansion (DX) cooling systems comprise compressors, evaporators and air-cooled, water-cooled or evaporatively-cooled condensing systems. Such systems can be controlled to reduce energy waste, improve occupant comfort and/or improve the thermal characteristics of the process cooling unit. The cooling system further comprises a control system which is configured to evaluate a cooling load value at the air handling unit and use the cooling load value to calculate at least one operational setpoint. The operational setpoint may advantageously be selected to improve the energy efficiency of the overall cooling system. | 06-09-2011 |
20110166710 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO SIMULATE AND OPTIMIZE WHOLE BUILDING COMFORT AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE - A method and system for balancing user comfort with energy conservation in an energy management system having a plurality of electrical devices includes a dial system in communication with the energy management system. Movement of a movable member of the dial system between the first extreme and the second extreme commands the energy management system to change the operating settings of the plurality of electrical devices. A method for optimizing energy conservation in a building having an energy management system with a plurality of electrical devices includes inputting and defining fixed and variable building parameters, as well as building usage conditions predicting building usage. The variable building parameters are varied to minimizing energy consumption by the energy management system in accordance with the fixed building parameters and the predicted building usage. | 07-07-2011 |
20110172830 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING HYDRONIC SYSTEMS HAVING MULTIPLE SOURCES AND MULTIPLE LOADS - A method and system for designing and controlling a hydronic apparatus. In one aspect of the invention, the system includes a computing device having a first receiver that receives input data, in which the input data includes environmental data and hydronic apparatus data. The computing device also includes a first processor that communicates with the first receiver. The first processor processes the received input data into configuration data that includes a hydronic apparatus layout. The hydronic apparatus layout indicates a plurality of hydronic components and fluid connections between the hydronic components. The computing device also includes a transmitter that transmits the configuration data. The system also includes a controller that has a stored set of rules and a second receiver that receives the configuration data. The controller includes a second processor that processes the received configuration data to correlate the configuration data with the default rules and select a corresponding subset of the set of default rules. | 07-14-2011 |
20110190945 | AIR-CONDITIONING CONTROL APPARATUS - An air-conditioning-control apparatus of an air-conditioning system, which includes a plurality of air conditioners respectively provided in a plurality of sections obtained by virtually dividing a space to be air-conditioned, the conditioners configured to set the sections at desired temperatures, respectively, includes: a people-detection unit to detect presence or absence of a person in each of the sections; a memory to store temperature-adjustment data, for adjusting a setting temperature in each of the air conditioners, which is of a plurality of types each in accordance with a pattern of presence or absence of a person in each of the sections; and an adjustment unit to select the temperature-adjustment data of a pattern corresponding to a detection result of the people-detection unit from among the temperature-adjustment data of a plurality of types, and adjust the setting temperature of each of the air conditioners in accordance with the selected temperature-adjustment data. | 08-04-2011 |
20110190946 | Method And System Of Energy-Efficient Control For Central Chiller Plant Systems - A method of energy-efficient control for central chiller plant systems includes the following steps: collecting performance characteristics of each piece of equipment in central chiller plant systems and establishing energy models for each piece of equipment in central chiller plant systems and establishing energy models for each piece of equipment according to performance characteristics; sampling, with a predetermined time interval, actual cooling load of central chiller plant systems, computing optimized system working conditions based on actual cooling load and energy models of each piece of equipment, wherein optimized system working conditions ensure the least global energy consumption of all of equipment in central chiller plant systems; adjusting working conditions for each piece of equipment according to optimized system working conditions; and repeating steps of collecting, sampling and adjusting. An energy-efficient control system for central chiller plant system is also disclosed. | 08-04-2011 |
20110202184 | METHOD OF STUDENT COURSE AND SPACE SCHEDULING - A method of associating the timing of academic course offerings with teaching space availability and/or the parking need for buildings and/or the heating and cooling load requirements of the buildings used in the academic course offerings is provided, the method being operated on a computer system. | 08-18-2011 |
20110202185 | ZONE BASED ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - According to an aspect of the disclosure, a zone based energy management system includes controlling at least one network device at a site using the proximity detection of a mobile device which may be based upon the detection of a plurality of zones. The network device may be a thermostat associated with the HVAC system of the site or other energy consuming appliances. Each of the zones may be associated with a corresponding temperature set-point of the thermostat or other energy consuming device where the temperature set point corresponding to a zone may be different from the temperature set points corresponding with each of the other zones. | 08-18-2011 |
20110231019 | CENTRAL AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM - A central air-conditioning system conditions a house having a plurality of rooms. When a person is not present in any of the rooms, each room is conditioned in energy-saving conditioning mode having a low load. On the other hand, when the person is detected in any of the rooms, a controller switches an operating mode for conditioning the room, in which the person is detected, from the energy-saving conditioning to rapid conditioning. Air-conditioner ducts respectively connected to the remaining rooms are closed. Therefore, cold air or warm air from an air-conditioning unit is supplied to the room in which the person is detected, while the cold air or warm air is not supplied to the rooms in which the person is not present. As a result, the room that has been switched from energy-saving conditioning to rapid conditioning is conditioned in a concentrated manner. | 09-22-2011 |
20110238223 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HEALTHY HOME ZONING CONTROL CONFIGURED FOR EFFICIENT ENERGY USE AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY RESOURCES - A system provides space conditioning zone control in a building for efficient energy use and conservation of energy resources. The system includes an energy transfer module coupled to a solar thermal system to receive a first airflow and an auxiliary thermal module coupled to the energy transfer module for processing a return airflow to provide a conditioned airflow for one or more spatial zones. The system further includes a zone controller coupled directly to the auxiliary thermal module and a thermostat in each spatial zone for operating the auxiliary thermal module. Furthermore, the system includes a master control module wirelessly communicated with each thermostat and configured to operate the energy transfer module. The master control module initiates a transfer of the first airflow based upon a first setpoint before the zone controller initiates a generation and transfer of the conditioned airflow based upon a second setpoint. | 09-29-2011 |
20110251725 | UTILITY CONTROL SYSTEM - A utility control system governs provision of genuine on-demand lighting, as well other utilities as in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”) in territories of a building in accordance with occupant demand. In lighting control, the present invention enacts on-demand illumination anterior to the occupant entering a normally dimmed/unlighted territory; lighting is provided immediately anterior to occupant entry into an oncoming territory. As the occupant leaves each territory, lighting provision is suspended/terminated in that territory for energy conservation. Signals and commands received by the utility control system from a plurality of override switches, interactive sensors and occupancy sensors within each monitored territory, as well as the control units of an elevator control system (“ECS”), a Building Management System (“BMS”) and a client computer govern the utility control system for configuring automated lighting provision. The utility control system predicts an occupant traversal path and provides the occupant with the best-suited lighted environments in each territory of the occupant traversal path. | 10-13-2011 |
20110257793 | AIR CONDITIONER - Disclosed is an air conditioner which can obtain an energy-saving effect without any change to the setting temperature set by a user and, accordingly, without causing discomfort to the user. If a capacity restriction mode is set to at least one of indoor units Y | 10-20-2011 |
20110257794 | LOAD PROCESSING BALANCE SETTING APPARATUS - A load processing balance setting apparatus includes first and second air-conditioners for targeted first and second areas, a calculating unit, a determining unit and an adjusting unit. The first area is included within the second area. The calculating unit calculates a sum of an air-conditioning load for the first and second air-conditioners. Preferably, the determining unit determines a first and second processing throughputs for the first and second air-conditioners so that a COP (Coefficient of Performance) for the sum of the air-conditioning loads calculated by the calculating unit is maximized or is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, or so that a power consumption level for the sum of the air-conditioning loads calculated by the calculating unit is minimized or is equal to or less than a predetermined level. The adjusting unit controls the first and second air-conditioners based on the first and second processing throughputs. | 10-20-2011 |
20110257795 | THERMOSTAT METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING SOLAR ENERGY UTILIZATION FOR EFFICIENT ENERGY USAGE AND CONSERVATION OF ENERGY RESOURCES - A system for controlling solar energy utilization for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy resources for providing space conditioning and home ventilation. The system includes a control module configured to operate a solar energy system for collecting a flow of fresh air for utilizing thermal energy converted by the solar energy system. Additionally, the system includes a thermostat module directly coupled with an HVAC system to for controlling a delivery of a conditioned airflow. The thermostat device couples wirelessly to the control module. Further, the system includes a graphic user interface operably communicating with the control module remotely via a network hub. The graphic user interface device is configured to set modes of operation for the thermostat module and configured to communicate with the thermostat module for transmitting control information, modes of operation, and temperature information of the building structure to the control module via a wireless transmission. | 10-20-2011 |
20110264278 | PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A property management system is provided. The property management system includes a property management console that is coupled to a plurality of building subsystems. The property management console aggregates data from the building subsystems, historical databases, and external sources such as weather predications. From the aggregated data, property management console displays information for a building manager indicating the current energy consumption and expected energy consumption. The property management console further allows the building manager the ability to drill down into the data by selecting one of the aggregated indicators. | 10-27-2011 |
20110307102 | Modular System For Data Center - A modular computing system for a data center includes one or more data center modules including rack-mounted computer systems. An electrical module is coupled to the data center modules and provides electrical power to computer systems in the data center modules. One or more air handling modules are coupled to the data center modules. The data center module may include two pre-fabricated portions, each portion including a row of racks of computer systems. The two computing module portions of the data center module may combine to form a computing space when coupled to one another. | 12-15-2011 |
20120022702 | AIR CONDITIONER AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - An air conditioner and a method of controlling the same are disclosed herein. The method of controlling the air conditioner includes receiving an electric power rate information, and distributing an internal air from a first indoor room to a second indoor room to reduce a temperature difference between a plurality of indoor rooms. During periods of peak power rates, costs associated with operating the air conditioner may be reduced by limiting operation of the indoor and outdoor units, while adjusting the temperatures of the indoor rooms by distributing air among the plurality of the indoor rooms. | 01-26-2012 |
20120022703 | AIR CONDITIONER AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - An air conditioner and an associated control method are provided in which performance of one or more indoor units may be adapted so as to minimize power consumption while maintaining cooling/heating effectiveness. The method may include receiving electric power related information, determining whether a current power rate included in the received information is higher than a preset reference value, determining a temperature distribution of at least one space to be air conditioned if the current power rate is higher than the preset reference value, and individually controlling a plurality of indoor units provided to the at least one spaced based on the determined temperature distribution. | 01-26-2012 |
20120041603 | SYSTEM FOR THE CENTRAL CONTROL OF OPERATIONAL DEVICES - The present invention describes a system for the central control of operational devices, and in particular an improved system for the central control of operational devices in a plurality of spaces or buildings which uses energy, for example heating energy, cooling energy or light energy, more efficiently. The system comprises at least two operational device controllers for controlling at least two operational devices and is designed to receive a control signal; at least two sensors for detecting the operational state in at least two spaces; at least one control unit in a building which is designed to receive an operational state-detection signal and for transmitting a control signal; and a central control unit which is communicatively connected to the at least one control unit for transmitting and receiving signals, wherein the control unit generates the control signal on the basis of operational state setpoint value information in a signal from the central control unit. | 02-16-2012 |
20120041604 | System For Controlling An Ambient Air Parameter - A control system for controlling at least one environmental parameter, such as temperature or air quality, in an operating area in response to sensor signals. The system includes a central control unit, actuators and mobile sensor units, and also at least one, preferably a plurality, of communication nodes which are placed in the operating area. Each one of the communication nodes is configured to mediate signals between the sensor units and the central control unit in a monitoring area by wirelessly receiving sensor signals from sensor units located within its monitoring area and forwarding the sensor signals to the central control unit. A monitoring area of a communication node is defined by the signal coverage of the communication node. | 02-16-2012 |
20120072031 | SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY DAMPER/REGISTER UNIT - A HVAC controls system for zone controls that is comprised of one or more Wall Sensor Units (WSU) and zero or more Damper/Register Units (DRUs). The invention is a low networked cost solution for residential and light commercial that is easy to install in new and existing building. The WSUs detect, log and use occupancy data to predict where in a building HVAC conditioning is needed and to save energy where it is not needed. The DRU use shape memory alloy wires to control the opening and closing of a damper plate with very little power allowing batter operation. | 03-22-2012 |
20120078422 | INTERFACING CLIMATE CONTROLLERS AND COOLING DEVICES | 03-29-2012 |
20120116595 | INFORMATION APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPTIMIZING COOLING EFFICIENCY OF AIR CONDITIONER - An air conditioner that cools inside a room wherein a plurality of server apparatuses is arranged, is driven with high efficiency. An information apparatus is communicatively coupled to a plurality of server apparatuses each capable of implementing a virtual server, stores a relation between a cooling performance and a cooling efficiency of an air conditioner that cools a room wherein the server apparatuses are arranged stores a history of load on each of the server apparatuses, the load being generated by a virtual server implemented in the server apparatus, creates a plurality of virtual server allocation patterns having varying allocations of virtual servers to be implemented by the server apparatuses, simulates, for each of the created allocation patterns, an amount of heat generation of each of the server apparatuses on the basis of the history of load on the server apparatus, seeks a cooling performance required to be offered by the air conditioner on a basis of the simulated amount of heat generation, and identifies the allocation pattern with which the cooling efficiency corresponding to the sought cooling performance is not less than a threshold set in advance. | 05-10-2012 |
20120158190 | HOME HEATING SERVER - A server computer may be located at a home or business and may be used for heating the home or business. The server computer may operate a distributed cloud based application and may generate heat in response to application load. The server computer may have an air or water based heat exchanger that may integrate into various heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to use the heat generated by the server. In some embodiments, a thermostat may regulate the application load on the server computer as controlled by a cloud based controller. | 06-21-2012 |
20120165992 | Fuel Economizer Algorithm for Hydronic and Steam Heating Systems - An economizer component of a controller used for fuel efficient temperature regulation of a medium circulated through a zone within a hydronic and steam heating system is disclosed. The controller component includes an input interface adapted to determine if the system requires heat based on receiving one or more of a call for heat from the zone, or an indication that a burner of the system is active. The component further includes a dynamic adaptation module configured to provide a burner control signal for heating the system if required. The control signal has an adjustable high limit, and the dynamic adaptation module is configured to increment the adjustable high limit by an increment value, to a value no greater than a maximum high limit, if it is determined that the system requires heat, and decrement the adjustable high limit by a decrement value, to a value no lower than a minimum high limit, if it is determined that the system does not require heat. The component is configured to dynamically adapt to changing heating system requirements received by the input interface. The component is adjusted by the dynamic adaptation module, to control the burner by way of the burner control signal to efficiently regulate the temperature of the medium circulated through the zone within the heating system. | 06-28-2012 |
20120197445 | AIR-CONDITIONER OPERATION CONTROLLING DEVICE AND METHOD - An air-conditioner operation controlling device controls each individual air-conditioner in a server room wherein are disposed a plurality of server racks for containing servers and a plurality of air conditioners for cooling the server racks. The air-conditioner operation controlling device includes an air-conditioning load calculating portion calculating air-conditioning loads of zones handled by individual air-conditioners from electric current values of the individual server racks; and a controlling portion controlling each individual air-conditioner through outputting, to each individual air-conditioner, a return air temperature setting value, by calculating, for each individual air-conditioner, a return air temperature setting value so that the supply air temperature for each of the air-conditioners is no less than a specific value, based on the air-conditioning loads and on the maximum temperature differentials between the return air temperature and the supply air temperature for each individual air-conditioner. | 08-02-2012 |
20120203381 | MANAGING AN INFRASTRUCTURE HOUSING DISAGGREGATED HEAT SOURCES - In a method for managing an infrastructure housing a plurality of disaggregated heat sources, in which a first disaggregated heat source has different heat dissipation characteristics as compared with a second disaggregated heat source, cooling requirements for the disaggregated heat sources are determined, in which the first disaggregated heat source and the second disaggregated heat source are to be positioned in separate homogeneous zones of the infrastructure. In addition, a respective available cooling resource is associated with the disaggregated heat sources based upon the determined cooling requirements of the disaggregated heat sources. | 08-09-2012 |
20120232701 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING ENERGY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR BUILDING SYSTEMS - The present invention provides a method and system for optimizing building energy usage. The method comprising receiving a plurality of input values associated with a building or plurality of buildings. The method then constructs a thermal and an electrical load model based on the inputs and constructs an overall energy model, the overall energy model being based on the thermal and electrical load models. The method next generates a plurality of demand models and optimizes the demand models using complex multivariate optimization techniques, wherein optimizing is based on usage data and energy rules. Finally, the method displays recommendations based on the optimized model or generating real-time, complementary control instructions based on the optimized model, the determination based on client preferences. | 09-13-2012 |
20120232702 | SETPOINT OPTIMIZATION FOR AIR HANDLING UNITS - An approach for providing setpoint optimization for air handling units. An area for such optimization may incorporate choosing a thermal comfort level index, finding a zone air properties target area and computing a supply air properties target area. Beyond the present approach, an outdoor air portion may be optimized, a feasible psychrometric path found, supply airflow versus temperature optimized, and a controller run to meet setpoints. | 09-13-2012 |
20120239208 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING FANS IN HEATING, VENTILATING, AND AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS - Systems, apparatus, and methods of controlling a variable-speed fan of an environmental maintenance module that controls temperatures of a plurality of zones of a building are provided. A first critical zone of the building is identified by analyzing the first zone temperature errors, which are used to determine a final speed setting of the variable-speed fan. Systems, apparatus, and methods of calibrating an environmental maintenance module that controls a temperature of a zone of a building are also provided. A location parameter is calculated for a plurality of zone temperatures, and a scale parameter is computed that quantifies a variation of the zone temperatures relative to a location parameter. A first temperature setpoint for the zone is determined and used in controlling the temperature of the zone. | 09-20-2012 |
20120253524 | Method of Adaptive Control of a Bypass Damper in a Zoned HVAC System - A zoned HVAC system comprises an HVAC unit including a climate control system and an air mover. In addition, the system comprises a supply air duct in fluid communication with the outlet of the HVAC unit. Further, the system comprises a return air duct in fluid communication with the inlet of the HVAC unit. Still further, the system comprises a plurality of zones positioned between the supply air duct and the return air duct. Moreover, the system comprises a bypass duct extending between the supply air duct and the return air duct. The bypass duct includes an active bypass damper having an open position, a closed position, and a plurality of partially opened positions. The system also comprises a control device configured to control the position of the bypass duct. | 10-04-2012 |
20120253525 | AIR-CONDITIONING CONTROLLING SYSTEM - An air-conditioning controlling system having a controlling device controlling the operation of air-conditioning equipment based on setting information that has been set up in advance, and including an operating terminal wherein setting information can be changed by an occupant of an applicable area of the air-conditioning equipment, connected to the controlling device through a communication circuit, wherein the occupant is able to check what type of control operation is scheduled, prior to changing a setting for the applicable equipment, through scheduled operating information for the future for the specified applicable equipment being sent to the operating terminal that is operated by the occupant, thus enabling the occupant to consider individual countermeasures rather than changing the settings easily, not only making it possible to maintain the energy conservation effect of the air-conditioning controlling system as a whole, but also making it possible to increase the energy conservation awareness of the occupant. | 10-04-2012 |
20120296479 | ELECTRICAL THERMAL STORAGE WITH EDGE-OF-NETWORK TAILORED ENERGY DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A method and apparatus of controlling the electric power usage of electric thermal storage heaters and systems are based on: 1) current and recorded measurements local to the heater and building; 2) current measurements external to the heater and building; 3) forecasts communicated to the apparatus. The method also includes sending out communications about power use as well as various other local measurements. The apparatus has local controls on the electric thermal storage, including but not limited to the relays that control flow of power into the heating elements, a logic module that integrates the local controls, as well as communication channels that extend outside the building to entities capable of providing automatic forecasts and potentially other types of information not available locally. | 11-22-2012 |
20120296480 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PREDICT OPTIMIZED ENERGY CONSUMPTION - A system receives an energy demand response schedule, one or more user preferences, and one or more predicted environmental variables into a computer processor. The system generates an optimized energy schedule as a function of the demand response schedule, the user preferences, and the predicted environmental variables. The optimized energy schedule includes one or more of a set point temperature variation in one or more zones, an air handling unit set point temperature variation, a chilled water set point temperature variation, a carbon dioxide level set point variation, a pre-cooling time shift, a pre-cooling duration variation, and a load based optimized chiller schedule. The system transmits the optimized energy schedule to a building management server. | 11-22-2012 |
20120323377 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MONITORING AN AIR FILTER OF AN HVAC SYSTEM - Methods and systems for monitoring an air filter installed in an HVAC system may include operating the HVAC system in an air filter monitoring mode such as, for example, a fan only mode, and measuring, for example, a differential pressure across the air filter when the HVAC system is operating in the air filter monitoring mode. The method may include evaluating a status of the air filter using, for example, the measured differential pressure value, and in some cases, display the status on a display of an HVAC controller. | 12-20-2012 |
20130046410 | METHOD FOR CREATING VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTAL SENSOR ON A POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT - A method for creating virtual environmental sensor on a power distribution unit is executed by a power distribution unit and has steps of connecting to a network and at least one power-consuming device, searching all environmental sensors through the network, receiving environmental condition messages sent from each environmental sensor, presenting at least one environmental condition range to determine if the environmental condition messages sent from each environmental sensor are out of one of the at least one environmental condition range, and powering on or off a corresponding power-consuming device when each environmental condition message is out of a corresponding environmental condition range. Using the method can create remote environmental sensors networked with the PDU and solve the expansion restriction, spatial limitation and intractable wiring arising from the environmental sensor embedded in the conventional PDU in the form of hardware. | 02-21-2013 |
20130066473 | Generating Thermal Zones - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a storage medium, for generating thermal zones. In one aspect, a method includes identifying a perimeter zone for a first portion of a conceptual representation of a building; and dividing the perimeter zone into a plurality of thermal zones, comprising: determining a plurality of first candidate thermal zones based at least in part on a maximum thermal zone angle threshold that each of the first candidate thermal zones satisfy, determining a plurality of second candidate thermal zones based at least in part on a maximum thermal zone length threshold that each of the second candidate thermal zones satisfy, and selecting a plurality of thermal zones from the first candidate thermal zones and the second candidate thermal zones. | 03-14-2013 |
20130085613 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN AN HVAC SYSTEM - A method performed by a zone controller for a zone of a building for improving energy efficiency in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is provided. The method includes operating in a ventilation mode. A temperature of the zone and outside air conditions for the building are monitored. A determination is made regarding whether to switch from the ventilation mode to an economizing mode based on a first set point for the temperature of the zone and based on the outside air conditions. The first set point is determined based on a second set point for the temperature that is different from the first set point. A determination is made regarding whether to activate the HVAC system based on the second set point. | 04-04-2013 |
20130085614 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING ENERGY USE IN A BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USING ENERGY BUDGETS - Systems and methods for limiting power consumption by a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) subsystem of a building are shown and described. A feedback controller is used to generate a manipulated variable based on an energy use setpoint and a measured energy use. The manipulated variable may be used for adjusting the operation of an HVAC device. | 04-04-2013 |
20130085615 | SYSTEM AND DEVICE FOR PATIENT ROOM ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IN A PATIENT ROOM - A patient environmental control system, device and method are disclosed. The exemplary method includes detecting a state event representative of an environmental condition within the patient room, and generating, in response to the state event, a data packet containing a payload and formatted according to a first protocol and where the payload includes environmental control information, communicating the data packet to a field panel such that the field panel is in communication with a first building automation system and a second building automation system, adjusting a first environmental control parameter related to the first building automation system based on the environmental control information contained within the received payload, and adjusting a second environmental control parameter related to the second building automation system based on the environmental control information contained within the received payload such that the second environmental control parameter is different than the first environmental control parameter. | 04-04-2013 |
20130090769 | METHODS OF OPERATING AN HVAC SYSTEM, AN HVAC SYSTEM AND A CONTROLLER THEREFOR EMPLOYING A SELF-CHECK SCHEME AND PREDETERMINED OPERATING PROCEDURES ASSOCIATED WITH OPERATING UNITS OF AN HVAC SYSTEM - In one aspect, a controller for an HVAC system is disclosed. In one embodiment, the controller includes: (1) an interface configured to receive feedback data from operating units of the HVAC system and transmit control data to the operating units, (2) an operation verifier configured to determine an individual operating status for each one of the operating units based on the feedback data and (3) a mode setter configured to distinctly operate each one in a predetermined operating procedure based on the determined operating status for each one. | 04-11-2013 |
20130090770 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING ENERGY APPARATUS USING ENERGY MODELING TECHNIQUE - A system and method for automatically controlling an energy apparatus using an energy modeling technique is disclosed. The energy management service system for managing the use of energy of each region may include an energy collecting unit to collect energy usage information of an energy apparatus consuming energy in a region through a remote metering server, an apparatus collecting unit to collect control state information of the energy apparatus through a home network device installed in the region to control the operation of the energy apparatus, and an energy management unit to determine an energy usage control factor based on the energy usage trend and to automatically control the operation of the energy apparatus based on the energy usage control factor. | 04-11-2013 |
20130123992 | AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL DEVICE, AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL METHOD AND PROGRAM - An air-conditioning control device controls a plurality of air-conditioners (indoor devices) disposed at different locations within a predetermined living room space. A data manager stores location information for each air-conditioner (indoor device). A distance calculator calculates a distance between respective air-conditioners (indoor devices) based on the location information. A control order setter sets, based on the distance between respective air-conditioners (indoor devices) calculated by the distance calculator, a control order of each air-conditioner (indoor device) on which energy-saving control is to be performed in such a way that time spans for performing the energy-saving control that controls respective air-conditioners (indoor devices) for a predetermined time to suppress power consumption in respective sections of the living room space are balanced. The control executer repeatedly executes the energy-saving control on each air-conditioner (indoor device) in accordance with the control order set by the control order setter. | 05-16-2013 |
20130166075 | UNIFORM HVAC COMFORT ACROSS MULTIPLE SYSTEMS - Various embodiments provide an HVAC system that includes first and second controllers. The first controller is configured to control a first demand unit to maintain a setpoint temperature of a first portion of a conditioned space. A second HVAC controller is configured to control a second demand unit to maintain a setpoint temperature of a second portion of the conditioned space. The control provided by the second controller is dependent on a load metric of the first demand unit. | 06-27-2013 |
20130184876 | Managing Power Consumption In A User Space - Managing power consumption in a user space that includes user devices and motion detectors includes monitoring user presence within the space including: monitoring the user devices for user activity, where user activity indicates user presence within the space; and monitoring the motion detectors for user movement, where user movement indicates user presence within the space; if the user devices and motion detectors indicate no user presence within the space, setting one or more environmental control devices to a reduced power consumption state; and if the user devices and motion detectors indicate user presence within the space, setting the one or more environmental control devices to operate in a user-present power consumption state. | 07-18-2013 |
20130231786 | ENGINEERING DEVICE AND POINT INFORMATION GENERATING METHOD - An engineering device includes a template producing unit that produces a template that defines monitoring point information and control point information as information for an object that is an equipment subject to monitoring/control, a system defining unit that defines system information for each equipment of a facility that is subject to monitoring/control, a physical entity deploying unit that produces monitoring point information and control point information for each individual equipment by deploying the template, for each individual equipment within the facility, following the system information, and a modification processing unit that regenerates the monitoring point information and control point information for each individual equipment, by deploying, to each individual equipment within the facility, a post-modification template, following the system information, when a modification has been made to the template. | 09-05-2013 |
20130238142 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ASSOCIATING WIRELESS DEVICES OF AN HVAC SYSTEM - A building control network may have a first central device, a second central device and one or more peripheral devices. An illustrative method may include placing the second central device into an associate mode, and sending an associate command from a perimeter device to associate the perimeter device with the second central device. The associate command may be received by the first central device. The first central device may send one or more commands to the second central device, where the one or more commands may cause the second central device to be taken out of its associate mode and to reconfigure the second central device to a perimeter device. The first central device may then be put in an associate mode, and both the second central device and the perimeter device may be associated as perimeter devices with the first central device. | 09-12-2013 |
20130274929 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a customizable bio-manufacturing system which includes a manufacturing space having a first air handling system for providing supply air and a second air handling system for handling exhaust air, the supply air system being optionally provided with at least one of filtration, heating, cooling and or humidity control and a plurality of portable modules provided within the manufacturing space. At least one module having an interior capable of being interconnected with another module interior and each module's interior includes one or more components to perform at least one specific task of a biological, chemical, and/or pharmaceutical manufacturing process. At least one module includes an on-board environmental control system for controlling an environment within the module and a connection means for interconnecting the module interior with another module interior. The system also includes a central controller operating to at least perform one or more of operation and information collection for the operation of at least one of the system and one or more modules. | 10-17-2013 |
20130282186 | HVAC SYSTEM HAVING A DIAGNOSTICS CONTROLLER ASSOCIATED THEREWITH - In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a controller for a HVAC system having an economizer with a damper and pressure sensors on opposing sides of the economizer. The controller comprise a diagnostics controller having a program configured to use pressure difference sensor data to determine if a pressure difference across the economizer is outside an operational design parameter of the HVAC system, and generate an error signal when the pressure difference is outside the operational design parameter. | 10-24-2013 |
20130325193 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING A SET BACK TEMPERATURE FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM - A method for establishing a set back temperature for an environmental control system includes entering an energy saver control phase having a predetermined time period, determine an effective thermal load for an environmental control zone, calculating a set-back temperature based on the effective thermal load for the environmental control zone and the predetermined time period, operating an environmental control device to establish and maintain the set-back temperature for a portion of the predetermined time period, and operating the environmental control device to establish a desired temperature substantially by an end of the predetermined time period. | 12-05-2013 |
20140207291 | USER INTERFACE SCREENS FOR ZONED HVAC SYSTEMS, A CONTROLLER EMPLOYING THE SCREENS AND A METHOD OF OPERATING A ZONED HVAC SYSTEM - A controller for a zoned HVAC system and interface screens for controlling a zoned HVAC system are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the controller includes: (1) a processor configured to direct operation of the HVAC system according to operating data for zones thereof and (2) a display configured to provide a zone dashboard screen including a zone information area for each of the zones, wherein each the zone information area has a defined shape and is configured to provide operating data for a single one of the zones and receive a user input that selects the single one of the zones for the processor to control. | 07-24-2014 |
20140277766 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING AN ADJUSTABLE ZONE DAMPER CALIBRATION - A system and method for controlling a multi-zone HVAC system, wherein the controller operates at least one damper based on an adjustable first timing parameter and a relative damper position based on a zone demand. | 09-18-2014 |
20140316583 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING THE EFFICIENCY OF HVAC SYSTEMS - Aspects of the present disclosure disclose systems and methods for controlling the operation and shut down of a plurality of HVAC units in a facility to improve efficiency. More particularly, a target number of inefficient HVAC units may be identified and systematically shut down while monitoring the environmental conditions in the facility to determine if additional HVAC units may be shut down or alternately should be restarted automatically. | 10-23-2014 |
20140336826 | SHOWCASE HAVING ZONES WITH DIFFERENT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS - This showcase for preserving and displaying objects in a protected environment comprises a display space and adjustment and control means for maintaining predetermined climatic conditions of the air in the display space. The adjustment and control means comprise an air treatment path outside the display space as well as openings for delivering conditioned air from the treatment path to the display space and openings for returning the conditioned air from the display space to the treatment path. The showcase comprises in the same display space at least two display areas having predetermined different climatic conditions from each other, not separated by any wall. The presence of display areas with different climatic conditions allows to arrange—in this showcase—several objects, even with the aim of different preservation needs with respect to each other. | 11-13-2014 |
20140379141 | ZONE BASED HEATING, VENTILATION AND AIR-CONDITIONING (HVAC) CONTROL USING EXTENSIVE TEMPERATURE MONITORING - System and methods for controlling an air conditioning (AC) system includes defining one or more zones to achieve control actions based on local conditions to create a localized dynamic system for localized control, wherein zones are defined by considering hot and cool areas of the room or location of heat generating equipment, wherein the zone definition changes dynamically based on time of day or based on occupancy, or wherein zones are defined in a customizable manner based on sensitivity analysis considering energy savings and comfort tradeoff or considering equipment with predetermined temperature restrictions; monitoring through sensor placement at predetermined locations in the room based on importance of the equipment, heat generation zones and proximity to the AC; determining appropriate temperature setpoints based on existing operating conditions; and applying temperature information at the predetermined locations to generate rules for the actuation of AC systems. | 12-25-2014 |
20150045966 | BUILDING ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM LEARNING - A method of managing energy consumption of a building may include performing an optimization for a zone of a building. The method may also include determining an environmental condition setting for the zone based on the optimization. Further, the method may include receiving user feedback of the environmental condition setting. The user feedback may reflect an environmental condition preference of the user. The method may also include modifying the optimization based on the feedback of the environmental condition setting and updating the environmental condition setting based on the modified optimization. | 02-12-2015 |
20150045967 | AIR-CONDITIONING UNIT CONTROL DEVICE AND AIR-CONDITIONING UNIT CONTROL PROGRAM - An air-conditioning unit control device controls an air-conditioning unit system including one or more outdoor units and a plurality of indoor units. The air-conditioning unit control device includes an environment target value setting unit to set an environment target value for an environment intended to be achieved by air conditioning through each of the indoor units, a zone setting unit to form one or more groups of the indoor units and set a zone for each of the groups, a zone load calculating unit to calculate a heat load on the set zone, an air conditioning capacity allocation calculating unit to determine an allocation of operation capacity to each of the indoor units and the outdoor units based on power consumption of each of the indoor units and the outdoor units, and a control instructing unit to transmit a control signal based on each operation capacity. | 02-12-2015 |
20150057813 | ROOM MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD - A room management apparatus is provided. The room management apparatus includes a central controller that recognizes an operation state of an air conditioner, and determines that one or more rooms are assignable on the basis of the operation state of the air conditioner. | 02-26-2015 |
20150066222 | REGULATION METHOD FOR REGULATING AN AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM - The object of this invention a regulation method for regulating an air conditioning system suitable for independently regulating the temperature of a plurality of zones. The air conditioning system comprises a thermal cycle machine. According to various embodiments, the thermal cycle machine is capable of delivering a cold airflow, a hot airflow or both. This flow is divided into smaller flows supplied to each of the zones to be regulated. The method according to the invention allows regulating these smaller flows as well as the operating conditions of the thermal cycle machine. According to various embodiments, the method additionally incorporates more complex variants involving variables such as pressure or thermal inertia. Likewise, according to one embodiment the air conditioning system incorporates a particular distributor configuration simplifying the installation of said regulation system. | 03-05-2015 |
20150073606 | COOLING SYSTEM MANAGEMENT FOR SERVER FACILITY - A Computer Room Air Handler (CRAH) Unit conditions and provides cooling air to a first zone. A second zone collects return air from the first zone, where multiple servers are positioned between the first zone and the second zone such that air heated by the servers is pushed into the second zone. The first zone is bound from the second zone by one or more racks housing the servers and insulating materials in an area between each server to prevent the cooling air in the first zone from mixing with the return air in the second zone. A third zone, representing a remaining area of the server facility, is maintained at a predefined temperature, where the temperature is higher than a temperature of the first zone and lower than a temperature of the second zone. | 03-12-2015 |
20150134123 | PREDICTIVE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF AN ENVIRONMENT USING CFD - Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used for modeling environment characteristics and for controlling instrumentation in sensitive environments, such as in an office building, datacenter, hospital, enclosed arena, airport, or other environment. In an example, power consumption characteristics from physical equipment assets in an environment can be used by a CFD circuit to improve accuracy of a CFD model. Information from a CFD model can be used to optimize efficiency of HVAC or other air-moving systems serving an environment. In an example, CFD analyses can be performed substantially in real-time when one or more inputs to a CFD model change, relative to a baseline value, by more than a specified threshold amount. An energy efficient and cost efficient response to a change in infrastructure of an environment can be identified based on a CFD model of the environment. | 05-14-2015 |
20150308703 | INTEGRATED DEMAND CONTROL METHOD AND INTEGRATED DEMAND CONTROL DEVICE - An integrated demand control method for air conditioners disposed in areas includes receiving temperature of each of the areas, receiving control cancellation signal of each of the areas, storing, as cancellation temperature, the received temperature of each of the areas each time when the demand control cancellation signal is received, determining reference cancellation temperature of each of the areas according to distribution of the stored cancellation temperatures of each of the areas, setting higher demand control priority to each of the areas having smaller demand control allowable index, the demand control allowable index being difference between the temperature of each of the areas at a predetermined time point and the reference cancellation temperature of each of the areas. | 10-29-2015 |
20150362930 | ENVIRONMENT CONTROLLER, AN ENVIRONMENT CONTROL SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENT CONTROL METHOD - An example environment control system for a venue includes a controllable device arranged to perform at least one of heating, cooling or ventilation of the venue so as to affect the environment of the venue; a plurality of input devices disposed throughout the venue, each input device operable by a user to input environment feedback; and an environment controller arranged to control the at least one controllable device based on the environment feedback. | 12-17-2015 |
20150369503 | HVAC ZONING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS - A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be controlled by an HVAC control system. The HVAC control system may include a communications block, a controller and a user interface. The communications block may receive sensed data from sensing devices located within spaces of a building. The sensing devices may be located at different spaced sensor locations within the building. The controller may receive the sensed data from the communications block and based, at least in part, on the received sensed, determine recommended setting changes to the HVAC control system. The user interface may display the recommended setting changes to a user. | 12-24-2015 |
20150369504 | HVAC ZONING DEVICES, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS - A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system may be zoned into one or more zone. The HVAC system may include one or more register vents that may include vent dampers. The HVAC system may be controlled by an HVAC control system including a communications port or block, a controller operatively coupled to the communications block, and a user interface. The controller may receive sensed data received at the communications block from sensors of the HVAC system. Based, at least in part, on the received sensed data, the controller my determine recommended settings for at least one of the manually adjustable register vent dampers and display the recommended settings on the user interface. | 12-24-2015 |
20150370271 | Optimizing Operations of Multiple Air-Conditioning Units - A method operates a set of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) units by optimizing jointly operations of the set of HVAC units subject to constraints to determine times of switching each HVAC unit ON and OFF and by controlling each HVAC unit according to the corresponding times of switching. The operation of each HVAC unit is represented by a continuous function. The constraints include a complementarity constraint for each HVAC unit, such that the complementarity constraint for the HVAC unit defines a discontinuity of the operation of the HVAC unit at corresponding times of switching. | 12-24-2015 |
20160017889 | SYSTEM AND FLOW ADAPTIVE SENSORLESS PUMPING CONTROL APPARATUS FOR ENERGY SAVING PUMPING APPLICATIONS - A signal processor receives signaling containing information about flow rates from sensorless converters in zone circulators in heating/cooling zones controlled by temperature sensors in a hydronic heating system in order to derive an adaptive pressure set point to meet the flow rates requested by the heating/cooling zones using an adaptive system and flow control curve equation, the signaling containing information about total flow rates requested by the zone circulators; determines desired pump speeds for the zone circulators to meet temperature requirements in heat zones; provides corresponding signaling containing information about the desired pump speeds; and/or determines the adaptive pump control curve equation based upon an adaptive system curve and as a moving maximum system flow rate depending on an adaptive pressure set point, a system flow rate requested by temperature loads, a minimum pressure at no flow, a control curve setting parameter, and an adaptive moving maximum flow and pressure. | 01-21-2016 |
20160040902 | Occupancy-based Service Delivery Systems and Methods - An occupancy detector provides for an automated means of detecting the location of an occupant. Methods to determine with a high degree of certainty if a user is at (or occupying) a specific physical location or region are provided, using a wide variety of radio signaling technologies readily available on a wide scale due to the prevalence of wireless radio communications systems. The occupancy detector may be used to deliver a variety of services from targeted advertising in a supermarket to home automation systems. An example of a system for controlling the climate in a dwelling comprising multiple zones representing small areas such as for example rooms is described using the occupancy detection algorithms. | 02-11-2016 |
20160054027 | REMOTE TERMINAL THERMOSTAT - An energy management system having a centralized site controller is provided with thermostats in multiple zones, each thermostat having the capability of acting as a remote terminal to the controller. Each thermostat provides an interface to the site controller while simultaneously acting as the thermostat for each zone. The thermostat displays information concerning the state of the building's lighting and HVAC systems for any zone and allows the local user to initiate local overrides of set points. The central site controller determines how many thermostats are enabled with a terminal mode, including the full extent of their read and write permissions on other zones. The override requests are received by the central controller and merged with the settings for the current control algorithms. After a preconfigured time, the central controller reinstates the current control algorithm. The system can be shut down using a thermostat in remote terminal mode with appropriate permission form the centralized site controller. Further, system status changes are sent periodically to the remote thermostats for display and the remote thermostat terminals are polled periodically for change requests. As a result, the thermostat can be activated in run time, and endowed with terminal mode while still performing as a thermostat. | 02-25-2016 |
20160077532 | SETBACK CONTROLS BASED ON OUT-OF-ROOM PRESENCE INFORMATION - Methods, systems, and devices for managing energy consumption in multi-room facilities are provided. In particular, intelligent mechanisms for determining a location of a mobile device ( | 03-17-2016 |
20160131381 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING OPERATION OF AN HVAC SYSTEM - For controlling the flow of air into the zones (Z | 05-12-2016 |
20160161960 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TERMINAL DEVICE THAT REMOTELY OPERATES AIR CONDITIONER - Acquiring correspondence among a plurality of time zones and target upper limit temperatures and target lower limit temperatures of the air conditioner that correspond to the respective plurality of time zones. A display allows a user to set the preset temperatures of the air conditioner in the respective plurality of time zones. The display includes a graph region having a first axis corresponding to the plurality of time zones and a second axis corresponding to the preset temperatures of the air conditioner. The graph region includes, in each of the plurality of time zones, a first temperature region having a first appearance and a second temperature region displayed having a second appearance. A symbol indicative of a corresponding preset temperature is displayed in the first temperature region in a corresponding one of the plurality of time zones in the graph region. | 06-09-2016 |
20160377305 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING AN ENVIRONMENT BASED ON OCCUPANCY - Systems and methods for controlling the temperature and humidity in a plurality of spaces are provided. The systems may receive inputs from a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an occupancy sensor, a door sensor, and a window sensor. The systems may determine a first space is occupied and a second space is unoccupied. If the occupied space has both doors and windows closed the system may direct motorized vents to shift air flow from an evaporator, burner and humidifier towards the occupied area and away from the unoccupied area. | 12-29-2016 |
20170234562 | USER CONTROL DEVICE AND MULTI-FUNCTION HOME CONTROL SYSTEM | 08-17-2017 |
20180023827 | TRIAGE OF INITIAL SCHEDULE SETUP FOR AN HVAC CONTROLLER | 01-25-2018 |