System and method for empirical-test-based estimation of overall thermal performance of a building with the aid of a digital computer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10670477-B2
Application number	US-201816036832-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2018
Priority date	Feb 3, 2014
Publication date	Jun 2, 2020
Grant date	Jun 2, 2020

Abstract

The overall thermal performance of a building UATotal can be empirically estimated through a short-duration controlled test. Preferably, the controlled test is performed at night during the winter. A heating source, such as a furnace, is turned off after the indoor temperature has stabilized. After an extended period, such as 12 hours, the heating source is briefly turned back on, such as for an hour, then turned off. The indoor temperature is allowed to stabilize. The energy consumed within the building during the test period is assumed to equal internal heat gains. Overall thermal performance is estimated by balancing the heat gained with the heat lost during the test period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for empirical-test-based estimation of overall thermal performance of a building the aid of a digital computer, comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program code;
a heating source comprising a heating element and a heating delivery component comprised inside a building;
a thermometer comprised inside the building;
a thermometer located outside of the building;
a computer processor interfaced to the storage medium and configured to remotely interface to the heating source, the inside thermometer, and the outside thermometer, wherein the computer processor is configured to execute the program code to perform steps to:
stop operation of the heating source at the beginning of an unheated period after recording into the storage medium a baseline indoor temperature from the indoor thermometer and a baseline outdoor temperature from the outdoor thermometer;
temporarily resume operation of the heating source at the end of the unheated period after recording into the storage medium a starting indoor temperature from the indoor thermometer;
stop operation of the heating source after running the heating source for a heated period and record into the storage medium a final indoor temperature from the indoor thermometer after a stabilizing period following the heated period;
measure energy consumed in the building from the beginning of the unheated period to the ending of the stabilizing period as equaling heat gained inside the building from internal sources of heat;

estimate an expected final indoor temperature at the end of the stabilizing period based on the heating source not having been run for the heated period;
determine the heat gained inside the building over the heating period through operation of the heating source using the fuel requirements of the heating source, the efficiency of the heating source, and the efficiency of the heating delivery component in accordance with:

Q

Heat
⁢

⁢
Delivered
⁢

-

⁢
Furnace

=

(

R
Furnace

)

⁢

(

η
Furnace

⁢

η
Delivery

)

⁢

(

t
2

-

t
1

)

⁢

(

T
0

-

T
3

No
⁢

⁢
Heat

T
3

-

T
3

No
⁢

⁢
Heat

)

where Q Heat Delivered-Furnace is the heat gained inside the building by the heating source having been run for the heated period, R Furnace are the fuel requirements of the heating source, η Furnace is the efficiency of the heating source, η Delivery is the efficiency of the heating delivery component, t 1 is the starting time of the heated period, t 2 is the ending time of the heated period, T 0 is the baseline indoor temperature, T 3 is the final indoor temperature, T 3 No Heater is the expected final indoor temperature, Δt is the unheated period from time t 0 to time t 1 ; and
estimate overall thermal performance of the building using the heat gained through using the heating source, the measured energy, the indoor temperatures, the baseline outdoor temperature, and the estimated final indoor temperature.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel requirements Q F-Heating of the heating source is determined in accordance with:

Q

F
⁢

-

⁢
Heating

=

(

UA
Total

)

⁢

(
24
)

⁢

(

HDD
Location

Set
⁢

⁢
Point
⁢

⁢
Temp

)

⁢

(

1
-
SSF

)

η
Furnace

⁢

η
Delivery

where UA Total is the building thermal performance, HDD Location Set Point Temp represents the number of degree days when the outdoor temperature exceeds the desired Set Point temperature, η Furnace is the efficiency of the heating source, η Delivery is the efficiency of the heating delivery component, and SSF represents the amount of energy delivered to a building by solar gains.

3. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the compute

Assignees

• Clean Power Res L L C

Inventors

• Hoff Thomas E

Classifications

• G01K17/20 Primary

  across a radiating surface, combined with ascertainment of the heat-transmission coefficient · CPC title

• G01K3/08

  giving differences of values (using thermoelectric elements G01K7/02); giving differentiated values · CPC title

• G01K13/00 Primary

  Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes · CPC title

• G01R21/02

  by thermal methods {, e.g. calorimetric} · CPC title

• G06Q10/0631 Primary

  Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations · CPC title