System and method for facilitating implementation of building equipment energy consumption reduction with the aid of a digital computer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12032884-B2
Application number	US-202318347222-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2023
Priority date	Feb 3, 2014
Publication date	Jul 9, 2024
Grant date	Jul 9, 2024

Abstract

Improved energy conservation, including realization of a ZNET (Zero Net Energy including Transportation) paradigm, can be encouraged by providing energy consumers with a holistic view of their overall energy consumption. Current energy consumption in terms of space heating, water heating, other electricity, and personal transportation can be modeled by normalizing the respective energy consumption into the same units of energy. Options for reducing energy that can include traditional energy efficiencies, such as cutting down on and avoiding wasteful energy use and switching to energy efficient fixtures, and improving the thermal efficiency and performance of a building, can be modeled. Additional options can also include non-traditional energy efficiencies, such as replacing a gasoline-powered vehicle with an electric vehicle, fuel switching from a water heater fueled by natural gas to a heat pump water heater, and fuel switching from space heating fueled by natural gas to a heat pump space heater.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for facilitating implementation of building energy consumption reduction with the aid of a digital computer, comprising:
a computer comprising a processor and memory within which code for execution by the processor is stored, the computer configured to:
obtain data for energy consumption within the building over the set time period, wherein a portion of the energy consumption data is in different units than at least one other portion of the energy consumption data, and wherein at least a portion of the energy consumption data is due to an operation of one or more pieces of equipment in accordance with one or more parameters;
convert all of the energy consumption data into same units and combine the converted energy consumption data to obtain a total energy consumption for the building;
estimate an overall thermal performance of the building by conducting an empirical test comprising remotely controlling a heating source inside the building;
model a change to the total energy consumption associated with the building and an individual associated with the building based on one or more changes to the building that affect the overall thermal performance and a replacement of a vehicle associated with the individual with a further vehicle that uses electrical energy and that can be charged with the electrical energy at the building;
model at least one characteristic of a photovoltaic renewable energy power generation system sufficient to satisfy the changed total energy consumption of the building, comprising:
perform power generation simulations for a plurality of photovoltaic renewable energy system configurations using solar irradiance data for at least one location representative of the geographic region within which the building is located;
select one of the photovoltaic renewable energy system configurations based on at least one of the simulations; and
identify whether sufficient space exists for positioning the selected photovoltaic renewable energy system configuration on an external surface of the building; and
determine the at least one characteristic of the photovoltaic renewable energy system using the selected photovoltaic renewable energy system configuration upon identifying that the sufficient space exists for the positioning; and

output results of the renewable energy power generation system modeling, the changed energy consumption associated with the individual, and the changed total energy consumption for the building.

2. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the change to the energy consumption of the building is further modeled based on a replacement of the at least one piece of the equipment by a more energy-efficient form of the at least one equipment piece.

3. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the change to the energy consumption of the building is further based on a change to at least one of the operation parameters of at least one of the pieces of equipment, the at least one changed parameter comprising a changed schedule of the operation of the at least one piece of equipment.

4. A system according to claim 3 , wherein the changed schedule reduces a time of the operation of the at least one equipment piece.

5. A system according to claim 3 , the at least one computer further configured to:
provide a user interface through which the at least one parameter of the at least one piece of equipment and the changed at least one parameter are selected.

6. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a size of the renewable energy power generation system and an efficiency of the renewable energy power generation system.

7. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the energy consumption data further comprises data associated with energy consumption for space heating of the building and data associated with energy consumption for water heating of the building.

8. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the units are kilowatt hours.

9. A method for facilitating implementation of building energy consumption reduction with the aid of a digital computer, comprising:
obtaining by a computer, the computer comprising a processor and memory within which code for execution by the processor is stored, data for energy consumption within the building over the set time period, wherein a portion of the energy consumption data is in different units than at least one other portion of the energy consumption data, and wherein at least a portion of the energy consumption data is due to an operation of one or more pieces of equipment in accordance with one or more parameters;
converting by the computer all of the energy consumption data into same units and combine the converted energy consumption data to obtain a total energy consumption for the building;
estimating an overall thermal performance of the building by conducting an empirical test comprising remotely controlling a heating source inside the building;
modeling by the computer a change to the total energy consumption associated the building and an individual associated with the building based on one or more changes to the building that affect the overall thermal performance and a replacement of a vehicle associated with the individual with a further vehicle that uses electrical energy and that can be charged with the electrical energy at the building;
modeling by the computer at least one characteristic of a photovoltaic renewable energy power generation system sufficient to satisfy the changed total energy consumption of the building, comprising:
performing power generation simulations for a plurality of photovoltaic renewable energy system configurations using solar irradiance data for at least one location representative of the geographic region within which the building is located;
selecting one of the photovoltaic renewable energy system configurations based on at least one of the simulations; and
identifying whether sufficient space exists for positioning the selected photovoltaic renewable energy system configuration on an external surface of the building; and
determining the at least one characteristic of the photovoltaic renewable energy system using the selected photovoltaic renewable energy system configuration upon identifying that the sufficient space exists for the positioning; and

output by the computer results of the renewable energy power generation system modeling, the changed energy consumption associated with the individual, and the changed total energy consumption for the building.

10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the change to the energy consumption of the building is further modeled based on a replacement of the at least one piece of equipment by a more energy-efficient form of the at least one equipment piece.

11. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the change to the energy consumption of the building is further based on a change to at least one of the operation parameters of at least one of the pieces of equipment, the at least one changed parameter comprising a changed schedule of the operation of the at least equipment.

12. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the changed schedule reduces a time of the operation of the at least one equipment piece.

13. A method according to claim 11 , further comprising providing by the computer a user interface through which the at least one parameter of the at least one piece of equipment and the changed at least one parameter are selected.

14. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises a size of the renewable energy power generation system and an efficiency of the renewable

Assignees

• Clean Power Res L L C

Inventors

• Hoff Thomas E

Classifications

• G06Q10/067

  Enterprise or organisation modelling · CPC title

• G06Q50/06

  Energy or water supply · CPC title

• G06Q10/0631 Primary

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

• G06F17/18

  for evaluating statistical data {, e.g. average values, frequency distributions, probability functions, regression analysis (forecasting specially adapted for a specific administrative, business or logistic context G06Q10/04)} · CPC title

• G06F30/13

  Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads · CPC title