Building system with occupant health analysis based on water usage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12174601-B2
Application number	US-202117525227-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2021
Priority date	Nov 12, 2021
Publication date	Dec 24, 2024
Grant date	Dec 24, 2024

Abstract

A building system of a building including one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building. The instructions cause the one or more processors to derive one or more health metrics indicating physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and cause one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on values of the one or more health metrics, the one or more operations improving the physical health of the one or more occupants.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A building system of a building comprising one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building;
derive an occupant hydration metric by:
identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves is configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building; and
identifying the occupant hydration metric based on a number of occupants within the building and the number of toilet or urinal flushes; and

cause one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on a value of the occupant hydration metric, the one or more operations improving physical health of the one or more occupants.

2. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive an occupancy level indicating a number of the one or more occupants from an occupancy system that tracks occupancy levels of the building; and
derive one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and the occupancy level.

3. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
determine a number of the one or more occupants with an occupancy model based on the water usage data, wherein the occupancy model correlates a level of the water usage data with the number of the one or more occupants.

4. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
determine an infectious disease risk level for the building based on the water usage data, the infectious disease risk level indicating a level of risk of contracting an infectious disease within the building.

5. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
identify a first portion of the water usage data associated with a first area of the building;
identify a second portion of the water usage data associated with a second area of the building;
derive one or more first health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the first area of the building;
derive one or more second health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the second area of the building; and
cause a display device of a user device to include information associated with the one or more first health metrics and the one or more second health metrics.

6. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
receive occupancy data identifying a first occupant and a second occupant;
identify, based on the occupancy data, first water usage data associated with the first occupant and second water usage data associated with the second occupant;
derive a first health metric indicating physical health of the first occupant based on the first water usage data;
derive a second health metric indicating physical health of the second occupant based on the second water usage data; and
cause a display device of a user device to include information associated with the first health metric and the second health metric.

7. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine a handwashing cleanliness metric by:
identifying a number of hand washes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves is configured to run water at a handwashing sink of the bathroom; and
comparing the number of toilet or urinal flushes to the number of hand washes to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric.

8. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
schedule cleaning for one or more particular areas of the building based on the occupant hydration metric or one or more health metrics determined based on the water usage data; and
send a notification of scheduled cleaning to a user device of one or more cleaning personal.

9. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more pieces of building equipment to perform the one or more operations based on the value of the occupant hydration metric or values of one or more health metrics determined based on the water usage data by:
determining that the value of the occupant hydration metric or the values of the one or more health metrics are below a level; and
causing an air handler unit of the building to increase a level of clean air changes of the building responsive to determining that the value of the occupant hydration metric or the values of the one or more health metrics are below the level.

10. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more pieces of building equipment to perform the one or more operations based on the value of the occupant hydration metric or values of one or more health metrics determined based on the water usage data by:
determining that the value of the occupant hydration metric or the values of the one or more health metrics are below a level; and
causing an ultraviolet light system of the building to activate and disinfect one or more surfaces of objects of the building responsive to determining that the value of the occupant hydration metric or the values of the one or more health metrics are below the level.

11. The building system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:
identify a number of water drinking fountain runs based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves is configured to cause water to run at a water drinking fountain; and
identify the occupant hydration metric further based on the number of water drinking fountain runs.

12. A method of a building system of a building, comprising:
receiving, by a processing circuit, water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building;
deriving, by the processing circuit, an occupant hydration metric by:
identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves is configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building; and
identifying the occupant hydration metric based on a number of occupants within the building and the number of toilet or urinal flushes; and

causing, by the processing circuit, one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on a value of the occupant hydration metric, the one or more operations improving physical health of the one or more occupants.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
determining, by the processing circuit, an infectious disease risk level for the building based on the occupant hydration metric or one or more health metrics determined based on the water usage data, the infectious disease risk level indicating a level of risk of contracting an infectious disease within the building.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
identifying, by the processing circuit, a first portion of the water usage data associated with a first area of the building;
identifying, by the processing ci

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
• Tyco Fire & Security Gmbh

Inventors

• Douglas Jonathan D
• Laughton Terrill R
• Ellerman Rachel D M
• Drees Kirk H

Classifications

• A61L2103/75

  Room floors or walls · CPC title

• G16H50/30

  for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment · CPC title

• A61L2202/11

  Apparatus for generating biocidal substances, e.g. vaporisers, UV lamps · CPC title

• A61L2/10

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title

• G16H40/20

  for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms · CPC title