# US 10,371,400 B2 · Remote contractor system with site specific energy audit capability > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,371,400 B2 - Document ID: US10371400B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/531,368 - Filed: 2014-11-03 - Published: 2015-05-07 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2013-11-04 - Assignees: Ademco Inc. - Applicants: Ademco Inc. - Inventors: David Quam; Amy Ragland; Steve R. Peterson; Brad Paine; Pedro Davalos; Soumitri Kolavennu; Wendy Foslien - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10371400B2 ## CPC - F24F 11/56: Remote control - F24F 11/30: for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring - F24F 11/62: characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values - F24F 11/63: Electronic processing - F24F 11/64: using pre-stored data - F24F 11/70: Control systems characterised by their outputs; Constructional details thereof - F24F 11/89: Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices - G05B 15/02: electric - G06Q 10/0639: Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations - G06Q 10/20: Administration of product repair or maintenance - H04L 12/2825: {Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network (access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002)} - H04L 67/10: in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) - H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks - H04L 67/125: involving control of end-device applications over a network - F24F 11/38: Failure diagnosis - F24F 11/58: using Internet communication - F24F 2110/00: Control inputs relating to air properties - G05B 2219/24033: Failure, fault detection and isolation - G05B 2219/2614: HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control - G05B 2219/2642: Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house - G05B 2219/34477: Fault prediction, analyzing signal trends - H04L 2012/285: {Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators} - Y02P 90/82: Energy audits or management systems therefor - Y04S 40/18: Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network - F24F: AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING (removing dirt or fumes from areas where they are produced B08B15/00; vertical ducts for carrying away waste gases from buildings E04F17/02; tops for chimneys or ventilating shafts, terminals for flues F23L17/02) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract A system that allows a contractor to remotely monitor and/or interact with its customers' building control systems, such as heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and analyze information obtained from the building control systems over time. Such a system may help the contractor monitor and diagnosis customer building control systems, setup service calls, achieve better customer relations, create more effective marketing opportunities, as well as other functions. In some cases, the disclosed system may include a controller that analyzes data from HVAC systems, determines a thermal model of a space environmentally controlled by an HVAC system, and provides an energy audit of the space that is environmentally controlled by the HVAC system. The controller may output a result of the energy audit to a user. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A remote system configured to communicate with an HVAC controller, wherein the HVAC controller executes a control algorithm for controlling one or more HVAC components of an HVAC system of a building and the remote system is remote from the building, the remote system comprising: a communications port; a memory; a controller coupled to the communications port and the memory, wherein the controller develops a thermal model of a space environmentally controlled by the HVAC system based at least in part on data related to operation of the HVAC system over time, where the data related to the operation of the HVAC system is received over time from the HVAC controller via the communications port and stored in the memory; and the controller provides an indication of thermal efficiency of the space that is based at least in part on the thermal model, and outputs the indication of thermal efficiency to a user interface via the communications port. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the remote system has access to outdoor weather data for a geographical area that encompasses the building, the controller develops the thermal model based at least in part on the outdoor weather data. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The remote system of claim 2, wherein the geographical area corresponds to a zip code. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The remote system of claim 2, wherein the outdoor weather data for the geographical area includes data related to one or more of outdoor temperature, outdoor humidity, cloudiness, solar radiation, precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, allergy alerts. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the thermal model is dependent at least partially on one or more time based events including one or more of time of day, a season, a specified date, and a specified date range. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the received data includes indoor temperature, outdoor temperature, and temperature setpoints relative to time. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the controller provides one or more of a heating degree days indication and a cooling degree days indication based at least in part on the thermal model. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the controller provides the indication of thermal efficiency of the space and an indication of efficiency of the HVAC system based at least in part on the thermal model. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the controller provides an indication of efficiency of the HVAC system trended over time based at least in part on the thermal model. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the received data includes ambient temperature gains and losses with a numerical precision of 0.1 degree Fahrenheit or greater as sensed by a temperature sensor of the HVAC system. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The remote system of claim 1, wherein the received data includes a change in ambient temperature sensed by a temperature sensor of the HVAC system at intervals of up to one minute. ### Claim 12 A remote system configured to communicate with an HVAC controller, wherein the HVAC controller executes a control algorithm for controlling one or more HVAC components of an HVAC system of a building and the remote system is remote from the building, the remote system comprising: a communications port; a memory; a controller coupled to the communications port and the memory, wherein the controller is configured to develop and output an estimate of future performance of the HVAC system based at least in part on data related to an operation of the HVAC system over time, wherein the data is received over time from the HVAC controller via the communications port and is saved in the memory. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The remote system of claim 12, wherein the received data includes one or more of indoor temperature data, indoor humidity data, temperature setpoint data, outdoor temperature data, outdoor humidity data, heating activation data, and cooling activation data. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The remote system of claim 12, wherein the estimate of future performance of the HVAC system is based at least in part on a customized thermal model developed for the building. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The remote system of claim 12, wherein the controller compares the estimate of future performance of the HVAC system to actual performance of the HVAC system. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The remote system of claim 12, wherein the estimate of future performance of the HVAC system includes an estimate of HVAC system run time that is based at least in part on a customized thermal model developed for the building with inputs of an outdoor temperature, an outdoor humidity, and a setpoint temperature of the HVAC controller. ### Claim 17 A remote contractor system comprising: a communications port; a memory; a controller coupled to the communications port and the memory; wherein the controller develops a customized thermal model for each of the two or more buildings based at least in part on data related to operation of two or more HVAC controllers of two or more HVAC systems, each servicing one of the two or more buildings, that is received via the communications port over time and saved in the memory, wherein the received data includes one or more of indoor temperature data, indoor humidity data, temperature setpoint data, outdoor temperature data, outdoor humidity data, heating activity data, and cooling activity data; wherein the controller generates a predicted HVAC system run time for each of the two or more buildings based, at least in part, on the corresponding customized thermal model; and wherein the controller outputs a report for each of the two or more buildings that is based at least in part on an actual HVAC system run time versus the predicted HVAC system run time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein the report compares an actual HVAC system run time for a particular building to predicted HVAC system run times of two or more other buildings.