# US 10,503,190 B2 · Residential-area-energy-management apparatus and method using social network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,503,190 B2 - Document ID: US10503190B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/014,472 - Filed: 2016-02-03 - Published: 2016-08-11 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2015-02-06 - Assignees: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute - Applicants: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute - Inventors: Hyun Hak Kim; Tae Wook Heo - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10503190B2 ## CPC - G05F 1/66: Regulating electric power - G05B 15/00: Systems controlled by a computer (G05B13/00, G05B19/00 take precedence; automatic controllers with particular characteristics G05B11/00) - G05F: SYSTEMS FOR REGULATING ELECTRIC OR MAGNETIC VARIABLES - 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) ## Abstract An energy management method for a residential area, the method comprising, in response to an energy management request from a user who lives in the residential area, collecting environment information and energy information on a household of the user, selecting an imitation target among households which have environment information and energy information similar to the environment information and the energy information on the household of the user from among all households in the residential area, setting a method for applying the energy information on the imitation target, and controlling energy management of the household of the user according to the set method. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An energy management method for a residential area including houses which are in the same complex and are the same in size, number of residents, floor, and directions of verandas, comprising: in response to an energy management request from a user who lives in the residential area, collecting environment information and energy information on a household of the user; selecting an imitation target among households which have environment information and energy information similar to the environment information and the energy information on the household of the user from among all households in the residential area; extracting one or more patterns to be imitated, by comparing environment information and energy information on the imitation target with the environment information and the energy information regarding the user; selecting at least one method from an automatic method, a semi-automatic method, and a manual method for each of the one or more extracted patterns to be imitated; and controlling energy management of the household of the user based on the selected at least one method from the automatic method, a semi-automatic method, and the manual method for the household of the use, wherein the environment information comprises energy usage setting information, wherein the energy information on the household of the user includes an electricity consuming device that is used outside a house but belongs to the household. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The energy management method of claim 1, wherein the energy information comprises at least one of total electricity usage for given period, electricity production/consumption of each power producing or consuming device for given period, electricity bills up to last month, and electricity prices for given period. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The energy management method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of an imitation target comprises: acquiring information on a comparative household group from an energy social network server; based on the acquired information, extracting candidate households which have environment information similar to the environment information regarding the user from among all the households in the residential area; and selecting one of the extracted candidate households as an imitation target. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The energy management method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of an imitation target comprises: acquiring information on a comparative household group from an energy social network server; based on the acquired information, extracting candidate households which have environment information similar to the environment information regarding the user from among all the households in the residential area; and selecting a representative value of energy information on the extracted candidate households as an imitation target. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The energy management method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of an imitation target comprises: acquiring information on a comparative household group from an energy social network server; based on the acquired information, extracting candidate households which have environment information similar to the environment information regarding the user from among all the households in the residential area; and selecting at least one of high ranked households among the extracted candidate households as an imitation target. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The energy management method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring the environment information and the energy information on the imitation target and the environment information and the energy information regarding the user; and determining, based on a monitoring result, whether there is an imitated pattern to be updated; and in response to a discover of the imitated pattern to be updated, resetting the method for applying the energy information on the imitation target.