Comfort management system employing automated validation, estimation, and editing rules

An apparatus for performing validation, estimation, and editing (VEE) on a plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, the apparatus comprising:

• heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) subsystems, configured to adjust comfort in a building;
• and
• a network operations center, configured to receive the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, and configured to perform VEE on the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams within a specified time period, said network operations center comprising:
• a sources metadata stores, configured to provide validation, estimation, and editing rules corresponding to each of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams;
• a VEE processor, configured to execute said rules on each of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams within a specified time period to generate and store a corresponding plurality of post VEE readings, said post VEE readings comprising a plurality of tagged energy consumption data sets that are each associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, each of said plurality of tagged energy consumption data sets comprising first groups of contiguous interval values tagged as having been validated and second groups of contiguous interval values tagged as having been edited said first groups of contiguous interval values corresponding to correct data;
• a post VEE readings data stores, configured to store said post VEE readings;
• a VEE configuration engine, configured to read said post VEE readings upon initiation of an event and, for said each of said plurality of tagged energy consumption data sets, configured to create a plurality of anomalies having a plurality of different durations using only said first groups of contiguous interval values, and configured to generate a plurality of estimates for said plurality of anomalies by employing a plurality of estimation techniques for each of said plurality of different durations and, for said each of said plurality of different durations, configured to select a corresponding one of said plurality of estimation techniques for subsequent employment when performing VEE of subsequent energy consumption data associated with said each of said plurality of different durations for said corresponding one of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, and configured to update said sources metadata stores with said one of said plurality of estimation techniques;
• and
• a process control element, coupled to said post VEE readings stores, wherein said process control element executes functions on the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams translated by said VEE configuration engine, and directs one or more of said HVAC subsystems to change state, wherein said comfort is adjusted in accordance with building energy consumption.

A method for performing validation, estimation, and editing (VEE) on a plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, the method comprising:

• employing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) subsystems to adjust comfort in a building;
• receiving the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, and performing VEE on the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams within a specified time period;
• executing VEE rules on each of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams within a specified time period to generate and store a corresponding plurality of post VEE readings that are stored in a post VEE readings data stores, the post VEE readings comprising a plurality of tagged energy consumption data sets that are each associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams, each of the plurality of tagged energy consumption data sets comprising first groups of contiguous interval values tagged as having been validated and second groups of contiguous interval values tagged as having been edited, the first groups of contiguous interval values corresponding to correct data;
• reading the post VEE readings data stores upon initiation of an event;
• for the each of the plurality of tagged energy consumption data sets, creating a plurality of anomalies having a plurality of different durations using only the first groups of contiguous interval values;
• generating a plurality of estimates for the plurality of anomalies by employing a plurality of estimation techniques;
• for each of the plurality of different durations, selecting one of the plurality of estimation techniques for subsequent employment when performing VEE of subsequent energy consumption data for the corresponding one of the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams;
• and
• executing functions on the plurality of interval-based energy consumption streams translated by said generating and directing one or more of the HVAC subsystems to change state, wherein the comfort is adjusted in accordance with building energy consumption.