US 11,306,940 B2Granted

Building occupant comfort network

OwnerThomas Hartmaninventor

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

In a commercial building, individual occupant thermal comfort is achieved with optimal cost and energy efficiency through the integration of a variety of local thermal comfort components into a communication network that employs emerging optimization principles to meet individual preferences for the thermal environment on a workstation basis while reducing building energy use and operating in accordance with any constraints on the energy grids that serve the buildings. These multiple objectives are met in part through a robust communication network that employs distributing processing to achieve preferred thermal conditions with optimal control of all components at subzone, zone, system, central plant, and energy grid levels.

Claims19

Dependent claims

An HVAC networking system comprising:

a VAV box serving a thermal comfort zone in a building, the zone comprising multiple subzones;
the VAV box incorporating a zone controller arranged to connect to a building automation system (BAS) to control flow of conditioned air into a zone of a building;
a zone controller and interface device (“ZID”) that interfaces the HVAC networking system to the BAS at the zone controller;
plural subzone controllers, each separate from the zone controller and associated with a corresponding subzone in the zone, thereby defining a one-to-one relationship between each subzone controller and the corresponding subzone, and each of the subzone controllers communicatively coupled to the ZID;
in each subzone, sensors to acquire sensor data for the conditions within the subzone;
each subzone having components that provide thermal comfort control separately for at least two human comfort factors for the subzone occupant(s), and each component arranged for communication with and direct control by the corresponding subzone controller;
wherein the subzone controller is arranged to collect operating data from each of the subzone components and collect the subzone sensor data;
wherein the subzone controller is further arranged to generate aggregated subzone operating data based at least in part on the collected data, and communicate the aggregated subzone operating data to the ZID;
wherein ZID is arranged to collect the aggregated subzone operating data from the zone's subzone controllers;
wherein the networking system at each zone ZID collects, aggregates and communicates data to each subzone controller within the zone;
and
wherein the subzone controller includes logic to utilize the aggregated zone and subzone operating data and occupant-selected subzone thermal comfort level to determine and command adjustments in operation, separately for each of the local subzone components, to adjust or modify the thermal comfort condition within the subzone as may be required to maintain the occupant-selected thermal comfort level in the subzone without directly changing the comfort conditions beyond the subzone.

9 more elements

An HVAC networking system comprising:

a zone controller and interface device (“ZID”) arranged to connect to a building automation system (BAS) VAV controller box to control flow of conditioned air into a zone of a building;
plural subzone controllers, each associated with a corresponding subzone in the zone, and communicatively coupled to the zone controller;
each subzone having local components that provide thermal comfort control, lighting, power, or other amenities for the subzone occupant(s), and each local component arranged for communication with the corresponding subzone controller;
the local components in each subzone arranged to communicate operating data to the corresponding subzone controller;
wherein the subzone controller is arranged to collect the operating data from each of the local components, generate aggregated subzone operating data based at least in part on the collected data, and communicate the aggregated subzone operating data to the ZID;
wherein the ZID is arranged to collect the subzone operating data from the subzone controllers, generate aggregated zone operating data based at least in part on the collected subzone operating data;
wherein the remote server is programmed to—
interrogate the HVAC system to determine current system operating parameters;
process the current system operating parameters to determine a marginal cost for providing conditioning airflow to the zone and a marginal cost for providing the cooling or heating of the conditioning air;
and
apply the Equal Marginal Performance Principle based on the determined marginal costs and the current zone operating data to determine optimal operating energy requirements for the entire zone;
calculate current settings for each of the subzone local components to achieve the optimal operating energy requirements for the entire zone;
communicate the calculated current settings to the subzone controllers;
and
in each subzone controller, communicate updated control settings to each of the local components based on the calculated current settings.

12 more elements

An HVAC networking system comprising:

a zone controller and interface device (“ZID”) arranged to connect to a building automation system (BAS) VAV controller box to control flow of conditioned air into a zone of a building;
plural subzone controllers, each associated with a corresponding subzone in the zone, and communicatively coupled to the zone controller;
each subzone having local components that provide thermal comfort control of at least two comfort factors, including at least one non-space temperature comfort factor for the subzone occupant(s), and each local component arranged for communication with the corresponding subzone controller;
the local components in each subzone arranged to communicate operating data to the corresponding subzone controller;
wherein the subzone controller is arranged to collect the operating data from each of the local components, generate aggregated subzone operating data based at least in part on the collected data, and communicate the aggregated subzone operating data to the ZID;
wherein the ZID is arranged to collect the subzone operating data from the subzone controllers, generate aggregated zone operating data based at least in part on the collected subzone operating data, and communicate the aggregated zone operating data to a remote server that captures, stores, and processes the aggregated zone operating data;
wherein the remote server is programmed to—
interrogate the HVAC system to determine current system operating parameters;
process the current system operating parameters to determine a marginal cost for providing conditioning airflow to the zone and a marginal cost for providing the cooling or heating of the conditioning air;
determine optimal operating energy requirements for the entire zone;
calculate current settings for each of the subzone local components to achieve the optimal operating energy requirements for the entire zone to meet the occupants requested thermal comfort level without adversely affecting the comfort levels in other subzones;
communicate the calculated current settings to the subzone controllers;
and
in each subzone controller, communicate updated control settings to each of the local components based on the calculated current settings.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/175,356Filed 12 Feb 2021 · us provisional application
Priority: 13 Feb 2020
Published: US 2021/0254849 A119 Aug 2021
Granted: 19 Apr 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

F24F 11/56
Characterised by user interfaces or communication: remote control
F24F 11/46
For purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring: improving electric energy efficiency or saving
F24F 11/47
Improving electric energy efficiency or saving: responding to energy costs
F24F 11/54
Characterised by user interfaces or communication: using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers

Family

Application62/976,189Us provisional application · filed 13 Feb 2020
US 2021/0254849 A1Pre-grant publication · published 19 Aug 2021
US 11,306,940 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key