Apparatus and method for prioritizing demand response dispatch based on occupancy

An energy management apparatus comprising:

• a network operations center, comprising a central processing unit, transitory memory, and non-transitory read-only memory having application programs disposed therein, said application programs comprising:
• computer readable program code executable to prioritize a demand response program event based on occupancy for one or more buildings of one or more building types participating in a demand response program event, said computer readable code comprising:
• first program code for providing an occupancy estimator, configured to receive energy consumption and outside temperature streams Ei(h, T) corresponding to a portion of the one or more buildings, said energy consumption provided by streaming consumption sources, and configured to receive occupancy components from occupancy stores, and configured to employ said occupancy components for each of the one or more buildings within said portion to process said streams, and configured to generate occupancy levels corresponding to the one or more buildings within said portion, wherein said occupancy components and said occupancy levels are generated by exclusively processing said streams, and configured to assign said occupancy levels to remaining ones of the one or more buildings not in said portion according to building type, said occupancy components comprising:
• a lower bound of energy consumption, ζ(T), as a function of outside temperature, T, when a corresponding one of said one or more buildings is at minimum occupancy;
• a normalized occupancy profile component, ƒ(h) as a function of a prescribed time increment, h;
• a marginal energy consumption component, D(T) as a function of T;
• and
• a daily occupancy level component, γi for each of a first plurality of days, i;
• wherein γi is determined according to the following equation:
• γ
• i
• =
• ∑
• h
• 
• Δ
• i
• 
• (
• h
• ,
• T
• )
• ∑
• h
• 
• f
• 
• (
• h
• )
• 
• D
• 
• (
• T
• )
• ;
• and wherein Δi(h, T)=Ei(h, T)−ζ(T);
• and
• second program code for providing a dispatch controller, configured to optimize execution of the demand response program event by employing said occupancy components to maintain a global energy use model for the one or more buildings to prioritize dispatch messages to the one or more buildings, and configured to transmit prioritized dispatch messages to selected ones of the one or more buildings that cause said selected ones of the one or more buildings to reduce energy consumption by a prescribed amount for a prescribed period of time, to achieve objectives of the demand response program event.

A method for prioritizing a demand response program event based on occupancy for one or more buildings of one or more building types participating in a demand response program, the method comprising:

• via a first application disposed in non-transitory memory that is executable by a central processing unit disposed in a network operations center, receiving energy consumption and outside temperature streams Ei(h, T) corresponding to a portion of the one or more buildings, the energy consumption provided by streaming consumption sources, and receiving occupancy components from occupancy stores, and employing the occupancy components for each of the one or more buildings within the portion to process the streams, and generating occupancy levels corresponding to the one or more buildings within the portion, wherein the occupancy components and the occupancy levels are generated by exclusively processing the streams, and assigning the occupancy levels to remaining ones of the one or more buildings not in the portion, the occupancy components comprising:
• a lower bound of energy consumption, ζ(T), as a function of outside temperature, T, when a corresponding one of said one or more buildings is at minimum occupancy;
• a normalized occupancy profile component, ƒ(h) as a function of a prescribed time increment, h;
• a marginal energy consumption component, D(T) as a function of T;
• and
• a daily occupancy level component, γi for each of a first plurality of days, i;
• wherein γi is determined according to the following equation:
• γ
• i
• =
• ∑
• h
• 
• Δ
• i
• 
• (
• h
• ,
• T
• )
• ∑
• h
• 
• f
• 
• (
• h
• )
• 
• D
• 
• (
• T
• )
• ;
• and wherein Δi(h, T)=Ei(h, T)−ζ(T);
• and
• via a second application disposed in the non-transitory memory that is executable by the central processing unit disposed in the network operations center, optimizing execution of the demand response program event by employing the occupancy components to maintain a global energy use model for the one or more buildings to prioritize dispatch messages to the one or more buildings, and transmitting prioritized dispatch messages to selected ones of the one or more buildings that cause said selected ones of the one or more buildings to reduce energy consumption by a prescribed amount for a prescribed period of time, to achieve objectives of the demand response program event.