Method of building automation heat load and user preference inferring occupancy via network systems activity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing building control systems fail to efficiently adapt to individual comfort preferences and occupancy changes, leading to inefficient energy use and comfort levels, as they rely on traditional sensors that react slowly to changes in temperature and humidity.
Innovation Solution
A building control system that utilizes sensors to detect personal electronic device signals, associates them with user preferences, and adjusts environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, and lighting in real-time to maintain a comfortable space, using a comfort level calculator and modifier to combine and meet the comfort goals of multiple users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If traditional sensors are used to detect occupancy and environmental conditions, then the system can monitor space usage, but the response to changes in temperature, humidity, and occupancy is slow and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting personal electronic device signals before occupants physically enter or generate thermal signatures, allowing the building control system to pre-adjust environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, lighting) in advance, eliminating the lag associated with traditional reactive sensing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical/thermal sensors with electronic signal detection methods, using sensors to detect signals from personal electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets, laptops) to infer occupancy and user preferences, enabling faster and more accurate response to occupancy changes
2Adaptability or versatility
If the building control system continuously adjusts environmental parameters to match individual user preferences, then comfort levels improve, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses preliminary detection of personal electronic device signals to anticipate occupancy and retrieve stored user preferences in advance, allowing environmental adjustments to be made only when and where needed, rather than continuously throughout the building, thus reducing unnecessary energy consumption
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the personal electronic devices themselves as the source of occupancy detection and preference information, eliminating the need for additional active sensing infrastructure and reducing the overall energy burden of the building management system
3Use of energy by stationary object
If the system waits for traditional sensors to detect occupancy before adjusting environmental conditions, then energy is conserved, but user comfort is compromised due to lag
Solution Approach 1:
The system detects personal electronic device signals and retrieves user preferences in advance, allowing environmental conditions to be adjusted just before or as occupants arrive, providing both energy efficiency (by not continuously conditioning unoccupied spaces) and user comfort (by eliminating the lag experience)
Solution Approach 2:
The personal electronic device acts as an intermediary carrier that transmits occupancy and preference information to the building control system, enabling the system to respond appropriately without requiring occupants to physically interact with building systems or wait for traditional sensors to detect their presence
Data Source
AI summary
Tools and techniques are described to modify a defined space state depending on number of users in the space and/or preferences of users in the space. In some embodiments, users entering or leaving a space are noticed by network systems. A controller then modifies resources in the space to account for the greater or lesser load. In other cases, the network system notices that a specific user has entered a building. This user may have preferences stored in the system which the building control system then responds to by changing state of a device that controls physical state within the space.