Building Energy Calibration Processor for Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assessing and calibrating building energy usage profiles are inaccurate due to unverified occupant and system behaviors, data integrity issues in meter readings, and the complexity of modeling energy consumption, leading to poor decision-making and inefficient energy savings implementation.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using a dedicated calculation processor to collect and correct low-integrity energy data, calibrate energy usage profiles, and simulate energy consumption in real-time, allowing for immediate feedback on energy-saving measures by integrating data from various sources, including weather and occupancy parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex calibration methods are used to account for multiple variables in energy consumption modeling, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a calibration processor as an intermediary component that receives multiple input variables (occupant behavior data, system performance data, weather data) and processes them through calibration algorithms to produce corrected energy consumption values. This mediator handles the complexity of multi-variable calibration internally while presenting a simplified interface to users and other system components.
Solution Approach 2:
The calibration system is divided into separate functional modules: data collection modules for different variable types, a calibration processor for computation, and output modules for results. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall system architecture by distributing complexity across specialized components.
2Productivity
If real-time energy savings feedback is provided to users, then productivity improves, but use of energy increases due to continuous processing and display operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic feedback updates rather than continuous real-time display. The calibration processor computes energy savings at scheduled intervals and updates display elements periodically, reducing the energy consumption of continuous processing and rendering while still providing timely feedback to users to maintain productivity benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains simplified copies or cached versions of energy consumption data and calibration results that can be displayed without requiring continuous computation. These cached copies are updated periodically from the full computational models, allowing rapid display updates with minimal processing energy while maintaining accuracy for decision-making.
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive data collection from multiple sources is performed to improve energy modeling accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but loss of time increases due to data gathering and processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system collects and stores energy consumption data, weather data, and building characteristic data in advance before calibration is needed. Data collection modules continuously gather information from meters, weather stations, and building management systems and store it in databases, so that when calibration computations are required, the data is already available and processing can begin immediately without time-consuming data gathering.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual or sequential data collection and processing methods with automated electronic data gathering systems that simultaneously retrieve data from multiple sources through computer networks and communication interfaces. This substitution of automated electronic systems for traditional mechanical or manual processes dramatically reduces the time required to collect and prepare comprehensive calibration data.
Data Source
AI summary
Analyzing energy savings for a building includes receiving historical energy usage and weather data for a building, a set of operations parameters describing building operations and a set of building system parameters describing building systems. A baseline configuration is submitted to a first energy consumption simulation to determine a baseline energy usage profile A calibrated configuration is determined from the baseline configuration and the historical energy usage. An energy usage aberration is identified in the current year. The calibrated energy usage profile is adjusted to account for it. The difference between actual energy usage for the current year and the adjusted calibrated energy usage profile is an accurate measure of savings.