Building Automation Energy Profiling for Privacy-Safe CO2 Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for determining the CO2 balance of building automation devices are inefficient and invasive, with high uncertainties due to lack of real usage data, and raise consumer privacy concerns through extensive monitoring, which leads to unrealistic CO2 balances and competitive disadvantages.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses an evaluation unit integrated into the device to detect and anonymize a usage profile, calculating an approximate total energy consumption, which is then used to determine the CO2 balance, ensuring minimal hardware and memory requirements and secure data transmission, while maintaining user privacy through anonymization and secure storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If external monitoring devices are used to capture usage profiles, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases and consumer privacy concerns arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the usage profile measurement functionality directly into the building automation device's existing evaluation unit, merging the monitoring capabilities with the device's control functions. This eliminates the need for separate external monitoring devices while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The building automation device performs self-monitoring of its usage profile through its own evaluation unit, which captures operational data without requiring external monitoring infrastructure. The device serves its own measurement needs internally.
2Measurement precision
If detailed usage data is collected and stored, then model validation accuracy is improved, but data security risks and consumer trust issues increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential usage profile data needed for model validation while leaving detailed operational information within the device. The evaluation unit captures sufficient data to validate CO2 calculation models without extracting or transmitting excessive personal usage details that would create security risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation unit acts as an intermediary that processes usage data locally, capturing only the necessary operational parameters for model validation. It serves as a mediator between the device's detailed operations and the CO2 calculation system, filtering out unnecessary detailed data while retaining validation-critical information.
3Reliability
If conservative model parameters are used, then reliability of CO2 balance is improved, but manufacturing cost increases due to competitive disadvantages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary validation of CO2 calculation models using real usage profile data captured during normal device operation. By validating models with actual operational data before final CO2 balance calculations, the system achieves reliable results without needing to apply overly conservative parameters that would inflate costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses captured usage profile data to provide feedback for validating and refining CO2 calculation models. This feedback mechanism allows the models to be continuously improved with real-world data, increasing reliability while avoiding the need for conservative overestimation parameters.
4Measurement precision
If comprehensive usage monitoring is implemented, then energy consumption accuracy is improved, but consumer acceptance decreases due to privacy concerns
Solution Approach 1:
The building automation device monitors its own energy consumption and operational patterns through its integrated evaluation unit without requiring external monitoring infrastructure. This self-service approach maintains measurement accuracy while reducing consumer privacy concerns by eliminating the need for external monitoring devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the essential operational data needed for accurate energy consumption calculation while leaving detailed usage information within the device. This selective data extraction maintains measurement precision while minimizing the collection of personally identifiable information that would concern consumers.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for determining the CO2 balance of a building automation device (1) which can be operated in various operating states with a usage-dependent duration, wherein the method comprises the steps: - Acquiring (100) a usage profile of the device (1) by means of an evaluation unit (2) of the device (1), wherein the usage profile comprises at least a power consumption profile of the device (1) or a time-resolved signal of a quantity relevant to the operation of the device (1), which enables a calculation of the power consumption profile of the device (1); - Storing (300) the usage profile in the evaluation unit (2); - Reading (400) the usage profile via a data interface (25); and - Evaluating (500) the usage profile, wherein an approximate total energy consumption of the device (1) is calculated from the usage profile.