Systems and methods for maintaining occupant comfort for various environmental conditions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing building systems face challenges in maintaining occupant comfort while efficiently managing multiple environmental conditions, often leading to increased costs due to the need for manual adjustments and unintended effects on other environmental parameters.
Innovation Solution
An environmental control system that includes a controller with a processing circuit performing optimization to coordinate the operation of building devices, such as ventilators, to maintain setpoints for conditions like temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels, using predictive models and asset models to minimize costs and optimize resource allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If building equipment is operated to change specific environmental conditions, then the desired environmental condition is improved, but other environmental conditions are adversely affected
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a multi-functional building equipment capable of simultaneously affecting multiple environmental conditions. The equipment can adjust temperature, humidity, and other environmental parameters through integrated control, allowing one device to perform multiple functions rather than requiring separate devices for each environmental parameter.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts operational parameters of building equipment to achieve desired environmental conditions while minimizing adverse effects. By changing parameters such as equipment runtime, intensity, and mode of operation, the system optimizes the balance between improving target conditions and maintaining other environmental parameters within acceptable ranges.
2Ease of operation
If building equipment is operated to maintain occupant comfort, then occupant comfort is improved, but expenses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by predicting future environmental conditions and pre-adjusting building equipment operations. Using predictive models, the system anticipates when environmental conditions will deviate from comfort ranges and takes preventive measures, thereby maintaining occupant comfort while avoiding excessive energy consumption during peak demand periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback mechanisms by monitoring actual environmental conditions and comparing them against comfort ranges and predictive forecasts. This feedback loop enables the system to optimize equipment operation in real-time, adjusting energy consumption based on actual needs rather than operating at maximum capacity continuously, thus maintaining comfort while reducing expenses.
3Ease of operation
If manual adjustments are made by occupants to change environmental conditions, then individual comfort needs are met, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service operation by automatically detecting environmental conditions and adjusting equipment operations without requiring manual intervention from occupants. The automated system monitors temperature, humidity, and other parameters, and makes adjustments based on pre-defined comfort ranges and predictive algorithms, thereby meeting individual comfort needs while maintaining simple operation for users.
Data Source
AI summary
An environmental control system of a building including a first building device operable to affect environmental conditions of a zone of the building by providing a first input to the zone. The system includes a second building device operable to independently affect a subset of the environmental conditions by providing a second input to the zone and further includes a controller including a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to perform an optimization to generate control decisions for the building devices. The optimization is performed subject to constraints for the environmental conditions and uses a predictive model that predicts an effect of the control decisions on the environmental conditions. The processing circuit is configured to operate the building devices in accordance with the control decisions.