Building Operations Setpoint Control for Occupancy-Responsive Energy Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional building management systems (BMS) operate conservatively, leading to inefficient energy use due to a lack of responsiveness to variable occupancy and weather conditions, resulting in unnecessary energy and monetary expenditure, and maintenance is often focused on urgent tasks without considering overall losses from non-optimal settings.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for managing building operations that includes a building operations optimizer to continuously monitor local conditions, adjust setpoints based on real-time data, and implement corrective actions to minimize losses, prioritizing maintenance based on overall savings opportunities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional BMS operate conservatively to ensure stable building operations, then reliability is maintained, but energy efficiency deteriorates due to lack of responsiveness to variable conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The BMS transitions from static conservative operations to dynamic adaptive operations by continuously monitoring real-time occupancy and weather conditions. The system dynamically adjusts asset operating parameters based on current conditions, enabling responsive energy optimization without compromising building operation stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops by monitoring building conditions, occupancy patterns, and weather data. This feedback enables the BMS to automatically adjust asset operations in real-time, optimizing energy efficiency while maintaining adaptability to changing conditions through data-driven decision-making.
2Loss of energy
If BMS adjusts asset operations frequently to respond to variable conditions, then energy efficiency improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The BMS is designed as a multi-functional integrated system that simultaneously handles monitoring, data analysis, asset control, and optimization functions. This universal platform manages the complexity of frequent adjustments through a unified architecture, reducing the need for separate specialized systems while enabling responsive energy optimization.
3Ease of operation
If maintenance is focused only on urgent tasks, then ease of operation is maintained, but loss of time increases due to lack of preventive maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary maintenance actions by continuously monitoring asset conditions and identifying potential failures before they occur. The BMS schedules and executes preventive maintenance tasks in advance based on predicted needs, preventing urgent breakdowns and reducing downtime while maintaining operational simplicity through automated planning.
4Productivity
If asset operating parameters are kept within predefined ranges to maintain ambient conditions, then stability is maintained, but productivity deteriorates due to suboptimal energy usage
Solution Approach 1:
The system optimizes asset operating parameters by analyzing real-time conditions and adjusting settings to achieve optimal energy efficiency. The BMS dynamically modifies parameters such as temperature setpoints, equipment runtime, and operational schedules based on occupancy and weather data, improving productivity while maintaining ambient conditions within acceptable ranges through intelligent parameter optimization.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples techniques to manage building operations are described. A predefined range of setpoints corresponding to a key performance identifier (KPI) for an asset installed in a building is obtained. The predefined range of setpoints for the asset includes values for operating parameters of the asset to achieve a predefined ambient condition in the building. An operation of the asset is monitored over a time period to identify a deviation between values of the operating parameters of the asset from the corresponding predefined range of setpoints. Based on the deviation, a loss associated with operation of the asset in the building is estimated. A corrective action is caused to be performed to adjust the values of the operating parameters of the asset to reduce the estimated loss.