Occupancy Determination System for Energy Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing energy consumption in buildings struggle to accurately determine occupancy levels in real-time, leading to inefficiencies in energy management, security control, and marketing strategies, as existing techniques rely on subjective scaling and 'eyeballing' methods that are inadequate for near real-time occupancy determination and resource utilization analysis.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that utilize an occupancy determination system to process energy consumption and outside temperature data to generate normalized data sets, removing occupancy effects and enabling automated control of resource consumption, security devices, and marketing strategies based on precise occupancy levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional subjective scaling and eyeballing methods are used to determine occupancy levels, then the system is simple to operate, but the measurement precision of occupancy levels is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces subjective human judgment methods with an automated computational system that processes energy consumption data and outside temperature data through mathematical models to objectively determine occupancy levels. This substitution of manual assessment with automated data processing resolves the contradiction by providing precise measurements without requiring complex hardware installations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces energy consumption data and outside temperature data as intermediary variables that mediate between physical occupancy conditions and the determination of occupancy levels. By using these measurable intermediaries, the system achieves accurate occupancy assessment without direct sensing of occupancy, thereby maintaining system simplicity while improving measurement precision.
2Productivity
If real-time occupancy determination is implemented, then the productivity of energy management is improved, but the use of energy for data processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters being measured from direct occupancy indicators to energy consumption patterns and temperature data, which can be processed more efficiently. By analyzing changes in energy consumption over time rather than continuously monitoring occupancy directly, the system achieves real-time management capabilities while minimizing additional energy expenditure on data processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic analysis of energy consumption data rather than continuous processing, determining occupancy levels at regular intervals based on accumulated energy data. This periodic approach maintains the productivity benefits of real-time awareness while reducing the continuous energy demand of data processing operations.
3Reliability
If normalized data sets are generated to remove occupancy effects, then the reliability of energy consumption analysis is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the occupancy effect component from energy consumption data through mathematical normalization. By separating the occupancy-related portion of energy consumption from the total, the system achieves reliable analysis of actual energy efficiency performance. This extraction approach maintains analytical reliability while keeping the processing system relatively simple by focusing on removing only the specific confounding factor of occupancy rather than redesigning the entire analysis system.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for controlling consumption of a resource by a facility includes devices, an occupancy determination system, control nodes, and monitor nodes. The devices each consume a portion of the resource and perform a function. The occupancy determination system is disposed in a network operations center that is external to the facility and generates schedules which coordinate run times for the devices to control the consumption of the resource and adjusts the schedules based upon occupancy components and occupancy levels that are generated based on the consumption of the resource and outside temperature only. The control nodes are coupled to a corresponding one of the devices, and are coupled together via an energy management network that is operatively coupled to the NOC, The control nodes transmit sensor data and device status to the NOC for generation of the plurality of run time schedules, and where the control nodes execute selected ones of the run time schedules to cycle the devices on and off.