I-Corps: Energy conservation network software that simultaneously audits, monitors, and manages energy use in buildings in real-time

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一个节能网络软件，以改善商业建筑物的能源管理。建筑占美国总能耗的近40%。拟议中的技术是一种软件，可以同时审计、监控和管理建筑物的能源使用及其实时分布式能源。审计应用程序根据ASHRAE（美国采暖、制冷和空调工程师协会）标准定期计算全面的审计分析，然后自动推荐潜在的节能措施。监控应用程序可以提供设备级和所有建筑耗电设备的汇总实时测量。管理应用程序可以准确地预测建筑的热舒适性，并优化建筑运行的电力需求，以实现有效的减载计划和需求响应活动。此外，这些应用程序旨在轻松控制任何建筑物中的所有分布式能源（DERs）。这些功能可能为节能、提高效率和激励建筑电网运营创造机会，这可能使公用事业供应商和消费者受益。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种可能改善商业建筑能源管理的节能网络软件。拟议的技术包括三种功能，包括使用模式识别的审计功能，以确定建筑设备操作中的异常情况，以及主要设备和电器制造商的数据库，以推荐更换和计算潜在的节省。管理功能基于先进的建筑热动力学模型和模型预测优化算法，该算法可以预测一小时前的热舒适和最佳温度设定值，以及预测建筑区域温度的简化显示。监控功能采用可配置网格设计的智能设备传感器，使用简化的基于互联网的通信架构，消除了楼宇自动化系统内的专有设备，可以提供设备数据的实时、设备级和聚合监控。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the potential development of an energy conservation network software for improved energy management of commercial buildings. Buildings account for nearly 40% of the US's total energy consumption. The proposed technology is software that simultaneously audits, monitors, and manages a building’s energy use and its distributed energy resources in real-time. The auditing application periodically computes a comprehensive audit analysis based on the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) standard, then automatically recommends potential energy savings measures. The monitoring application could provide device-level and aggregated real-time measurements of all building power-consuming equipment. The management application could accurately forecast building thermal comforts and optimizes building operational power demands for efficient load shedding plans and demand response activities. In addition, the applications are designed for easy control of all Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in any building. These functionalities may create opportunities for energy savings, efficiency gains, and incentivized building–grid operations, which may benefit utility providers and consumers. This I-Corps project is based on the potential development of an energy conservation network software that may improve the energy management of commercial buildings. The proposed technology includes three functionalities including an auditing functionality using pattern recognition to determine anomalies in building equipment operation and a database of major equipment and appliance manufacturers to recommend replacements and compute potential savings. Management functionality is based on an advanced building thermal dynamics model and a model-predictive optimization algorithm that may predict hour ahead thermal comforts and optimal temperature setpoints as well as a simplified display of predicted building zone temperature. The monitoring functionality employs smart equipment sensors in a configurable mesh design to potentially provide real-time, device-level and aggregated monitoring of equipment data using a simplified internet-based communication architecture that eliminates proprietary equipment within the building automation system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.