Patent ID: 11921478
Assignee: CLEAN POWER RESEARCH, L.L.C.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  G | IPC F  G

Claim 8:
9. A method for estimating periodic fuel consumption for cooling of a building with the aid of a digital computer, comprising the steps of:
finding thermal conductivity of a building and effective window area of the building with involvement of a computer through empirical testing of the building over a monitored time frame, the empirical test comprising remotely controlling by the computer at least one of a heating source and a cooling source inside the building;
recording with involvement of the computer a difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures of the building during the monitored time frame;
defining with the computer a time span over which to estimate;
retrieving with the computer an average occupancy of the building, average internal electricity consumption of the building, and average solar resource of the building as applicable to the building over the monitored time frame; and
estimating with the computer the periodic fuel consumption for cooling over the time span based on the building's thermal conductivity, temperature difference, a number of time periods comprised in the time span, average occupancy, average internal electricity consumption, effective window area, and average solar resource in accordance with an equation:, the
   ⁢
      
   periodic
   ⁢
      
   fuel
   ⁢
      
   consumption
   ⁢
      
   for
   ⁢
      
   cooling
  
  =
  
   
    
     
      UA
      Total
     
     (
     
      
       
        T
        _
       
       Indoor
      
      -
      
       
        T
        _
       
       Outdoor
      
     
     )
    
    ⁢
    
     (
     H
     )
    
   
   -
   
    
     [
     
      
       
        (
        
         C
         1
        
        )
       
       ⁢
       
        P
        _
       
      
      +
      
       
        Electric
        _
       
       (
       
        C
        2
       
       )
      
      +
      
       W
       ⁢
       
        
         Solar
         _
        
        (
        
         C
         2
        
        )
       
      
     
     ]
    
    ⁢
    
     (
     H
     )
    
   
  
 

where UATotal represents the thermal conductivity, TIndoor represents an average of the indoor temperatures, TOutdoor represents an average of the outdoor temperatures, H represents the number of time periods comprised in the time span, C1 represents a conversion factor for occupancy gains, P represents the average occupancy, Electric represents the average internal electricity consumption, C2 represents a power unit conversion factor, W represents the effective window area, and Solar represents the average solar resource as a solar resource produced; and
modeling a change to the periodic fuel consumption based on a proposed change to an envelope of the building comprising receiving an R value of an existing portion of the envelope, receiving an R-value of a proposed replacement for the existing portion of the envelope, determining a change to the thermal conductivity based on replacing the existing portion with the proposed replacement, and modeling a changed periodic fuel consumption in accordance with the equation using the changed thermal conductivity, wherein the proposed change is implemented based on the modeled changed periodic fuel consumption.