IP Library Granted Patent US 11,293,223
Granted Patent B2
US 11,293,223 · App. 17/000,778 · Granted Apr 5, 2022

Load control system providing manual override of an energy savings mode

Inventors: Gregory S. Altonen (Easton, PA); William B. Fricke (Emmaus, PA); Elliot G. Jacoby (Glenside, PA); Michael W. Pessina (Allentown, PA); Walter S. Zaharchuk (Macungie, PA); Joel S. Spira (Coopersburg, PA)
Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
E06B9/68F24F11/30F24F11/62G05D23/19H02J3/12H02J3/14H04L12/14H04L12/282H04L12/40013H05B47/105H05B47/115H05B47/16F24F2110/10F24F2120/10F24F2130/20H04L2012/285Y02B20/40
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,293,223
App. No.
17/000,778
Granted
Apr 5, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A load control system for a building having a lighting load, a window, and a heating and cooling system comprises a lighting control device, a daylight control device, and a temperature control device operable to be controlled so as to decrease a total power consumption of the load control system in an energy-savings mode. The energy-savings mode can be manually overridden in response to actuation of the actuator of an input control device, such that the load control system enters a manual mode for manually adjusting the loads controlled by the lighting control device, the daylight control device, and the temperature control device. The load control system is operable to automatically return to the energy-savings mode at a time after the load control system entered the manual mode.

Claims (93)

1. A building management controller comprising:

sensor interface circuitry to receive one or more sensor inputs from one or more sensors proximate a building;

manual interface circuitry to receive one or more user inputs from an occupant of the building;

network interface circuitry to receive one or more remote inputs from one or more remote locations; and

energy consumption control circuitry to control one or more daylight control systems, one or more heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and one or more lighting systems in each of a plurality of operating modes that include:

a hybrid operating mode using sensor data received via one or more sensor inputs and manual commands received via the one or more user inputs;

an autonomous energy savings operating mode using the one or more sensor inputs; and

a demand response operating mode using the one or more remote inputs and the sensor inputs.

2. The building management system of claim 1 , further comprising:

daylight control interface circuitry communicatively coupled to one or more daylight control systems, the one or more daylight control systems to adjust an amount of daylight entering at least a portion of the building.

3. The building management controller of claim 2 wherein the daylight control system comprises one or more motorized window treatments.

4. The building management system of claim 2 , further comprising:

HVAC control interface circuitry communicatively coupled to one or more HVAC systems, the one or more HVAC systems to maintain at least the temperature within the portion of the building within a defined temperature range.

5. The building management system of claim 4 , further comprising:

lighting control interface circuitry communicatively coupled to one or more lighting systems, the one or more lighting systems to provide illumination at a target lighting intensity within at least the portion of the building.

6. The building management system of claim 5 , wherein the lighting systems further provide illumination at a target color temperature within at least the portion of the building.

7. The building management controller of claim 6 , the control circuitry to:

receive, via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of a color temperature of the daylight entering the portion of the building;

receive, via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of a color temperature of the illumination provided by the one or more lighting systems in at least the portion of the building;

determine, in the autonomous operating mode, a target color temperature in at least the portion of the building using a first color temperature contribution provided by the one or more daylight systems and a second color temperature contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems;

adjust, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the first color temperature contribution; and

adjust, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the second color temperature contribution.

8. The building management controller of claim 5 , the control circuitry to:

receive, via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of a level of illumination in at least the portion of the building;

determine, in the autonomous operating mode, a target level of illumination in at least the portion of the building using a first illumination contribution provided by the one or more daylight systems and a second illumination contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems;

adjust, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the first illumination contribution; and

adjust, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the color temperature of illumination produced by the one or more lighting systems to provide the second illumination contribution.

9. The building management controller of claim 8 , the control circuitry to:

determine the target level of illumination based, at least in part, on occupancy data received via the sensor interface circuitry.

10. The building management controller of claim 8 , the control circuitry to:

determine the target level of illumination based, at least in part, on reducing the overall level of energy consumption in at least the portion of the building.

11. The building management controller of claim 5 the control circuitry to:

receive, via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of an ambient temperature in at least the portion of the building;

determine, in the autonomous operating mode, a target ambient temperature range in at least the portion of the building using a first thermal contribution from the one or more daylight control systems, a second thermal contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems, and a third thermal contribution provided by the one or more HVAC systems;

adjust, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the first thermal contribution;

adjust, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the second thermal contribution; and

adjust, via the HVAC control interface circuitry the one or more HVAC systems to provide the third thermal contribution.

12. The building management controller of claim 5 the control circuitry to:

receive, via the network interface circuitry, data representative of demand response to reduce electrical energy consumption by a percentage;

determine, in the demand response operating mode, a target ambient temperature, a target level of illumination, and a target level of daylight in at least the portion of the building to achieve the requested electrical energy reduction percentage;

adjust, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the target level of daylight;

adjust, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the target level of illumination; and

adjust, via the HVAC control interface circuitry the one or more HVAC systems to provide the target ambient temperature.

13. The building management controller of claim 5 the control circuitry to:

receive, via the network interface circuitry, data representative of user input that includes a request to adjust the level of daylight in at least the portion of the building;

determine, in the hybrid operating mode, a target level of illumination in at least the portion of the building using a first illumination contribution from the one or more user adjusted daylight systems and a second illumination contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems;

determine, in the hybrid operating mode, a target ambient temperature in at least the portion of the building using a first thermal contribution from the one or more user adjusted daylight control systems, a second thermal contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems, and a third thermal contribution provided by the one or more HVAC systems;

adjust, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to the user adjusted daylight level;

adjust, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the target level of illumination and the target ambient temperature; and

adjust, via the HVAC control interface circuitry the one or more HVAC systems to provide the target ambient temperature.

14. A building management control method, comprising:

receiving, by control circuitry via sensor interface circuitry, one or more sensor inputs from one or more sensors disposed proximate a building;

receiving, by the control circuitry via user interface circuitry, one or more user inputs from an occupant of the building;

receiving, by the control circuitry via network interface circuitry, one or more remote inputs from one or more remote locations; and

determining, by the control circuitry, a target daylight level to adjust one or more daylight control systems, a target ambient temperature to adjust one or more heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and a target level of illumination to adjust one or more lighting systems; and

selecting, by the control circuitry, an operating mode that includes one of the following:

a hybrid operating mode using the sensor data received via the sensor interface circuitry and the one or more user inputs received via the user interface circuitry;

an autonomous operating mode using the sensor data received via the sensor interface circuitry; and

a demand response operating mode using the remote input received via the network interface circuitry and at least a portion of the sensor data received via the sensor interface circuitry.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the control circuitry via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of a color temperature of the daylight entering the portion of the building;

receiving, by the control circuitry via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of a color temperature in at least the portion of the building;

determining, by the control circuitry while in the autonomous operating mode, a target color temperature in at least the portion of the building using a first color temperature contribution provided by the one or more daylight systems and a second color temperature contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems;

adjusting, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the first color temperature contribution; and

adjusting, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the the one or more lighting systems to provide the second color temperature contribution.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the control circuitry via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of a level of illumination in at least the portion of the building;

determining, by the control circuitry while in the autonomous operating mode, a target level of illumination in at least the portion of the building using a first illumination contribution provided by the one or more daylight systems and a second illumination contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems;

adjusting, by the control circuitry via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the first illumination contribution; and

adjusting, by the control circuitry via the lighting control interface circuitry, the color temperature of illumination produced by the one or more lighting systems to provide the second illumination contribution.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining the target level of illumination in at least the portion of the building the control circuitry further comprises:

determining, by the control circuitry, the target level of illumination based, at least in part, on occupancy data received via the sensor interface circuitry.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining the target level of illumination in at least the portion of the building the control circuitry further comprises:

determining, by the control circuitry, the target level of illumination based, at least in part, on reducing the overall level of energy consumption in at least the portion of the building.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the control circuitry via the sensor interface circuitry, data representative of an ambient temperature in at least the portion of the building;

determining, by the control circuitry while in the autonomous operating mode, a target ambient temperature in at least the portion of the building using a first thermal contribution from the one or more daylight control systems, a second thermal contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems, and a third thermal contribution provided by the one or more HVAC systems;

adjusting, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the first thermal contribution;

adjusting, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the second thermal contribution; and

adjusting, via the HVAC control interface circuitry the one or more HVAC systems to provide the third thermal contribution.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the control circuitry via the network interface circuitry, data representative of demand response to reduce electrical energy consumption by a percentage;

determining, by the control circuitry while in the demand response operating mode, a target ambient temperature, a target level of illumination, and a target level of daylight in at least the portion of the building to achieve the percentage of electrical energy reduction;

adjusting, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to provide the target level of daylight;

adjusting, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the target level of illumination; and

adjusting, via the HVAC control interface circuitry the one or more HVAC systems to provide the target ambient temperature.

21. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the control circuitry via the network interface circuitry, data representative of user input that includes a request to adjust the level of daylight in at least the portion of the building;

determining, by the control circuitry while in the hybrid operating mode, a target level of illumination in at least the portion of the building using a first illumination contribution from the one or more user adjusted daylight systems and a second illumination contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems;

determining, by the control circuitry while in the hybrid operating mode, a target ambient temperature in at least the portion of the building using a first thermal contribution from the one or more user adjusted daylight control systems, a second thermal contribution provided by the one or more lighting systems, and a third thermal contribution provided by the one or more HVAC systems;

adjusting, via the daylight control interface circuitry, the one or more daylight control systems to the user adjusted daylight level;

adjusting, via the lighting control interface circuitry, the one or more lighting systems to provide the target level of illumination and the target ambient temperature; and

adjusting, via the HVAC control interface circuitry the one or more HVAC systems to provide the target ambient temperature.

Continuity (7)
Continuation 15996829 · Jun 4, 2018
Continuation 14605054 · Jan 26, 2015
Continuation 13727043 · Dec 26, 2012
Continuation In Part 12845016 · Jul 28, 2010
Provisional Application 61230001 · Jul 30, 2009
Provisional Application 61239988 · Sep 4, 2009
Related Publication 20210111559A1 · Apr 15, 2021