Systems and methods for orchestrating the operation of energy consuming loads so as to minimize power consumption are described. In some embodiments, the loads can be HVAC, refrigeration systems, air compressors, and the like, and orchestration is effected either directly or by means of the loads' respective controllers. In some aspects, the controllers can be Smart Thermostats and orchestration is effected through a Cloud-based orchestration platform or COP. In certain aspects, a COP uses specifically programmed application programming interfaces or APIs to control the operation of a single manufacturer's Smart Thermostats, where the manufacturer provides its own Cloud based control platform through which the COP operates. The COP can similarly orchestrate the operation of two or more manufacturers' Smart Thermostats through their respective Cloud based control platforms. By these and other means, the operation of a variety of energy consuming loads can be more easily and efficiently orchestrated.

A frequency response optimization system includes a battery configured to store and discharge electric power, a power inverter configured to control an amount of the electric power stored or discharged from the battery at each of a plurality of time steps during a frequency response period, and a frequency response controller. The frequency response controller is configured to receive a regulation signal from an incentive provider, determine statistics of the regulation signal, use the statistics of the regulation signal to generate an optimal frequency response midpoint that achieves a desired change in a state-of-charge (SOC) of the battery while participating in a frequency response program, and use the midpoints to determine optimal battery power setpoints for the power inverter. The power inverter is configured to use the optimal battery power setpoints to control the amount of the electric power stored or discharged from the battery.

The present disclosure relates to a thermostat including a control base configured to couple with and support a portable thermostat, wherein the control base is configured to determine a measure of an environmental condition of a local environment of the control base and communication circuitry of the control base configured to communicate the measure to facilitate control of an HVAC system.

Embodiments of the invention comprise systems and methods for using the geographic location of networked consumer electronics devices as indications of occupancy of a structure for purposes of automatically adjusting the temperature setpoint on a thermostatic HVAC control. At least one thermostat is located inside a structure and is used to control an HVAC system in the structure. At least one mobile electronic device is used to indicate the state of occupancy of the structure. The state of occupancy is used to alter the setpoint on the thermostatic HVAC control to reduce unneeded conditioning of unoccupied spaces.

Disclosed is a system, method, and computer program product that employs high dynamic range (HDR) image processing and manipulation algorithms for capturing and measuring real-time sky conditions for processing into control input signals to a building's automated fenestration (AF) system, daylight harvesting (DH) system and HVAC system. The photometer comprises a color camera and a fitted fish-eye lens to capture 360-degree, hemispherical, low dynamic range (LDR) color images of the sky. Both camera and lens are housed in a sealed enclosure protecting them from environmental elements and conditions. In some embodiments the camera and processes are controlled and implemented by a back-end computer.

The disclosure provides an energy management system that is based on a distributed architecture that includes networked energy management devices located at a plurality of sites and a collection of energy management program applications and modules implemented by a centralized energy management service unit. The energy management program applications and modules are responsible for facilitating customer access to the system, configuring energy management devices, and collecting, storing, and analyzing energy management data collected from the plurality of sites. The energy management system is adaptable to a wide variety of energy usage requirements and enables customers to configure energy management devices at customer sites using scheduling templates, to define and customize site groupings for device configuration and data analysis purposes, and to request and view various statistical views of collected energy usage data.

A system for comfort based management of thermal systems, including residential and commercial buildings with active cooling and/or heating, is described. The system can operate without commissioning information, and with minimal occupant interactions, and can learn heat transfer and thermal comfort characteristics of the thermal systems so as to control the temperature thereof while minimizing energy consumption and maintaining comfort. A thermal model represents thermal behavior of a volume in a thermal system, characterizing heat transfer and estimating energy consumption and temperature. A comfort model represents thermal comfort in a volume of a thermal system, estimating an effective temperature at which an occupant is unlikely to object. A comfort agent interacts with thermal models to estimate physically-realizable discrete temperature states with associated transition values, constrained by comfort model estimates, to identify an optimal path and define control temperatures for volumes in a thermal system, facilitating optimal start and temperature control.

A building HVAC system includes an airside system having a plurality of airside subsystems, a high-level controller, and a plurality of low-level airside controllers. Each airside subsystem includes airside HVAC equipment configured to provide heating or cooling to one or more building spaces. The high-level controller is configured to generate a plurality of airside subsystem energy targets, each airside subsystem energy target corresponding to one of the plurality of airside subsystems and generated based on a thermal capacitance of the one or more building spaces to which heating or cooling is provided by the corresponding airside subsystem. Each low-level airside controller corresponds to one of the airside subsystems and is configured to control the airside HVAC equipment of the corresponding airside subsystem in accordance with the airside subsystem energy target for the corresponding airside subsystem.

A gateway includes a processor operable to manage energy use at a site. The processor is configured to receive network device data from a long range communication network, wherein the network device data is initiated from at least one of a mobile device or a cloud service to alter an operating condition of a network device located at a site. The processor is also configured to detect an availability of the network device connected to a second network configured as a local network, and format the network device data to a message bus format configured to be output to a communication device configured to access the second network. The processor is further configured to receive response data from the network device formatted to be communicated using the second network, and translate the received response data to another format capable of being output over the long range communication network.

An air conditioner management system according to the present invention enables timely maintenance on an air conditioner installed in a region requiring predetermined maintenance. An air conditioner management system (100) includes a maintenance region information database (23a), an installation region information acquisition unit (12a), and a maintenance necessity determination unit (22c). The maintenance region information database (23a) stores maintenance region information about a region requiring predetermined maintenance on an air conditioner (50). The installation region information acquisition unit (12a) acquires air conditioner installation region information about a region where the air conditioner (50) is installed. The maintenance necessity determination unit (22c) determines whether the air conditioner (50) is installed in the region requiring the predetermined maintenance, based on the maintenance region information stored in the maintenance region information database (23a) and the air conditioner installation region information acquired by the installation region information acquisition unit (12a).