Apparatus, systems and methods for ascertaining the occupancy of a building are presented. The building is divided into one or more control zones which correspond to physical areas of the building associated with controllable modules, such as HVAC units, lighting, irrigation, or other environmental features such as fountains, music, video, and the like. Zone parameters define how zone devices shall react to the number of occupants located in the particular zone. A building control system detects individual mobile devices in and around the building, and determines the locations of each device by using trilateration and/or location services. The identified mobile devices act as proxies for building occupants. The locations of these devices are correlated with the locations of the zones in the building, and the building control system then adjusts the operating parameters of the zone based on the number of devices present in the zone.

An air conditioner connection system includes an air conditioner having a first device connected via a power line in a communication-capable manner, and a second device capable of performing radio communication with the air conditioner. The air conditioner includes an authentication process control unit that controls the first device to perform an authentication process when a starting request of the authentication process for performing power carrier communication is received from the second device, the first device includes an authentication process unit that performs the authentication process under the control of the air conditioner, and the second device includes an authentication start process unit that transmits the starting request of the authentication process to the air conditioner.

An air conditioning apparatus including a storage unit that stores therein a setting table in which a schedule of an air conditioning operation for one week is set, and a control unit that executes operation control according to the schedule in the setting table, the air conditioning apparatus including a remote controller that sets operation information of a target time slot as a part of one week, and a temporary storage unit that temporarily stores therein the set operation information of the target time slot, wherein the control unit executes operation control based on the operation information of the target time slot stored in the temporary storage unit in priority to the schedule in the setting table.

A model predictive control system is used to optimize energy cost in a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system. The VRF system includes an outdoor subsystem and a plurality of indoor subsystems. The model predictive control system includes a high-level model predictive controller (MPC) and a plurality of low-level indoor MPCs. The high-level MPC performs a high-level optimization to generate an optimal indoor subsystem load profile for each of the plurality of indoor subsystems. The optimal indoor subsystem load profiles optimize energy cost. Each of the low-level indoor MPCs performs a low-level optimization to generate optimal indoor setpoints for one or more indoor VRF units of the corresponding indoor subsystem. The indoor setpoints can include temperature setpoints and/or refrigerant flow setpoints for the indoor VRF units.

An HVAC controller is configured to automatically change between a HEAT mode and a COOL mode in accordance with a sensed temperature in the building structure, a HEAT temperature set point and a COOL temperature set point. The user is allowed to adjust the HEAT temperature set point and the COOL temperature set point, with the HVAC controller automatically adjusting one of the set points in response to the user making a change to the other of the other of the set points that violates a minimum deadband. If the user readjusts the user-adjusted set point in a way that no longer violates the minimum deadband, the HVAC controller will adjust the other set point back towards its previous setting.

A load control system may include control devices for controlling electrical loads. The control devices may include load control devices, such as a lighting device for controlling an amount of power provided to a lighting load, and input devices, such as a remote control device configured to transmit digital messages comprising lighting control instructions for controlling the lighting load via the lighting device. The remote control device may communicate with the lighting device via an intermediary device, such as a hub device. The remote control device may detect a user interface event, such as a button press or a rotation of the remote control device. The remote control device or the hub device may determine whether to transmit digital messages to as unicast messages or multicast messages based on the type of user interface event detected.

Devices, methods, and systems for determining the cause of a fault in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system are described herein. One device includes a memory, and a processor configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to receive operational data associated with an HVAC system, receive control logic associated with a controller of the HVAC system, determine a cause of a fault occurring in the HVAC system based, at least in part, on the operational data associated with the HVAC system and the control logic of the controller of the HVAC system, and provide the cause of the fault occurring in the HVAC system to a user.

Devices, methods, and systems for determining the cause of a fault in a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system are described herein. One device includes a memory, and a processor configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to receive operational data associated with an HVAC system, receive control logic associated with a controller of the HVAC system, determine a cause of a fault occurring in the HVAC system based, at least in part, on the operational data associated with the HVAC system and the control logic of the controller of the HVAC system, and provide the cause of the fault occurring in the HVAC system to a user.

Heating and cooling systems at various geographical locations are controlled by a central energy management service unit to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. In some weather conditions, people may intuitively prefer a slightly warmer or cooler indoor temperature. In systems equipped with environmental learning capabilities, an apparent outdoor temperature is determined based on the geographic location itself, the season at the geographic location, the forecasted actual temperature, and one or more seasonal weather factors such as wind velocity or humidity. The apparent temperature and a trained machine learning system are used to select an automated schedule for the geographic location to be directly transmitted to devices at the location. The automated schedule can vary from typical schedules by causing the heating and cooling systems to maintain a temperature that is slightly warmer or cooler than typical indoor temperatures.

An air conditioning control system includes: an air pressure measurement unit (111) configured to measure an air pressure value; an air conditioning unit (136) whose wind direction and airflow volume are changeable; a wind velocity calculation unit (132) configured to calculate a wind velocity of wind received by a portable terminal (110) from a variation in a plurality of atmospheric pressure values and to specify a presence direction that is a direction in which the portable terminal (110) is present with respect to the air conditioner (130); an air conditioning control determination unit (134) configured to determine a wind direction and an airflow volume of the air conditioning unit (136) in accordance with the wind velocity and the presence direction; and an air conditioning control unit (135) configured to control the air conditioning unit (136) so that the determined wind direction and airflow volume are obtained.