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 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 building management system includes a building efficiency improvement system and method configured to monitor and control subsystems and equipment for improved efficiency of operation. A user device is configured to display a user interface for monitoring and controlling one or more building equipment efficiency parameters and settings. The building efficiency management system further includes a controller configured to collect and analyze data from equipment, generate displays of the operational status and efficiency levels, generate sets of alternative equipment control algorithms based on efficiency objectives, and present users with a set of alternative equipment control algorithms displayed via graphic user interface elements on the user device. The user device further provides a means to select and implement an alternate equipment control algorithm. The controller is further configured to receive inputs from the user device commanding changes to equipment controls and process transactions associated with changes to equipment configuration.

A system for remote diagnostic analysis of a heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system is provided. The system includes a thermostat in operable communication with at least one peripheral component of the HVAC system and configured to receive information relating to the at least one peripheral component, and a server in operable communication with the thermostat for receiving and analyzing the information. The server causes the at least one peripheral component to conduct a diagnostic test and analyzes the test result to perform a root cause analysis of a system malfunction.

User comfort control system having non-invasive bio-patch. In some embodiments, a system for providing comfort of a person can include a wearable patch configured to be attached to a skin of the person and sense a biological condition of the skin, and to transmit information representative of the sensed biological condition. The system can further include a controller configured to receive the information and generate a control signal. The system can further include an adjustment element associated with a furniture item implemented to support and provide comfort for the person. The adjustment element can be in communication with the controller and be configured to adjust a comfort level of the furniture item for the person in response to the control signal.

A device for determining normalized occupancy of one or more spaces in a building is disclosed. The device includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to: poll one or more people counting sensors associated with access points to a defined region of the building to obtain counts data from the one or more people counting sensors for a specified time period and historical calibration data for the one or more people counting sensors; and process the counts data and the historical calibration data to determine a normalized occupancy of the defined region during the specified time period.

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.

There is described a system and method for configuring, commissioning and troubleshooting an HVAC unit. A unit type configuration is established based on a type of HVAC system and temperature data, humidity data, and/or indoor air quality data. A fan configuration is established based on whether a variable frequency drive fan is identified. Cooling and heating stage configurations are established based on a compressor parameter and a heating stage parameter. An available auxiliary termination is identified in response to establishing the configurations. A safety is assigned to the available auxiliary termination in response to identifying the available auxiliary termination. An IO table is provided to an HVAC controller, which includes physical input/output assignments for the terminations of the HVAC controller based on the configurations and the assigned safety. For another embodiment, the fan configuration is established based on one of a traditional stage blower fan or variable frequency drive fan.

A building system for operating a building and managing private building information includes a processing circuit configured to receive a request for information for a building entity of a building entity database. The processing circuit is configured to select one of the mask templates from the entity database based on access values associated with the requesting device and a relational link between the building entity and the mask templates, retrieve private information for the building entity in response to a reception of the request for the information, and generate a masked information data structure based on the private information and the one of the mask templates.