BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to building management systems. The present disclosure relates more particularly to systems and methods for controlling a building using a single-zone climate conditioning system to affect a space in a multi-zoned manner.

A building management system (BMS) is, in general, a system of devices configured to control, monitor, and manage equipment in or around a building or building area. A BMS can include a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a security system, a lighting system, a fire alerting system, another system that is capable of managing building functions or devices, or any combination thereof. BMS devices may be installed in any environment (e.g., an indoor area or an outdoor area) and the environment may include any number of buildings, spaces, zones, rooms, or areas. A BMS may include a variety of devices (e.g., HVAC devices, controllers, chillers, fans, sensors, etc.) configured to facilitate monitoring and controlling the building space. Throughout the disclosure, such devices are referred to as BMS devices or building equipment.

In some BMS systems, such as in a residential system, the BMS is set to operate as a single zoned system. Thus, there is often times one set of building equipment to control the environmental conditions of the entire residence via the HVAC system. It may be desirable to modulate the setpoints of the HVAC system throughout the day based on factors such as time of day, building occupancy, etc., in order to provide maximum comfort and efficiency to the user. However, these factors may differ based on the particular room and location within the residency, but due to the single-zone system, the various rooms are unable to be controlled individually. The advantages of a multi-zoned system is that different zones may have setpoints that have different ideal temporal variation, and may be controlled individually. However, the cost of converting a single-zone system to a multi-zone system in order to control the zones individually can be substantial. Thus, it would be advantageous to have the benefits of a multi-zone system without the expense. Additionally, it would be advantageous to have systems and methods for using a single-zone climate conditioning system to affect space in a multi-zoned manner.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure is a method for monitoring and controlling one or more environmental conditions of a building. The method comprises obtaining feedback from a first sensor at a first location within the building and feedback from a second sensor at a second location within the building. The method further comprises combining the feedback from the first sensor with the feedback from the second sensor in a weighted manner to generate a combined feedback, wherein a weight of the feedback from the first sensor relative to a weight of the feedback from the second sensor is based on a time of day. The method finally comprises operating HVAC equipment to drive the combined feedback toward a setpoint for the building.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a predicted occupancy of the first location and the second location based on the time of day and adjusting at least one of the weights of the feedback from the first sensor or the weight of the feedback from the second sensor using the predicted occupancy.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor and operating the HVAC equipment to reduce the difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor in response to the difference reaching a threshold.

In some embodiments, the HVAC equipment comprises a recirculation fan and operating the HVAC equipment comprises operating the recirculation fan to reduce the difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the difference from the second sensor.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises comparing the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor to a second threshold and operating the HVAC equipment using the feedback from the first sensor without considering the feedback from the second sensor in response to the feedback from the first sensor reaching the threshold.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises identifying at least one of an importance of the first location or an importance of the second location and adjusting at least one weight of the feedback from the first sensor or the weight of the feedback from the second sensor using the importance of the first location or the importance of the second location.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that the first location is more important than the second location and operating the HVAC equipment in a manner predicted to move the feedback from the first sensor toward the setpoint and move the feedback from the second sensor away from the setpoint in response to determining that the first location is more important than the second location.

Another implementation of the present disclosure is a method for monitoring and controlling one or more environmental conditions of a building. The method includes obtaining feedback from a first sensor at a first location within the building and feedback from a second sensor at a second location within the building. The method further includes identifying an importance of the first location and an importance of the second location. Finally, the method includes operating HVAC equipment in a manner predicted to move the feedback from the first sensor toward a setpoint for the building and move the feedback from the second sensor away from the setpoint in response to determining that the first location is more important than the second location.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises combining the feedback from the first sensor with the feedback from the second sensor in a weighted manner to generate a combined feedback, wherein a weight of the feedback from the first sensor relative to a weight of the feedback from the second sensor is based on at least one of the importance of the first location or the importance of the second location and operating the HVAC equipment to drive the combined feedback toward the setpoint for the building.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises operating the HVAC equipment by exchanging air between the first location and the second location in response to predicting that exchanging the air between the first location and the second location will move the feedback from the first sensor toward the setpoint.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises combining the feedback from the first sensor with the feedback from the second sensor in a weighted manner to generate a combined feedback, wherein a weight of the feedback from the first sensor relative to a weight of the feedback from the second sensor is based on a time of day and operating the HVAC equipment to drive the combined feedback toward the setpoint for the building.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor and operating the HVAC equipment to reduce the difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor in response to the difference reaching a threshold.

In some embodiments, the HVAC equipment comprises a recirculation fan and operating the HVAC equipment comprises operating the recirculation fan to reduce the difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the difference from the second sensor.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises comparing the feedback from the first sensor to a threshold and operating the HVAC equipment using the feedback from the first sensor without considering the feedback from the second sensor in response to the feedback from the first sensor reaching the threshold.

Another implementation of the present disclosure is a method for monitoring and controlling one or more environmental conditions of a building. The method comprises obtaining feedback from a first sensor at a first location within the building and feedback from a second sensor at a second location within the building. The method further comprises determining a difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor. Finally, the method comprises operating HVAC equipment to reduce the difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor in response to the difference reaching a threshold.

In some embodiments, the HVAC equipment comprises a recirculation fan and operating the HVAC equipment comprises operating the recirculation fan to reduce the difference between the feedback from the first sensor and the feedback from the second sensor.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises combining the feedback from the first sensor with the feedback from the second sensor in a weighted manner to generate a combined feedback, wherein a weight of the feedback from the first sensor relative to a weight of the feedback from the second sensor is based on a time of day and operating the HVAC equipment to drive the combined feedback toward a setpoint for the building.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises identifying at least one of an importance of the first location or an importance of the second location, combining the feedback from the first sensor with the feedback from the second sensor in a weighted manner to generate a combined feedback, wherein a weight of the feedback from the first sensor relative to a weight of the feedback from the second sensor is based on at least one of the importance of the first location or the importance of the second location, and operating the HVAC equipment to drive the combined feedback toward a setpoint for the building.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining that the first location is more important than the second location and operating the HVAC equipment in a manner predicted to move the feedback from the first sensor toward a setpoint for the building and move the feedback from the second sensor away from the setpoint in response to determining that the first location is more important than the second location.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises comparing the feedback from the first sensor to a threshold and operating the HVAC equipment using the feedback from the first sensor without considering the feedback from the second sensor in response to the feedback from the first sensor reaching the threshold.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate this summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes described herein, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the detailed description set forth herein and taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

