Patents by Inventor Kirk H. Drees

Kirk H. Drees has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12688437
    Abstract: A building system of a building including one or more memory devices configured to store one or more instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to exercise a building entity causing building entity data to be generated associated with the building entity, the building entity data indicating a result of exercising the building entity and collect the building entity data. The instructions cause the one or more processors to identify, based on a relational model, one or more relationships between one or more building entities and the building entity, wherein the one or more relationships indicate that exercising the building entity affects operation of the one or more building entities and identify that the building is experiencing a performance issue by analyzing the building entity data and the one or more relationships.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2026
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Donald R. Albinger, Shawn D. Schubert, Karl F. Reichenberger, Daniel M. Curtis, Andrew J. Boettcher, Jason T. Sawyer, Miguel Galvez, Walter Martin, Ryan A. Piaskowski, Vaidhyanathan Venkiteswaran, Clay G. Nesler, Siddharth Goyal, Thomas M. Seneczko, Young M. Lee, Sudhi R Sinha
  • Publication number: 20260177265
    Abstract: An infection control tool for a building HVAC system includes processing circuitry configured to receive one or more inputs defining a HVAC system configuration for each of a baseline scenario and one or more other scenarios. The processing circuitry is also configured to estimate infection risk and at least one of energy consumption or operating cost for each of the one or more other scenarios relative to the baseline scenario. The processing circuitry is also configured to operate a display to provide the infection risk and at least one of the energy consumption or operating cost to a user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2026
    Publication date: June 25, 2026
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Risbeck
  • Patent number: 12664444
    Abstract: A building system including one or more memory devices configured to store instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to collect building device data of a building device, generate a time correlated data stream for a data point, and generate a time correlated reliability data stream for the data point. The building device data includes a plurality of data samples of the data point. The time correlated data stream includes values of the plurality of data samples of the data point. The time correlated reliability data stream includes a plurality of reliability values time correlated to corresponding values of the plurality of data samples of the data point and indicating reliability of the values of the plurality of data samples of the data point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2026
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Donald R. Albinger, Shawn D. Schubert, Karl F. Reichenberger, Daniel M. Curtis, Andrew J. Boettcher, Jason T. Sawyer, Miguel Galvez, Walter Martin, Ryan A. Piaskowski, Vaidhyanathan Venkiteswaran, Clay G. Nesler, Siddharth Goyal, Thomas M. Seneczko, Young M. Lee, Sudhi R. Sinha
  • Publication number: 20260160437
    Abstract: A method for providing filtered air to a zone of a building includes operating an air handler to pass unfiltered air through a filter and output filtered air to the zone of the building. The method includes determining an amount of filtered air provided to the zone of the building by the air handler. The method includes determining if additional air filtration is required to satisfy at least one of a desired amount of clean airflow or a desired reduction of a risk of infection. The method includes activating an in-zone filtration device and operating the in-zone filtration device to draw air from the zone into an inner volume, filter the air, and recirculate the filtered air to the zone of the building in response to determining additional air filtration is required.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2026
    Publication date: June 11, 2026
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Risbeck
  • Publication number: 20260128590
    Abstract: A building energy system includes equipment operable to consume, store, or discharge energy resources purchased from a utility supplier to satisfy energy loads and a controller configured to allocate the energy resources across the equipment over a prediction horizon by performing a stochastic optimization of an objective function. The objective function includes a first cost of purchasing the energy resources based on first decision variables to satisfy a first alternative set of energy loads over the prediction horizon and a second cost of purchasing the energy resources based on second decision variables to satisfy a second alternative set of energy loads over the same prediction horizon. The controller performs the stochastic optimization to determine values of the first and second decision variables subject to corresponding constraints based on the first and second alternative sets of energy loads and controls the equipment based on a result of the stochastic optimization.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2025
    Publication date: May 7, 2026
    Applicant: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: RANJEET KUMAR, MICHAEL J. WENZEL, MATTHEW J. ELLIS, MOHAMMAD N. ELBSAT, KIRK H. DREES, VICTOR MANUEL ZAVALA TEJEDA
  • Patent number: 12590721
    Abstract: Systems and methods for particulate sensing of a building. Some embodiments relate to an air handling unit of an HVAC system of a building. The air handling unit includes ducting, one or more air dampers coupled to the ducting, and an integrated sampling system including piping coupled to at least one of the ducting or the one or more air dampers and configured to collect a plurality of air stream samples, a plurality of integrated sensors configured to measure the air stream sample, wherein a first integrated sensor is configured to measure a first species of the air stream sample, and wherein a second integrated sensor is configured to measure a second species of the air stream sample, and a processing circuit configured to estimate one or more air quality indicators of the air handling unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2026
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Tyler A. Smith, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12578109
    Abstract: A method for providing filtered air to a zone of a building includes operating an air handler to pass unfiltered air through a filter and output filtered air to the zone of the building. The method includes determining an amount of filtered air provided to the zone of the building by the air handler. The method includes determining if additional air filtration is required to satisfy at least one of a desired amount of clean airflow or a desired reduction of a risk of infection. The method includes activating an in-zone filtration device and operating the in-zone filtration device to draw air from the zone into an inner volume, filter the air, and recirculate the filtered air to the zone of the building in response to determining additional air filtration is required.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2026
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Risbeck
  • Patent number: 12578110
    Abstract: Systems and methods for particulate sensing of a building. Some embodiments relate to an air handling unit of an HVAC system of a building. The air handling unit includes a zone sensor configured to sample a first zone and measure a first particle disturbance of the first zone, an integrated sampling system includes one or more integrated sensors configured to measure a second particle disturbance of an outdoor air stream and a third particle disturbance of an indoor air stream. The air handling unit further includes an air handling unit controller configured to control operation of the air handling unit, responsive to comparing the second particle disturbance with at least one of the first particle disturbance or and the third particle disturbance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2026
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Tyler A. Smith, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12578117
    Abstract: An air handling unit of an HVAC system of a building including ducting through which airflow is controllably pushed by a supply fan of the HVAC system, at least one of a heating or cooling device within the ducting, an air handling unit controller configured to control operation of the at least one of the heating or cooling device within the ducting to generate condensation from air flowing through the air handling unit, and a collector tray placed within and/or integrated with the ducting below the at least one of the heating or cooling device and structured to collect the condensation, via gravity, for use in analysis of the condensation, wherein the at least one of the heating or cooling device, the air handling unit controller, and the collector tray are configured to collect the condensation including infectious disease particles from the air flowing through the air handling unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2026
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12571554
    Abstract: Systems and methods for controlling building equipment based on an indoor air quality (IAQ) ventilation analysis of a building. One system includes a controller including memory and one or more processors configured to continuously collect IAQ data from one or more sensors within the building, estimate a plurality of outdoor airflow rates for an area of the building during a plurality of transient periods using the IAQ data as input, generate a time series outdoor airflow rate includes the plurality of estimated outdoor airflow rates, and modify a control strategy for the area of the building based on the time series outdoor airflow rate and a ventilation schedule for the area of the building.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2026
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Fang Du, Michael J. Wenzel, Anas W.I. Alanqar, Jonathan D. Douglas, Sean Aaron Finn-Samuels, Michael J. Risbeck, Mohammad Elbsat, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12560346
    Abstract: A method includes determining control setpoints for equipment based on a time-varying availability of green energy and revenue from an incentive program of an energy provider. The method also includes controlling the equipment using the control setpoints.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2026
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Wenzel, Robert D. Turney
  • Patent number: 12529490
    Abstract: An infection control tool for a building HVAC system includes processing circuitry configured to receive one or more inputs defining a HVAC system configuration for each of a baseline scenario and one or more other scenarios. The processing circuitry is also configured to estimate infection risk and at least one of energy consumption or operating cost for each of the one or more other scenarios relative to the baseline scenario. The processing circuitry is also configured to operate a display to provide the infection risk and at least one of the energy consumption or operating cost to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2026
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Risbeck
  • Patent number: 12529492
    Abstract: A cascaded control system for coordinating and controlling carbon emissions associated with operating building equipment distributed across a plurality of subsystems includes a first controller configured to generate carbon emissions targets for each of a plurality of subsystems using a predictive control process that accounts for an aggregate carbon emissions of the plurality of subsystems predicted to result from the carbon emissions targets. The cascaded control system also includes a plurality of second controllers, each corresponding to one of the plurality of subsystems and configured to generate control decisions for building equipment of the corresponding subsystem that are predicted to cause the building equipment to achieve the carbon emissions targets for the corresponding subsystem; and operate the building equipment of the corresponding subsystem using the control decisions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2026
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12525799
    Abstract: A building energy system includes equipment configured to consume, store, or discharge one or more energy resources purchased from a utility supplier. At least one of the energy resources is subject to a demand charge. The system further includes a controller configured to determine an optimal allocation of the energy resources across the equipment over a demand charge period. The controller includes a stochastic optimizer configured to obtain representative loads and rates for the building or campus for each of a plurality of scenarios, generate a first objective function comprising a cost of purchasing the energy resources over a portion of the demand charge period, and perform a first optimization to determine a peak demand target for the optimal allocation of the energy resources. The peak demand target minimizes a risk attribute of the first objective function over the plurality of the scenarios.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2026
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Ranjeet Kumar, Michael J. Wenzel, Matthew J. Ellis, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Kirk H. Drees, Victor Manuel Zavala Tejeda
  • Publication number: 20250347433
    Abstract: A system for controlling building equipment provides a user interface including a graphical representation of a relationship between a carbon emissions control objective and a second control objective that competes with the carbon emissions control objective over a range of control strategies for the building equipment. The carbon emissions control objective is based on electrical consumption of the building equipment and a marginal operating carbon emissions rate. The system assigns a weight to the carbon emissions control objective or the second control objective in an objective function. The weight is associated with a control strategy that corresponds to a user selection based on the graphical representation. The system generates control decisions for the building equipment using the objective function with the weight assigned to the carbon emissions control objective or the second control objective and operate the building equipment in accordance with the control decisions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2025
    Publication date: November 13, 2025
    Applicant: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: MICHAEL J. WENZEL, MOHAMMAD N. ELBSAT, KIRK H. DREES
  • Patent number: 12442553
    Abstract: A feedforward-feedback controller for integrated temperature and pressure control of a building space includes one or more processing circuits. The one or more processing circuits are configured to generate a supply air flow rate setpoint using a combined feedforward-feedback control process that (i) proactively compensates for a feedforward air flow disturbance in the building space and (ii) reactively compensates for a feedback air pressure error in the building space, generate a supply air temperature setpoint using a predictive temperature model that predicts the supply air temperature setpoint required to achieve a zone temperature setpoint for the building space when supply air is provided to the building space at the supply air flow rate setpoint and the supply air temperature setpoint, and operate building equipment to provide the supply air to the building space at the supply air flow rate setpoint and the supply air temperature setpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2025
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jack A. Peterson, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12437627
    Abstract: A pathogen detection system for a building includes multiple pathogen detectors positioned in the building at different locations. The pathogen detectors are configured to output detection data including a detected presence of a pathogen. The pathogen detection system includes processing circuitry configured to obtain the detection data from the pathogen detectors. The processing circuitry is also configured to determine a responsive action based on the detected presence of the pathogen, and the locations. The responsive action includes a magnitude of effect and a magnitude of locality. The processing circuitry is configured to perform the responsive action or initiate the responsive action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2025
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas, Bernard P. Clement
  • Patent number: 12398905
    Abstract: A method for controlling building equipment includes providing a user interface comprising a graphical representation of a relationship between a carbon emissions control objective and a second control objective that competes with the carbon emissions control objective over a range of control strategies for the building equipment, and assigning a weight to the carbon emissions control objective or the second control objective in an objective function. The weight is associated with a control strategy that corresponds to a user selection based on the graphical representation. The method also includes generating control decisions for the building equipment using the objective function with the weight assigned to the carbon emissions control objective or the second control objective and operating the building equipment in accordance with the control decisions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2025
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12398908
    Abstract: A building system operates to receive air quality measurements of a plurality of spaces of the building from a mobile air quality sensor, the mobile air quality sensor configured to collect the air quality measurements of the plurality of spaces while the mobile air quality sensor moves throughout the plurality of spaces of the building and provide the collected air quality measurements to the one or more processors. The air quality measurements include data identifying locations and times at which the air quality measurements were collected The building system operates to cause the one or more processors to store information, or a link to the information, in a database based on the collected air quality measurements, the database including a contextual representation of the plurality of spaces of the building and perform at least one operation using the information based on the air quality measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2025
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12372934
    Abstract: A controller for heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) equipment operable to affect an environmental condition of a building is configured to obtain predictive models that predict values of an energy control objective and an air quality control objective as a function of control decision variables for the HVAC equipment. The controller executes a multi-objective optimization process using the predictive models to produce multiple sets of optimization results corresponding to different values of the control decision variables, the energy control objective, and the air quality control objective. The controller selects one or more of the sets of optimization results based on the values of the energy control objective and the air quality control objective. The controller operates the HVAC equipment to affect the environmental condition of the building in accordance with the values of the control decision variables corresponding to a selected set of the optimization results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2024
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2025
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas