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: 12292750
    Abstract: A building management system (BMS) operates a plurality of HVAC devices to affect a physical state or condition and detects a fault condition at a second HVAC device affected by the physical state or condition and having causal relationships with the plurality of HVAC devices such that faulty operation of one or more of the plurality of HVAC devices causes a detectable effect at the second HVAC device. The BMS identifies, based on the fault condition, a predetermined set of system parameters corresponding to the fault condition and comprising a plurality of system parameters of the plurality of HVAC devices that are potential causes of the fault condition. The BMS retrieves operating data for the predetermined set of system parameters and transmits a signal to display a user interface comprising the operating data on a display screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2025
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Homero L. Noboa, Kirk H. Drees, Vivek V. Gupta, Mark T. Fischbach
  • Publication number: 20250129960
    Abstract: A method for operating a temperature control system having a cooling system and ventilation system to vent outside air within a structure is disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2024
    Publication date: April 24, 2025
    Applicant: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas
  • Patent number: 12264828
    Abstract: Systems and methods for reducing health risks with respect to an infectious disease in buildings. Health data for an infectious diseases is used to determine a health risk level for building spaces and individuals in the building. An air handling action or a disinfection action is performed based on the health risk level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Clay G. Nesler, Kirk H. Drees, Matthew J. Deloge, Jonathan D. Douglas, Timothy C. Gamroth, Michael J. Wenzel, Robert D. Turney, Mohammad N. ElBsat, Joseph F. Mann, Matthew J. Ellis, Serdar Suindykov, James Burke, Thomas M. Seneczko, David S. Eidson, Ganesh Kalpundi, Renee Clair, Anza D'Antonio, Mark L. Ziolkowski
  • Patent number: 12241647
    Abstract: A building system that operates to receive a plurality of data samples from building equipment of the building and identity whether one or more data samples of the plurality of data samples are anomalous indicating that one or more pieces of the building equipment are possibly experiencing a fault. The building system operates to generate one or more data health scores for the building equipment based on whether the one or more data samples are anomalous, the one or more data health scores indicating quality levels of the plurality of data samples and generate user interface data configured to cause a user device to display a user interface providing indications of the one or more pieces of building equipment that are possibly experiencing the fault and the one or more data health scores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Shawn D. Schubert, Vineet Binodshanker Sinha, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Michael J. Wenzel, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12222124
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, or air conditioning system (HVAC) design and operational tool includes one or more processors and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including obtaining a dynamic temperature model and a dynamic infectious quanta model for one or more building zones, determining an infection probability, and performing a plurality of simulations for a plurality of different equipment configurations using the dynamic temperature model, the dynamic infectious quanta model, and the infection probability to generate results. The operations include generating, using the results of the plurality of simulations, at least one of design including one or more recommended design parameters data or operational data including one or more recommended operational parameters for the HVAC system and initiating an automated action using at least one of the design data or the operational data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2025
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas
  • Patent number: 12216452
    Abstract: A controller for equipment that operate to provide heating or cooling to a building or campus includes a processing circuit configured to obtain utility rate data indicating a price of resources consumed by the equipment to serve energy loads of the building or campus, obtain an objective function that expresses a total monetary cost of operating the equipment over an optimization period as a function of the utility rate data and an amount of the resources consumed by the equipment, determine a relationship between resource consumption and load production of the equipment, optimize the objective function over the optimization subject to a constraint based on the relationship between the resource consumption and the load production of the equipment to determine a distribution of the load production across the equipment, and operate the equipment to achieve the distribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2025
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Robert D. Turney, Kirk H. Drees, Matthew J. Asmus
  • Patent number: 12181848
    Abstract: An energy storage system for a building includes a battery asset configured to store electricity and discharge the stored electricity for use in satisfying a building electric load. The system includes a planning tool configured to identify one or more selected functionalities of the energy storage system and generate a cost function defining a cost of operating the energy storage system over an optimization period. The cost function includes a term for each of the selected functionalities. The planning tool is configured to generate optimization constraints based on the selected functionalities, attributes of the battery asset, and the electric energy load to be satisfied. The planning tool is configured to optimize the cost function to determine optimal power setpoints for the battery asset at each of a plurality of time steps of the optimization period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: Con Edison Battery Storage, LLC
    Inventors: Mohammad N. Elbsat, Michael J. Wenzel, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12174601
    Abstract: A building system of a building including one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building. The instructions cause the one or more processors to derive one or more health metrics indicating physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and cause one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on values of the one or more health metrics, the one or more operations improving the physical health of the one or more occupants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2024
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Terrill R. Laughton, Rachel D. M. Ellerman, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12123609
    Abstract: A building system operates to receive building data from one or more building data sources associated with the building, wherein at least a portion of the building data is associated with control of the one or more environmental conditions of the building and generate, based on the building data, one or more data quality indicators for the building data received from the one or more building data sources, the one or more data quality indicators indicating quality levels of the building data. The building system operates to generate user interface data configured to cause a user device to display a user interface providing indications of the one or more data quality indicators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Shawn D. Schubert, Vineet Binodshanker Sinha, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Michael J. Wenzel, Kirk H. Drees
  • Publication number: 20240312330
    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: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: September 19, 2024
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas, Bernard P. Clement
  • Publication number: 20240302062
    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, 2024
    Publication date: September 12, 2024
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Risbeck
  • Patent number: 12085900
    Abstract: A system includes a processing circuit configured to provide an energy use setpoint based on energy data including an energy characteristic and subject to a constraint based on a variable condition of a building. The processing circuit is configured to estimate a value for the energy use setpoint that will result in the variable condition of the building satisfying the constraint and provide a control signal for equipment based on a difference between the energy use setpoint and a measured energy use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12078367
    Abstract: A system that modifies an environmental condition of a building zone is provided. The system includes an airside processing circuit and a waterside processing circuit. The airside processing circuit drives a damper actuator to a first setpoint based on an air flow rate setpoint and a first pressure measurement, receives an air flow error signal based on the air flow rate setpoint and a second pressure measurement, determines a setpoint based on the air flow error signal, and drives the damper actuator to the second setpoint. The waterside processing circuit drives a valve actuator to a first setpoint based on a fluid flow rate setpoint and a first flow rate measurement, receives a fluid flow error signal based on the fluid flow rate setpoint and a second flow rate measurement, determines a second setpoint based on the fluid flow error signal, and drives the valve actuator to the second setpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Donald R. Albinger, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 12055309
    Abstract: A freeze protection system for a heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) system is shown. The freeze protection system includes a temperature sensor positioned at an inlet of a coil within which a liquid is at risk of freezing, and a controller comprising a processor and memory. The memory stores instructions that are executed by the processor. The processor is instructed to obtain a measured temperature of the liquid at the inlet of the coil from the temperature sensor, compare the measured temperature of the liquid at the inlet of the coil with a freeze prevention temperature threshold, engage a freeze prevention action in response to a determination that the measured temperature of the liquid at the inlet of the coil is less than or equal to the freeze prevention temperature threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Homero L. Noboa, Brennan H. Fentzlaff
  • Patent number: 12044424
    Abstract: A variable air volume (VAV) box includes a fan operable to induce airflow from a building space through the VAV box and discharge the airflow back to the building space, an air cleaning device positioned to clean the airflow through the VAV box before discharging the airflow back to the building space and configured to affect an air quality of the airflow, and a controller configured to operate the fan to modulate the airflow through the VAV box to achieve a target air quality for at least one of the airflow discharged from the VAV box or air within the building space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignee: TYCO FIRE & SECURITY GMBH
    Inventors: Bernard P. Clement, Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Clay G. Nesler, Tyler A. Smith, Juliet A. Pagliaro Herman
  • Publication number: 20240219947
    Abstract: A building manager includes a communications interface configured to receive time-of-use information from a smart energy grid and a processing circuit configured to process the time-of-use information received from the smart energy grid to generate load shedding decisions for building subsystems or devices including determining when to utilize energy from energy storage equipment. The processing circuit is configured to determine an amount of greenhouse gas emissions corresponding to the load shedding decisions and convert the amount of greenhouse gas emissions into tradable carbon credits. The processing circuit is configured to generate a graphical user interface including modules indicating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, the tradable carbon credits, or energy savings resulting from the load shedding decisions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2024
    Publication date: July 4, 2024
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Clay G. Nesler, Kirk H. Drees, James P. Kummer, Derek Supple, Marc D. Andraca, John I. Ruiz, Paul Harrison Rode
  • Patent number: 12007732
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) system for one or more building zones includes airside HVAC equipment that provide air to the one or more building zones and a controller. The controller obtains predictive models to predict values of a first control objective and a second control objective for the one or more building zones as a function of control decision variables for the airside HVAC equipment. The controller performs a Pareto optimization for a time period using the one or more predictive models to determine multiple sets of Pareto optimal values of the control decision variables and corresponding sets of Pareto optimal values of the first control objective and the second control objective for the time period. The controller operates the airside HVAC equipment to provide the air to the one or more building zones in accordance with a selected set of the Pareto optimal values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2024
    Assignee: JOHNSON CONTROLS TYCO IP HOLDINGS LLP
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas
  • Publication number: 20240176319
    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: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2024
    Publication date: May 30, 2024
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas
  • Publication number: 20240168503
    Abstract: A building management system (BMS) operates a plurality of HVAC devices to affect a physical state or condition and detects a fault condition at a second HVAC device affected by the physical state or condition and having causal relationships with the plurality of HVAC devices such that faulty operation of one or more of the plurality of HVAC devices causes a detectable effect at the second HVAC device. The BMS identifies, based on the fault condition, a predetermined set of system parameters corresponding to the fault condition and comprising a plurality of system parameters of the plurality of HVAC devices that are potential causes of the fault condition. The BMS retrieves operating data for the predetermined set of system parameters and transmits a signal to display a user interface comprising the operating data on a display screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2024
    Publication date: May 23, 2024
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Homero L. Noboa, Kirk H. Drees, Vivek V. Gupta, Mark T. Fischbach
  • Publication number: 20240126220
    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: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    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