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).

  • Publication number: 20220100158
    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: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Mohammad N. Elbsat, Michael J. Wenzel, Kirk H. Drees
  • Publication number: 20220092500
    Abstract: A control system includes building equipment configured to consume electrical energy and generate thermal energy, electrical energy storage configured to store and discharge electrical energy, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine, for a plurality of time steps within a time horizon, an amount of electrical energy to store in the electrical energy storage or discharge from the electrical energy storage using a value function. The value function includes an expected revenue from participating in an incentive-based demand response (IBDR) program, an expected cost of participating in the IBDR program, and a penalty cost based on an amount by which a predicted output of the building equipment or the electrical energy storage changes between time steps within the time horizon. The controller is configured to control the electrical energy storage to store or discharge the amount of electrical energy determined using the value function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Publication date: March 24, 2022
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Wenzel, Robert D. Turney
  • Publication number: 20220082280
    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: September 15, 2021
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Jonathan D. DOUGLAS, Kirk H. DREES, Michael J. RISBECK
  • Patent number: 11274850
    Abstract: A system for controlling a flow rate of a fluid through a valve is provided. The system includes a valve and an actuator. An actuator drive device is driven by an actuator motor and is coupled to the valve for driving the valve between multiple positions. The system further includes a differential pressure sensor configured to measure a differential pressure across the valve and a controller that is communicably coupled with the differential pressure sensor and the motor. The controller is configured to receive a flow rate setpoint and the differential pressure measurement, determine an estimated flow rate based on the differential pressure measurement, determine an actuator position setpoint using the flow rate setpoint and the estimated flow rate, and operate the motor to drive the drive device to the actuator position setpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Camille M. Aucoin, Brennan H. Fentzlaff, Homero L. Noboa, Duane S. Freimuth, Kirk H. Drees, Kenneth J. Sieth, Justin M. Salerno
  • Patent number: 11275355
    Abstract: An optimization system for a central plant includes a processing circuit configured to receive load prediction data indicating building energy loads and utility rate data indicating a price of one or more resources consumed by equipment of the central plant to serve the building energy loads. The optimization system includes a high level optimization module configured to generate an objective function that expresses a total monetary cost of operating the central plant over an optimization period as a function of the utility rate data and an amount of the one or more resources consumed by the central plant equipment. The optimization system includes a demand charge module configured to modify the objective function to account for a demand charge indicating a cost associated with maximum power consumption during a demand charge period. The high level optimization module is configured to optimize the objective function over the demand charge period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 11274847
    Abstract: A space controller includes processors and non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the processors, cause the processors to perform operations. The operations include obtaining a power consumption model that defines a change in power consumption of HVAC equipment that operate to provide heating or cooling to a space as a function of a change in temperature setpoint for the space and model parameters that represent thermal properties of the space. The operations include estimating values of the model parameters based on training data including values of the power consumption of the HVAC equipment, the temperature setpoint for the space, and outdoor air temperature at multiple times within a training period. The operations include using the power consumption model and the values of the model parameters to predict a change in the power consumption of the HVAC equipment expected to result from a change in the temperature setpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventor: Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 11274842
    Abstract: A building management system (BMS) for filtering a fluid within a building is shown. The system includes one or more sensors configured to measure one or more characteristics of a first fluid within an air duct of the BMS and measure one or more characteristics of a second fluid after the second fluid has been filtered. The system further includes a pollutant management system configured to receive data from the one or more sensors and control a filtration process. The filtration process selects a filter of a plurality of filters based on a level of the one or more characteristics of the first fluid and the one or more characteristics of the second fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Timothy C. Gamroth, Michael J. Wenzel, Mohammad N. ElBsat, David S. Eidson, James Burke, Kirk H. Drees, Thomas M. Seneczko
  • Patent number: 11269306
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) system for one or more building zones includes airside HVAC equipment operable to provide clean air to the one or more building zones and a controller. The controller is configured to obtain a dynamic temperature model and a dynamic infectious quanta model for the one or more building zones, determine an infection probability, and generate control decisions for the airside HVAC equipment using the dynamic temperature model, the dynamic infectious quanta model, and the infection probability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas
  • Patent number: 11269303
    Abstract: A control system includes one or more sensors configured to generate sensor data relating to building equipment. The sensor data includes first sensor data collected during a first time period and second sensor data collected during a second time period. The control system also includes a controller configured to use the first sensor data to generate one or more first model coefficients for a model for the building equipment. The controller is also configured to use the second sensor data to generate one or more second model coefficients for the model, generate a test statistic by comparing the one or more first model coefficients and the one or more second model coefficients, compare the test statistic with a value, and automatically identify a change relating to the building equipment in response to the test statistic exceeding the value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Kirk H. Drees
  • Publication number: 20220065479
    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: August 27, 2021
    Publication date: March 3, 2022
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Risbeck
  • Publication number: 20220057099
    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: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Publication date: February 24, 2022
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Bernard P. Clement, Jonathan D. Douglas, Kirk H. Drees, Clay G. Nesler, Tyler A. Smith, Juliet A. Pagliaro Herman
  • Patent number: 11258260
    Abstract: An optimization controller for a battery includes a high level controller configured to receive a regulation signal from an incentive provider cat a data fusion module, determine statistics of the regulation signal, and use the statistics of the regulation signal to generate a frequency response midpoint. The optimization controller further includes a low level controller configured to use the frequency response midpoint to determine optimal battery power setpoints and use the optimal battery power setpoints to control an amount of electric power stored or discharged from the battery during a frequency response period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Con Edison Battery Storage, LLC
    Inventors: Radu Dorneanu, Michael J. Wenzel, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Kirk H. Drees, Andrew J. Przybylski
  • Publication number: 20220042704
    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: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2021
    Publication date: February 10, 2022
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: KIRK H. DREES, MICHAEL J. WENZEL, ROBERT D. TURNEY
  • Patent number: 11237576
    Abstract: A building management system includes a communications interface connected to HVAC devices, a device identifier configured to identify the HVAC devices, a fault detector configured to detect a fault condition in the identified devices, and a causal relationship template retriever configured to retrieve a fault causation template of system parameters specific to the fault condition. The building management system further includes a status requestor configured to retrieve operating data from the identified devices and a user interface generator. The user interface generator is configured to populate the system parameters of the fault causation template with the retrieved operating data and transmit a signal to display a user interface with the populated fault causation template on a display screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Homero L. Noboa, Kirk H. Drees, Vivek V. Gupta, Mark T. Fischbach
  • Publication number: 20220026102
    Abstract: A system for controlling flow of a fluid through a heat exchanger in a heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a flow control device operable to adjust the flow of the fluid through the heat exchanger, temperature sensors positioned to obtain a temperature differential of the fluid across the heat exchanger, and a controller configured to compare the temperature differential to a threshold. Responsive to the temperature differential being less than the threshold, the controller is configured to calculate an adjusted setpoint for the flow control device as a function of both the temperature differential and the threshold and operate the flow control device to adjust the flow of the fluid through the heat exchanger in accordance with the adjusted setpoint.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2021
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Rachel A. Glanzer, Brennan H. Fentzlaff, Kirk H. Drees
  • Patent number: 11226129
    Abstract: A system configured to modify an environmental condition of a building includes a valve configured to regulate a flow of a fluid and an actuator. The actuator includes a motor and a drive coupling, the drive coupling driven by the motor and coupled to the valve for driving the valve between multiple positions. The system further includes a flow rate sensor configured to measure the flow rate of the fluid through the valve and a processing circuit coupled to the motor and the flow rate sensor. The processing circuit is configured to receive a flow rate setpoint and a flow rate measurement, determine an actuator position setpoint based on the flow rate setpoint and the flow rate measurement, and operate the motor to drive the drive coupling to the actuator position setpoint. The flow rate sensor and the processing circuit are located within a common integrated device chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Herbert J. Doll, Gerald A. Duenkel, Marcello Passoni
  • Publication number: 20220011731
    Abstract: A controller for heating, ventilation, or air conditioning (HVAC) equipment that is operable to affect an environmental condition of a building is configured to obtain predictive models that predict values of a carbon emissions control objective and another control objective as a function of control decision variables for the HVAC equipment. The controller executes an optimization process using the predictive models to produce sets of optimization results corresponding to different values of the control decision variables, the carbon emissions control objective, and the other control objective. The controller selects from the sets of optimization results based on the values of the carbon emissions control objective and the other 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: September 23, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas
  • Patent number: 11210617
    Abstract: A building management system includes building equipment configured to consume electrical energy and generate thermal energy, thermal energy storage configured to store at least a portion of the thermal energy generated by the building equipment and to discharge the stored thermal energy, electrical energy storage configured to store electrical energy purchased from a utility and to discharge the stored electrical energy, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine, for each time step within a time horizon, an optimal amount of electrical energy stored or discharged by the electrical energy storage by optimizing a value function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Kirk H. Drees, Michael J. Wenzel, Robert D. Turney
  • Patent number: 11209184
    Abstract: A control system for a central energy facility with distributed energy storage includes a high level coordinator, a low level airside controller, a central plant controller, and a battery controller. The high level coordinator is configured to perform a high level optimization to generate an airside load profile for an airside system, a subplant load profile for a central plant, and a battery power profile for a battery. The low level airside controller is configured to use the airside load profile to operate airside HVAC equipment of the airside subsystem. The central plant controller is configured to use the subplant load profile to operate central plant equipment of the central plant. The battery controller is configured to use the battery power profile to control an amount of electric energy stored in the battery or discharged from the battery at each of a plurality of time steps in an optimization period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Michael J. Wenzel, Mohammad N. Elbsat, Matthew J. Ellis, Matthew J. Asmus, Andrew J. Przybylski, Ryan A. Baumgartner, John H. Burroughs, Kirk H. Drees, Robert D. Turney, Graeme Willmott
  • Publication number: 20210373519
    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: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
    Inventors: Michael J. Risbeck, Kirk H. Drees, Jonathan D. Douglas