Abstract: A method is disclosed for extracting maximal information in the output of document searches by key word queries. The method is based on Shannon information theory for objective ranking of the results. The data base may be unlinked, such as documents distributed over directories on a PC, or linked, such as the world-wide web. Approximate expressions for the Shannon information are disclosed using the existing word-frequencies in the natural language. The method enables numerical ranking of a list of concordances with footnotes referencing their source documents. Relatively extended concordances may be used for display on computer screens, or relatively short concordances for display on mobile devices.

Abstract: A method for generating a home energy efficiency label based on real-time measurements of gas-energy usage of a household and outside temperature data. The home energy efficiency label is calculated by correlating energy usage of the household to the outside temperature and presented to a home owner in real-time on a computer screen, thereby enabling prediction of potential energy savings by lowering indoor climate temperatures. The home energy efficiency label certifies home energy efficiency and can be used on a housing market including home appraising and financing.

Abstract: The power of a complete picture of energy-weather information can be used for novel energy saving algorithms in home-climate systems. Exploiting the human biological clock, we recently proposed to optimize climate systems by allowing for a correlation between inside and outside temperatures, while preserving maximal comfort. Following our earlier disclosure on a Gas Energy Observatory, we here disclose a detailed description of a battery-free wireless weather station for reliable, long-term and maintenance-free measurements. It is solar powered. Combined with energy storage in high-voltage capacitors using recently introduced low-cost step-up and step-down DC-DC converters, a versatile energy burst-source is created. Energies of a few J per day suffice for measurement, data-collection and wireless data transmission in bursts to a central data-processing device inside a nearby home.

Abstract: We recently disclosed a novel observatory which captures the complete picture in domestic gas-energy usage and local weather data in real-time. It uses a new principle of thermodynamic anemometry, wherein a fraction of the flow is extracted and passed through a small measurement chamber. Here, the external flow modulates heat-transport amplified by buoynancy-convection, and the induced Nusselt number is a measure for the Reynolds number of the flow. Based on an effective viscosity amplified by convection-buyoancy, the resulting mass-flow measurements are inherently insensitive to variations in temperature and pressure. In the application to natural gas metering, gas-composition may vary with commensurate impact on mass-flow metering and energy-metering. In mass-flow metering, sensitivity to gas-composition is mediated by the effective viscosity. In energy metering, the interchangeability of various gas-compositions is well-described by the Wobbe-index. For example, these sensitivities are, respectively, 0.

Abstract: Heating is a significant factor in residential gas-energy usage. Saving energy on heating is receiving increasing attention with rising energy prices and the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Energy awareness and energy efficiency hereby become important qualifications for human behavior and residential building codes, and become a factor in the evolution of the global climate. Here, we describe a novel measurement and validation system for domestic gas-energy usage in combination with primary weather data. We disclose a gas-energy observatory which visualizes human behavior in gas-energy consumption associated with domestic facilities, and measures home energy efficiency by calorimetry. Weather-sensitivity analysis quantifies energy-usage as a function of small variations in room temperature and home energy efficiency. Weather-sensitivity data can be used to calculate changes in room-temperature settings or improvements in home insulation for a desired reduction in CO2-output.

Abstract: A method is described which enables full drift elimination in sensors, whose sensitivity to a quantity S depends on their relative orientation to the medium in which S is measured. The method defines each measurement as the difference of the results of two partial measurements, said partial measurements being obtained by said sensor in succession and with two different relative orientations between sensor and medium, said relative orientations corresponding to two distinct sensitivities to S. This Alternating Direction Method applies in particular to flow sensors, and enables accurate long-time volume measurement.