Method and system of ventilation for a healthy home configured for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy resources

Abstract

A method provides a ventilation control compliant with an adopted ventilation standard for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy resources. The method includes operating a home energy system to generate solar energy within a daily active period and draw fresh air from an ambient region, setting a daily ventilation period as a fractional period of a day, the ventilation period being coincident with the active period during a heating period for the home or a time period after the active period during a cooling period for the home, determining a target volume, determining a flow rate for delivering the fresh air during the ventilation period, performing ventilation in the ventilation period to deliver the fresh air into the home using the flow rate, and monitoring an accumulated total ventilation volume of the delivered fresh air until the accumulated total ventilation volume is within a vicinity of a target volume.

1 . An apparatus for providing fresh air flow into a home for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy resources, the apparatus comprising:
 a solar module associated with a building structure, the solar module being configured for producing thermal energy from a solar energy source during a first period of time daily;   an air plenum structure configured with the solar module to draw fresh air from an ambient region and to transfer the fresh air to an inner space of the building structure during a second period of time daily;   an energy transfer module coupled between the air plenum structure and the inner space of the building structure and configured to process and transfer the fresh air from the ambient region; and   a control module configured to operate the energy transfer module to deliver the fresh air into the inner space of the building structure within the second period of time to achieve a predetermined ventilation standard for the building structure and configured to maintain a substantially constant heating load or a substantially constant cooling load within the inner space of the building structure during the second period of time, the second period of time being associated with the first period of time for utilizing the thermal energy carried by the fresh air.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the second period of time is either substantially within the first period of time to transfer the fresh air carrying thermal energy produced by the solar module to the inner space of the building structure, or substantially after an end of the first period of time and before a start of the first period of time next day to transfer the fresh air cooled by the solar module via radiation to the inner space of the building structure. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the building structure is a residential home and the predetermined ventilation standard is ASHRAE standard 62.2 used for meeting building energy codes. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the energy transfer module comprises a blower, a damper coupled to the blower, a duct configured with the inner space or an exhaust port, and one or more sensors disposed in an upstream region and a downstream region communicating with the blower. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the control module comprises a computer readable memory, the computer readable memory including a first code directed to determine a flow rate to drive the fresh air, a second code directed to adjust the damper to direct the fresh air into the inner space or exhaust, a third code directed to receive information from the one or more sensors to determine a volume of the fresh air passing through within a selected period of time. 
     
     
         6 . A method for providing a ventilation control compliant with an adopted ventilation standard for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy resources, the method comprising:
 operating a home energy system to generate solar energy within a daily active period and draw fresh air from an ambient region;   setting a daily ventilation period as a fractional period of a day, the daily ventilation period being substantially coincident with the daily active period during a heating period for the home or a time period after the daily active period during a cooling period for the home;   determining a target volume in compliance with a ventilation standard;   determining a flow rate for delivering the fresh air during the daily ventilation period;   performing ventilation in the daily ventilation period to deliver the fresh air to an inner region of the home using the flow rate; and   monitoring an accumulated total ventilation volume of the delivered fresh air until the accumulated total ventilation volume is within a vicinity of the target volume.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the operating the home energy system comprises generating solar thermal energy during the daily active period via a solar module comprising an air plenum structure to draw the fresh air and controlling an energy transfer module for processing the fresh air and delivering the fresh air to the inner region of the home. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the performing ventilation comprises delivering the fresh air carrying the solar thermal energy within the daily ventilation period for heating the inner region of the home during the heating period for the home, thereby providing saving up to 60% in energy usage and equipment cost for providing space heating required by home comfort setting compared to delivering the fresh air full day. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the performing ventilation comprises delivering the fresh air cooled by radiation from the solar module to the inner region of the home within the daily ventilation period for providing flush cooling during the cooling period for the home, thereby providing saving up to 60% in energy usage and equipment cost for providing space cooling required by home comfort setting compared to delivering the fresh air full day. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the daily ventilation period is 24 hours associated with a base ventilation rate set by the ventilation standard or a predetermined partial period of a day associated with an intermittent rate greater than the base ventilation rate, wherein the ventilation standard is one selected from states adopted ASHRAE standard 62.2 and European EN13141-1. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the base ventilation rate is determined by an area size of the home and numbers of bedroom in the home based on the adopted ASHRAE standard 62.2. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the intermittent rate is provided by dividing the base ventilation rate with a fraction factor equal to a ratio of the daily ventilation period over a 24 hours full day and an effectiveness factor associated with the fraction factor based on the adopted ASHRAE standard 62.2. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the determining the target volume comprises calculating a volume of the fresh air delivered using the intermittent rate during the daily ventilation period. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the determining the flow rate for delivering the fresh air comprises setting the flow rate equal to or greater than the intermittent rate for reaching the target volume in a period of time equal to or less than the daily ventilation period. 
     
     
         15 . A method of a daily home ventilation control compliant with ASHRAE standard 62.2 for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy resources, the method comprising:
 operating a system for providing fresh air for ventilation of a building structure, the system including at least an energy transfer module coupled to a solar thermal module;   delivering a flow of the fresh air collected by the solar thermal module from an ambient region through the energy transfer module into the interior region of the building structure;   calculating an integrated volume of the flow within a 15-minute runtime continuously for a day to record in a float data table;   determining a target volume compliant with the ASHRAE standard 62.2 for ventilation within a daily ventilation period based on an intermittent rate for delivering the flow of the fresh air, the daily ventilation period being a partial period of a day in association with an active period when solar energy is generated by the solar thermal module for heating the fresh air or a time period after the active period when radiation cooling is provided for cooling the fresh air, the active period beginning at a start time and ending at an end time;   determining if the system is set in a heating mode or a cooling mode at the start time;
 if the system is determined to be set in the heating mode at the start time,
 beginning the daily ventilation period from the start time to deliver the flow of the fresh air at the intermittent rate or a first flow rate; 
 calculating an accumulated ventilation volume based on the float data table from the start time up to a current time; 
 determining if the accumulated ventilation volume is smaller than the daily ventilation target volume;
 performing ventilation in the daily ventilation period with at least the intermittent rate if the accumulated ventilation volume is determined to be smaller than the daily ventilation target volume; and 
 cutting off ventilation if the accumulated ventilation volume is determined to be no smaller than the daily ventilation target volume or if the current time reaches the end time; 
 
 
 if the system is determined to be set in the cooling mode at the start time,
 keeping the system in the cooling mode until a predetermined time after the end time to begin the daily ventilation period to deliver the flow of the fresh air at the intermittent rate or a second flow rate; 
 calculating an accumulated ventilation volume based on the float data table from a start of the daily ventilation period up to a current time; 
 determining if the accumulated ventilation volume is smaller than the daily ventilation target volume,
 performing ventilation in the daily ventilation period with at least the intermittent rate if the accumulated ventilation volume is determined to be smaller than the daily ventilation target volume; and 
 cutting off ventilation if the accumulated ventilation volume is determined to be no smaller than the daily ventilation target volume or if the current time reaches the start time of a next active period. 
 
 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the energy transfer module comprises a blower and a damper in each outlet zone as control elements for driving and directing the flow of the fresh air delivered into the interior region of the building structure. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the calculating the integrated volume of the flow within a 15-minute runtime comprises metering continuously the flow volume into the interior region of the building structure. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the intermittent rate is equal to a base rate divided with a fraction factor and an effectiveness factor, the fraction factor being a ratio of the daily ventilation period over 24 hours of a full day and the effectiveness factor being depended on the fraction factor, the base rate being determined from a number of parameters including home area and bedroom counts for satisfying the ASHRAE standard 62.2; wherein the daily ventilation target volume is determined by multiplying the intermittent rate with the daily ventilation period. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the determining if the system is set in the heating mode or the cooling mode comprises:
 determining the system is set in the heating mode by identifying that a thermostat mode of operation is set in a Heat mode; 
 determining the system is set in the cooling mode by identifying that a thermostat mode of operation is set in a Cool mode; 
 determining the system is set in the heating mode by identifying that a thermostat mode of operation is set in an Off mode or no thermostat is disposed and an ambient temperature is below a pre-specified value; and 
 determining the system is set in the cooling mode by identifying that a thermostat mode of operation is set in an Off mode or no thermostat is disposed and an ambient temperature is above a pre-specified value. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the performing ventilation in the ventilation period if the accumulated ventilation volume is determined to be smaller than the daily target ventilation volume comprises:
 delivering the flow of the fresh air using the intermittent rate if the system is set in the heating mode but not operated to provide space heating and an interior temperature is detected to be lower than an upper bound of a user comfort setting; 
 delivering the flow of the fresh air using the first flow rate by the system operated to provide space heating, the first flow rate being greater than the intermittent rate; 
 delivering the flow of the fresh air using the intermittent rate if the system is set in the cooling mode but not operated to provide space cooling and an interior temperature is detected to be higher than a lower bound of a user comfort setting; 
 delivering the flow of the fresh air using the second flow rate by the system operated to provide space cooling, the second flow rate being greater than the intermittent rate.