Whole building air quality control system

Abstract

A whole building air quality control system includes an indoor air quality (IAQ) component having at least one control state, a plurality of sensors configured to measure a plurality of building conditions of a building space, and a controller communicably coupled to the IAQ component and the plurality of sensors. The controller includes memory storing a desired air quality index (AQI). The AQI includes a categorical variable. The controller is configured to iteratively modify a control state of the IAQ component using a machine learning algorithm until the plurality of building conditions of the building space satisfy the desired AQI.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A whole building air quality control system, comprising:
 an indoor air quality (IAQ) component configured to modify an environmental condition within a building;   a sensor configured to generate sensor data indicative of the environmental condition;   a user interface configured to receive user input;   a controller communicably coupled to the IAQ component, the sensor, and the user interface, the controller configured to:
 receive the sensor data from the sensor; 
 receive a baseline parameter from the user interface, the baseline parameter including at least one of (i) a condition associated with an environment in which the whole building air quality control system is located, (ii) a type of the IAQ component, or (iii) occupant specific information; 
 determine a baseline IAQ based on the baseline parameter; and 
 control the IAQ component based on the baseline IAQ and the sensor data. 
   
     
     
         2 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the occupant specific information comprises user health information associated with health conditions that are affected by indoor air quality. 
     
     
         3 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 generate a questionnaire including user profile questions that relate to a person's environmental preferences; and   receive user inputs from the user interface responsive to the user profile questions; and   determine the baseline IAQ based on the user inputs.   
     
     
         4 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the condition associated with the environment in which the whole building air quality control system is located comprises a size of at least one room of the building in which the air quality control system is located. 
     
     
         5 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the type of IAQ equipment comprises at least one of (a) a model number of the IAQ component, or (b) an operating capacity of the IAQ component. 
     
     
         6 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the condition associated with the environment in which the whole building air quality control system is located comprises seasonal information. 
     
     
         7 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine a weighting factor from the baseline parameter, the weighting factor indicative of a preference of a user between different environmental set points; and   determine the baseline IAQ based on the weighting factor.   
     
     
         8 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 periodically solicit user input regarding system operation via the user interface, wherein periodically soliciting user input comprises generating a questionnaire prompting user input via the user interface; and   prioritize operation of at least one operating mode of the IAQ component based on the user input.   
     
     
         9 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 receive a plurality of baseline parameters;   determine a plurality of scoring factors from at least two of the plurality of baseline parameters; and   determine an IAQ metric for the whole building air quality system based on the scoring factors, the IAQ metric indicative of an overall performance capability of the whole building air quality system relative to other building air quality systems.   
     
     
         10 . The whole building air quality system of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine at least one scoring factor of the plurality of scoring factors based on operating data from the IAQ component and the environmental condition. 
     
     
         11 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine, based on the plurality of scoring factors, (a) a first scale indicative of the relative air quality performance of the whole building air quality control system, and (b) a second scale indicative of an energy consumption of the whole building air quality control system. 
     
     
         12 . The whole building air quality control system of  claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 receive a plurality of baseline parameters;   determine a plurality of scoring factors from at least two of the plurality of baseline parameters;   generate a scoring chart based on the scoring factors; and   transmit the scoring chart to the user interface.   
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 Receiving, from a sensor, sensor data indicative of an environmental condition of a building space;   receiving, from a user interface, a baseline parameter including at least one of (i) a condition associated with an environment in which the building space is located, (ii) a type of an IAQ component that is configured to modify the environmental condition of the building space, and (iii) occupant specific information;   determine a baseline IAQ based on the baseline parameter; and   control the IAQ component based on the baseline IAQ and the sensor data.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the occupant specific information comprises user health information associated with health conditions that are affected by indoor air quality. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the computing device to:
 generate a questionnaire including user profile questions that relate to a person's environmental preferences; and   receive user inputs from the user interface responsive to the user profile questions; and   determine the baseline IAQ based on the user inputs.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the condition associated with the environment in which the building space is located comprises a size of at least one room of the building space. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the type of IAQ equipment comprises at least one of (a) a model number of the IAQ component, or (b) an operating capacity of the IAQ component. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the condition associated with the environment in which the building space is located comprises seasonal information. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine a weighting factor from the baseline parameter, the weighting factor indicative of a preference of the user between different environmental set points; and   determine the baseline IAQ based on the weighting factor.   
     
     
         20 . A control device comprising:
 a communications interface configured to communicably couple the control device to an IAQ component, a sensor, and a user interface;   a processing circuit communicably coupled to the communications interface, the processing circuit configured to:
 receive, via the communications interface, sensor data from the sensor that is indicative of an environmental condition within a building space; 
 receiving, from the user interface via the communications interface, a baseline parameter including at least one of (i) a condition associated with an environment in which the building space is located, (ii) a type of the IAQ component, and (iii) occupant specific information; 
 determine a baseline IAQ based on the baseline parameter; and 
 transmit, via the communications interface, a control signal to the IAQ component based on the baseline IAQ and the sensor data.