Patent Grant
10514670
Embodiments described herein relate generally to an energy management apparatus, a management system, a power consumption monitoring method and a program.
As a result of investigations of reducing the consumed energy in a building such as an office building, the energy consumed by facility devices such as air-conditioning equipment and lighting devices that are installed in the building has been reduced. In recent years, however, of the energy consumed by an overall building, the portion of energy consumed by information devices such as computers, printers, and copiers has increased. Although there have been some reductions made in the energy consumed by information devices, the methods and solutions therefor are often provided independently for information devices, and investigation regarding effective means to manage consumed energy in a building that includes information devices has not been done.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2015-041379
The problem to be solved by the present invention is that of providing an energy management apparatus, a management system, and a power consumption monitoring method effective in managing energy consumption in a building that includes information devices.
An energy management apparatus according to an embodiment is used in a management system having an information device management apparatus that has a first storage storing information device information regarding at least one information device and sends to the energy management apparatus first power consumption information regarding the power consumption by the information device. The energy management apparatus has a receiver, a first acquisitor, and a second storage. The receiver receives, regarding zones related to a building, a detection signal regarding detection of a person in each of the zones. The first acquisitor acquires second power consumption information regarding power consumed by a facility device in the zones. The second storage stores the first power consumption information and the second power consumption information in connection with the zones, based on the detection signal received by the receiver.
An energy management apparatus, a management system, a power consumption monitoring method and a program of an embodiment will be described below, with references made to drawings. In the following embodiments, it is assumed that the portions attached the same reference numerals perform the same operation, and duplicate explanation will be omitted.
[First Embodiment]
The management system has an energy management server 1, information device management server 5, and a monitoring terminal 10. The energy management server 1 may be provided in a building that is targeted for energy reduction by the management system, or may be provided in a different location. If the energy management server 1 is provided in a location different from the building, the energy management server 1 communicates with an entry-exit management system 2, and a detection sensor 3 and facility device 4 provided in the building, via a network constituted using one or both of a cable n or a wireless network. The information device management server 5, similar to the energy management server 1, may be provided in the building or in a location different from the building. One or both of the energy management server 1 and the information device management server 5 may be constituted using cloud computing. The building that is the target of energy reduction by the management system may be multiple, may be a group of a plurality of office buildings, or may be a plurality of buildings constructed in some region.
The energy management server 1 acquires entry-exit information regarding entering and exiting the building from the entry-exit management system 2. The entry-exit management system 2 detects a person entering the building that is being managed and a person exiting from the building, and generates entry-exit information based on the detection result. The energy management server 1 acquires detection signals related to the detection of persons from each of a plurality of detection sensor 3 provided within the building. In the following, the detection signal will be referred to as presence-absence information. The detection sensors 3 are provided in each of a plurality of zones regarding the building. Each of the detection sensors 3 determines the presence or absence of a person or persons in the zone, and generates presence-absence information based on the determination result. The presence-absence information includes a zone ID that uniquely identifies a zone and information that indicates the presence or absence of a person or persons in that zone. A detection sensor 3 has, for example, an image sensor or an infrared sensor, and detects the presence-absence or the movement of a person or persons, based on the output from the sensor. If the detection accuracy of the detection sensor 3 is high and can detect the number of persons, the detection sensor 3 may notify the energy management server 1 of presence-absence information that indicates the number of persons, rather than the presence-absence of a person or persons. The presence-absence information is also referred as presence information.
A zone is established as a predetermined region of a building, based on the positions of a plurality of PCs 6 and shared devices 7 used within the building. Zones may be established by dividing building into regions, or may be established so that there exist partial regions in which there is overlap between neighboring zones. Zones may be established in accordance with the positions of information devices that are divided into groups based on a policy of energy reduction. Specifically, if the regions of the building are the floors on each level of the building, one or a plurality of zones are established on each floor.
The energy management server 1 controls the facility devices 4 provided in each zone, based on entry-exit information acquired from the entry-exit management system 2 and the presence-absence information acquired from the detection sensors 3. The facility devices 4 are provided in the building, for which the consumed electrical power changes directly or indirectly in response to the operation state. A facility device 4 is, for example, a light device or air-conditioning equipment, an air intake or exhaust fan, a water-feed pump, a hot-water supplier, or blinds provided at a window. Although blinds are not a device that constantly consumes energy, the amount of sunlight from the window is changed by opening and closing the blinds, thereby indirectly changing the power consumed by air-conditioning equipment and the like.
The energy management server 1 collects the entry-exit information and the presence-absence information and transmits data obtained by collecting to the information device management server 5 as collection results. The energy management server 1 acquires the first power consumption information regarding power consumed by the information devices controlled by the information device management server 5. The energy management server 1 acquires the second power consumption information regarding the power consumed by the facility devices. The energy management server 1 stores the first and second power consumption information in associated with zones, based on the entry-exit information and the presence-absence information.
The monitoring terminal 10 is connected to the energy management server 1 to enable communication. The monitoring terminal 10 acquires and displays information stored in the energy management server 1, based on the first and second power consumption information. The monitoring terminal 10 is, for example, is used by an administrator of the building. By operating the monitoring terminal 10, the administrator causes display on the monitoring terminal 10 and can verify and monitor the power consumption related to the building. Although
The energy management server 1 and the information device management server 5 are connected to enable communication. The energy management server 1 and the information device management server 5 may be connected by a dedicated network or a local area network, or may be connected via the Internet. If the energy management server 1 and the information device management server 5 communicate via the Internet, the energy management server 1 and the information device management server 5 may use a VPN (virtual private network) to communicate.
The information device management server 5 acquires the presence-absence of a person in each zone in the building and the entry and exit to and from the building from the collection results. The information device management server 5, based on information regarding persons in each zone, controls the information devices belonging to each zone and reduces the power consumed by the information devices in the building. An information device is a PC 6 or shared device 7 used by a person or persons. The PC 6 is a laptop or a desktop computer. A shared device 7 is a printer, a copier, a multifunction printer, a hub enabling communication between computers, a network device such as a switch or wireless LAN access point, or a device shared by a plurality of persons, such as an IP telephone. The information device management server 5 acquires information indicating the power or electric energy consumed by the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 and transmits the acquired information to the energy management server 1. At least one detection sensor 3 and one or a plurality of facility devices 4 are provided in each zone of the building. At least one or both of a PC 6 and shared device 7 belong to each zone of the building. The information device management server 5 and the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 may be connected by a dedicated network or a local area network, or may be connected via the Internet. If the information device management server 5 and the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 communicate via the Internet, the information device management server 5 and the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 may use a VPN to communicate.
The zones into which the region inside a building is divided will now be described.
Although in the zone table 121 illustrated in
The Operation State item stores information indicating the operation state of the information device indicated by the information device ID in the same row. The operation state is, for example, on, off, or sleeping. On is the state in which the information device is operating, and off the state in which the information device is stopped. Sleeping is the state in which the power consumed is less than in the on state, and from which the time required for the information device to reach the operating state is shorter than from the off state. The Power Supply Used item stores information indicating the power supply used by the information device indicated by the information device ID in the same row. The power supply is, for example, battery or alternating current (AC). Battery is the state in which a primary or second battery of the information device is used as a power supply, and AC is the state in which a power supply external to the information device, for example, a commercial power mains is used.
The History Information item stores the history of changes in the operation state of the information device indicated by the information device ID in the same row. Specifically, the history includes information that indicates the time at which the operation state changed, in combination with the operation state after the change. For example, the information device table 122 of
Returning now to
The data processor 14 generates data, based on the presence-absence information acquired from the database updater 13 and on the zone IDs of a plurality of zones of the building. Specifically, the data processor 14 collects information stored in the detection results table 111 and the entry-exit table 112 and detects the zone IDs for which a change occurred in the information or personal IDs for the user. The data processor 14 may collect information at a fixed interval, or may collect information in response to a request from the information device management server 5. The data processor 14 outputs to the communicator 15 the collection results as data including the zone ID that has changed or the personal ID of a person and makes a request to the communicator 15 to transmit the collection results. The data processor 14 may further include into the collection results the zone IDs of zones in which persons are present. The data processor 14 collects the detection results table 111 and the entry-exit table 112 in the in-building database 11 at a fixed interval and generates the collection results as data. In this case, the collection results include information indicating the zones in which persons are present and the zones in which persons are not present and the personal IDs of persons currently in the building. The communicator 15 transmits to the information device management server 5 the collection results output from the data processor 14.
The data processor 14 receives state information from the information device management server 5 as the first power consumption information, via the communicator 15. The state information is information regarding power consumed by information devices such as PCs 6 and shared devices 7. The state information includes information indicating, for example, the information device ID, the zone ID of a zone to which the information device indicated by the information device ID belongs, the power consumption, the electric energy consumption of the information device, and information indicating the operation state, information indicating power supply used, information indicating whether or not the information device is being used, and the time at which operation indicated by the operation state started. Whether or not an information device is being used is determined based on the operation state of the information device, and whether a user operation has been accepted by an input device (keyboard, mouse, or the like) provided in the information device.
The data processor 14 updates the information device table 122, based on the first power consumption information. Specifically, the data processor 14 detects a row in the information device table 122 that includes an information device ID coinciding with the information device ID included in the acquired first power consumption information. The data processor 14 updates the information in the items included in the detected row, based on the acquired first power consumption information. Regarding the history information, the data processor 14 determines whether or not the operation state has changed, based on the information indicating the operation state included in the state information. If an operation state change is detected, the data processor 14 updates the history information by appending to the history information information indicating the operation state after the change and the time of the start of that operation state.
The data processor 14, based on either information stored in the information device table 122 or the first power consumption information, updates information regarding each of the information devices and the total power and total electric energy in the zone table 121. For example, the data processor 14 reads the power consumption of the row that includes the information device ID indicating the PC 6 for each zone ID from the information device table 122. The data processor 14 calculates the total values of the read-out power consumption for each zone ID and updates the PC power in the zone table 121 with the total value, for each zone. By a similar operation, the data processor 14 updates the power and the other powers, total powers of the shared devices, and the electric energy and total electric energy of information devices in the zone table 121.
The data processor 14 may acquire the state information by requesting the state information from the information device management server 5, via the communicator 15, or may acquire the state information by periodic transmission from the information device management server 5. The data processor 14 may, each time state information is acquired as the first power consumption information, update the information device table 122 and the zone table 121, or may update the information device table 122 and the zone table 121 at some fixed period.
The communicator 15, in addition to communicating with the information device management server 5 as described above, communicates with the monitoring terminal 10. The communicator 15, in response to a request for information received from the monitoring terminal 10, reads out information stored in the power consumption database 12 and returns the information.
The facility device controller 16 controls the facility devices 4 in each zone of the building based on the detection results table 111. For example, if there is no person in zone A, the facility device controller 16 stops or reduces the operating level of facility devices 4 provided in zone A so as to reduce the power consumption. For example, if the facility device 4 is air-conditioning equipment, and performs cooling operation the operating level of the facility device 4 would be increasing the temperature of the air supplied from the air-conditioning equipment. If the facility device 4 is a lighting device, it would be extinguishing the lighting device, weakening the light emitted from the lighting device, or extinguishing the lighting device after a prescribed amount of time has elapsed without a person being detected. If the facility device 4 is an air intake/exhaust fan that circulates air or the like in the building or a water-feeding pump that supplies cooling water or hot water in the building, it would be reducing the amount of flow per unit time or switching from continuous operation to intermittent operation.
If the facility device 4 is blinds, it would be blocking sunlight from entering a room from the window, raising the heating rate, and lowering the operating level of the air-conditioning equipment, or letting sunlight enter the room from the window, raising the heating rate, and lowering the operating level of the air-conditioning equipment. Also, the lighting level by a lighting device is lowered in response to opening and closing the blinds. The facility device controller 16 may control the opening and closing of the blinds so as to suppress a change in the room temperature with respect blinds in a zone in which no persons are present.
The facility device controller 16 acquires second power consumption information from each of the facility devices 4. The second power consumption information is information regarding the power consumed by a facility device 4. The second power consumption information includes, for example, a facility device ID, a zone ID of the zone in which the facility device 4 indicated by the facility device ID is located, the power consumption of the facility device 4, the electric energy consumption of the facility device 4, information indicating the operation state of the facility device 4, and the time at which the operation indicted by the operation state started. The facility device controller 16 updates the facility device table 123, based on the second power consumption information. Specifically, the facility device controller 16 detects a row in the facility device table 123 that includes a facility device ID coinciding with the facility device ID included in the acquired second power consumption information. The facility device controller 16 updates the information in the items included in the detected row, based on the acquired second power consumption information.
The facility device controller 16 updates the various information regarding the facility device 4 and the total power and total electric energy in the zone table 121, based on the information stored in the facility device table 123 or on the second power consumption information. For example, the facility device controller 16 reads out, for each zone ID, the power consumption in the row that includes the facility device ID indicating the air-conditioning equipment. The facility device controller 16 reads out the total value of the read-out power consumption for each zone ID and updates the power of the air-conditioning equipment in the zone table 121 with the total value, for each zone. By a similar operation, the facility device controller 16 updates the power of the lighting device, the power of the other, total power, the electric energy of the facility devices and the total electric energy in the zone table 121.
The facility device controller 16 may acquire the second power consumption information from the facility devices 4 at a predetermined period, or may acquire the second power consumption information from the facility devices 4 at each predetermined time. The facility device controller 16 may, each time second power consumption information is acquired, update the facility device table 123 and the zone table 121, or may update the facility device table 123 and the zone table 121 at some fixed period.
The power supply 17 supplies power received from an external generator or commercial power mains to the in-building database 11, the power consumption database 12, the database updater 13, the data processor 14, the communicator 15, and the facility device controller 16 provided in the energy management server 1. Even if the power supply 17 cannot receive power from the external generator or the commercial power mains, it may have a rechargeable battery or the like so that supply of power can continue.
Returning now to
The information device controller 53 acquires, via the network interface 54, state information from each of the information devices that are the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7. The information device controller 53 transmits the acquired state information to the energy management server 1, via the communicator 52. The information device controller 53, at a predetermined period or time, transmits a request to each of the information devices that are the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 to transit the state information and acquires the state information returned as a response. The information device controller 53 may acquire state information transmitted from the information devices that are the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 at a fixed period via the network interface 54. There are cases in which a slopped PC 6 or a shared device 7 for which the operation state is off cannot make a response to the information device controller 53 with respect to a request from the information device controller 53. In such cases, the information device controller 53 treats the operation state of the PC 6 or shared device 7 information device from which a response has not been obtained as being off and generates the state information of the information device and transmits it to the energy management server 1.
The network interface 54 communicates with PCs 6 and shared devices 7 located inside the building. The network interface 54 transmits the control information generated by the information device controller 53 to a PC 6 or a shared device 7. The network interface 54 receives state information from the PC 6 or the shared device 7 that is the control target and makes a request to the communicator 52 to transmit the received state information to the energy management server 1.
The power supply 55 supplies power received from an external generator or commercial power mains to the information device database 51, the communicator 52, the information device controller 53, and the network interface 54 of the information device management server 5. Similar to the power supply 17 provided in the energy management server 1, the power supply 55 may have a rechargeable battery or the like, so that the supply of power can be continued even if the power supply 55 cannot receive power from the external generator or the commercial power mains.
The CPU 81, via the input/output interface 88, acquires entry/exit information from the entry-exit management system 2 and acquires presence-absence information from each of the detection sensors 3. The CPU 81 operating as the database updater 13, based on the acquired entry-exit information and presence-absence information, updates the information stored in the database 89 operating as the in-building database 11. The CPU 81 operating as the data processor 14 collects information stored in the database 89 operating as the in-building database 11 and the power consumption database 12. The network interface 86 operating as the communicator 15 transmits the collection results obtained by the collection to the information device management server 5.
The CPU 81 operating as the data processor 14 and the facility device controller 16 acquires the first and second power consumption information. Based on the first and second power consumption information, the CPU 81 updates the information stored in the database 89 operating as the power consumption database 12. The display 85 displays information of the power consumption database 12 included in the database 89. The display 85, for example, displays the zone table 121, the information device table 122, and the facility device table 123 illustrated in
Similar to the energy management server 1, the information device management server 5 may be implemented by hardware having a CPU dial executes a program. In that case, the CPU 81 operates as the information device controller 53, by executing processing in response to an operation by a user or administrator input to the input device 84 such as a mouse or keyboard.
The display 105 displays a screen based on a program executed by the CPU 101. For example, the display 105 displays information stored in the in-building database 11 or the power consumption database 12. The display 105 displays, for example, the zone table 121, the information device table 122, and the facility device table 123 illustrated in
The power supply 117 supplies power received from an external generator or commercial power mains to CPU 101, the RAM 102, the ROM 103, the input device 104, the display 105, the network interface 106, and the storage device 107 provided in the monitoring terminal 10. The power supply 117 may have a rechargeable battery or the like, so that the supply of power can be continued even if the power supply 117 cannot receive power from the external generator or the commercial power mains.
The monitoring terminal 10, in addition to making a request to the energy management server 1 for information stored in the in-building database 11 or the power consumption database 12, may request updating of information stored in power consumption database 12. If a request for updating of information is made from the monitoring terminal 10, in the energy management server 1, the data processor 14 acquires the first power consumption information of each of the information devices from the information device management server 5 and updates the information stored in the zone table 121 and the information device table 122. The facility device controller 16 acquires the second power consumption information from each of the facility devices 4 and updates the information stored in the zone table 121 and the information device table 122.
A PC 6 in the building may perform the same operation as that of the monitoring terminal 10. For example, for a person using a PC 6 in the building to confirm the power consumed in the building, the user may operate the PC 6 to make a request to the energy management server 1 for information stored in the power consumption database 12. By displaying the zone table 121, the information device table 122, and the facility device table 123 acquired from the energy management server 1 on the PC 6, the person using the PC 6 can confirm the power consumed in the building. In the monitoring terminal 10 und the PC 6, when displaying information regarding the power consumption related to the building, a graph or table generated based on information of the zone table 121, the information device table 122, and the facility device table 123 may be displayed on the monitoring terminal 10 or the PC 6.
The operation of the overall management system of the first embodiment will now be described, with references made to
A PC 6 or a shared device 7 generates state information regarding the power that itself consumes (step S101). The generation of the state information by the PC 6 or the shared device 7 may be performed upon receiving a request by the information device management server 5, or may be performed at a pre-established period or time. The PC 6 or shared device 7 may generate the state information upon receiving an operation by a person. The PC 6 or shared device 7 transmits the state information to the information device management server 5 (step S102).
In the information device management server 5, the network interface 54 transfers the state information received from the PC 6 or the shared device 7 to the information device controller 53 and the communicator 52 (step S103). The communicator 52 transmits the state information to the energy management server 1 via the network interface 54 (step S104). The communicator 52 may group a plurality of state information that are obtained from a plurality of PCs 6 and shared devices 7 and temporarily stored and transmit them to the energy management server 1, or may transmit to the energy management server 1 each time state information is obtained.
If the state information transmitted from the information device that is a PC 6 or a shared device 7 does not include a zone ID of the zone to which the information device belongs, the information device controller 53 performs processing to append the zone ID to the state information received, via the network interface 54. The information device controller 53 acquires from the information device table 511 the zone ID corresponding to the information device ID included in the state information and appends the acquired zone ID to the state information. The information device controller 53 transmits the state information that includes the zone ID to the energy management server 1 via the communicator 52. When the information device controller 53 is to send the state information to the energy management server 1, it is not necessary to transfer the state information to the communicator 52 from the network interface 54.
In the energy management server 1, the communicator 15 transfers to the data processor 14 the state information received from the information device management servers (step S105). The data processor 14, based on the state information, updates the information device table 122 and the zone table 121 stored in the power consumption database 12 (step S106). The facility device controller 16 collects power consumption information of the facility devices 4 stored in the zone table 121 (step S107). The collection by the facility device controller 16 includes, for example, detecting, based on the power consumption information, zones in which information devices are not being used, calculating for each zone the proportion of the power consumption in the zone that is consumed by the facility devices 4, and calculating the ratio of power consumption between the facility devices 4 and the information devices related to the building.
Based on the collection results, the facility device controller 16 determines for each zone whether or not control is required with respect to the facility devices 4 (step S108). For example, a determination is made as to whether or not there is a facility device 4 operating in a zone in which an information device is not being used. If there is a facility device 4 operating in such as zone, the facility device controller 16 transmits control information that includes an instruction to slop or lower the operating level to the facility device 4 operating in that zone (step S109). The facility device 4 that has received the control information changes the operation state (step S110).
A zone in which an information device such as a PC 6 and a shared device 7 or the like is not operating is, for example, a zone in which the total value of power consumption of the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 is less than a certain value, and a zone that is determined, based on presence-absence information, that no person is using. The energy management server 1, based on the operation state of the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 controlled by the information device management server 5, can reduce the power consumption without sacrificing a person's convenience, by stopping or reducing the operating level of facility devices 4 in the zone.
According to the management system of the first embodiment, the energy management server 1 acquires and stores the power consumed by each information device and facility device 4 in the building. Because the energy management server 1 collects the power consumptions of each information devices and facility device 4 for each of a plurality of zones in the building, it can monitor the power consumption in the building. By the energy management server 1 performing control to suppress the power consumed by facility devices 4 based on the power consumption by zones, it is possible to reduce the power consumption.
The facility device controller 16 may detect a zone in which the power consumed by information devices is above a certain value and perform control to suppress the power consumed by the facility devices 4 in the detected zone. By this control, the management system is able to suppress the total power consumption in the zone and to suppress the power consumption in the overall building.
The data processor 14 may detect a zone in which a person is present, based on the detection results table 111, and make a request to information device management server 5 for state information regarding the information devices in the detected zone. By acquiring state information of the information devices in a zone in which persons are present and updating the power consumption database 12 by the data processor 14, it is possible to increase the frequency of updating the power consumption information of zones estimated to have a high power consumption by information devices, and to improve the real-time response of monitoring of the power consumption.
The configuration described has been one in which the history information of the information devices in the information device table 122 is updated by the data processor 14 based on the state information. However, the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 may each generate history information themselves and transmit state information that includes the history information to the information device management server 5 and the energy management server 1. If the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 each generate history information themselves, each time the operation state changes, the operation state after the change and the current time are stored in combination. The time series of the combinations of operation state after changes and the current times are the history information for each of the information devices.
In the first embodiment, the description has been for a configuration in which, in the energy management server 1, the database updater 13 stores presence-absence information obtained from the sensors into the detection results table 111, and the data processor 14 collects information stored in the detection results table 111 and transmits the obtained data to the information device management server 5. However, the energy management server 1 may transmit to the information device management server 5 presence-absence information obtained from each detection sensor 3. If the information device management server 5 receives presence-absence information, a sensor table into which are stored the combination of a sensor ID that uniquely distinguishes a detection sensor 3 and the information device ID of an information device located in the person-detection range of the detection sensor 3 may be stored into the information device database 51. By having a sensor table, the information device management server 5 can control the information devices based on the presence-absence information.
The management system according to the first embodiment may have one management server 200 in place of the two servers of the energy management server 1 and the information device management server 5.
[Second Embodiment]
The management system according to the second embodiment has an energy management server 300, an entry-exit management system 2, a plurality of detection sensors 3, a plurality of facility devices 4, and information device management server 600. The energy management server 300 may be provided in a building that is targeted for energy reduction by the management system, or may be provided in a different location. If the energy management server 300 is provided in a location different from the building, the energy management server 300 communicates with an entry-exit management system 2, and a detection sensor 3 and facility device 4 provided in the building, via a network consulted using one or both of a cable n or a wireless network. The information device management server 600, similar to the energy management server 1, may be provided in the building or in a location different from the building. One or both of the energy management server 300 and the information device management server 600 may be constituted using cloud computing. The building that is the target of energy reduction by the management system may be multiple, may be a group of a plurality of office buildings, or may be a plurality of buildings constructed in some region.
The energy management server 300 acquires entry-exit information regarding entering and exiting the building from the entry-exit management system 2. The entry-exit management system 2 detects a person entering the building that is being managed and a person exiting from the building, and generates entry-exit information based on the detection result. The energy management server 300 acquires detection signals related to the defection of persons from each of a plurality of detection sensor 3 provided within the building. In the following, the detection signal will be referred to as presence-absence information. The detection sensors 3 are provided in each of a plurality of zones regarding the building. Each of the detection sensors 3 determines the presence or absence of a person or persons in the zone, and generates presence-absence information based on the determination result. The presence-absence information includes a zone ID that uniquely identifies a zone and information that indicates the presence or absence of a person or persons in that zone. A detection sensor 3 has, for example, an image sensor or an infrared sensor, and detects the presence-absence or the movement of a person or persons, based on the output from the sensor. If the detection accuracy of the detection sensor 3 is high and can detect the number of persons, the detection sensor 3 may notify the energy management server 300 of presence-absence information that indicates the number of persons, rather than the presence-absence of a person or persons. The presence-absence information is also referred as presence information.
Zones in the second embodiment are established based on the sections lent to tenants. For example, the floor of each floor in the building may be divided into a plurality of sections, and each section may be defined as a zone. The zone may also be established based on a policy of energy reduction.
The energy management server 300 controls the facility devices 4 provided in each zone, based on entry-exit information acquired from the entry-exit management system 2 and the presence-absence information acquired from the detection sensors 3. The facility devices 4 are provided in the building, for which the consumed electrical power changes directly or indirectly in response to the operation state. A facility device 4 is, for example, a light device or air-conditioning equipment, an air intake or exhaust fan, a water-feed pump, a hot-water supplier, or blinds provided at a window. Although blinds are not a device that constantly consumes energy, the amount of sunlight from the window is changed by opening and closing the blinds, thereby indirectly changing the power consumed by air-conditioning equipment and the like.
The energy management server 300 collects the entry information and the presence-absence information and transmits data obtained by collecting to the information device management server 600 as collection results. The energy management server 300 acquires the first power consumption information regarding power consumed by the information devices controlled by the information device management server 600. The energy management server 300 acquires the second power consumption information regarding the power consumed by the facility devices. The energy management server 300 stores the first and second power consumption information in associated with zones, based on the entry-exit information and the presence-absence information.
The monitoring terminal 10 is connected to the energy management server 300 to enable communication. The monitoring terminal 10 acquires and displays information stored in the energy management server 300, based on the first and second power consumption information. The monitoring terminal 10 is, for example, is used by an administrator of the building. By operating the monitoring terminal 10, the administrator causes display on the monitoring terminal 10 and can verify and monitor the power consumption related to the building. Although
The energy management server 300 and the information device management server 600 are connected to enable communication. The energy management server 300 and the information device management server 600 may be connected by a dedicated network or a local area network, or may be connected via the Internet. If the energy management server 300 and the information device management server 600 communicate via the Internet, the energy management server 300 and the information device management server 600 may use a VPN (virtual private network) to communicate.
The information device management server 600 acquires the presence-absence of a person in each zone in the building and the entry and exit to and from the building from the collection results. The information device management server 600, based on information regarding persons in each zone, controls the information devices belonging to each zone and reduces the power consumed by the information devices in the building. An information device is a PC 6 or shared device 7 used by a person or persons. The PC 6 is a laptop or a desktop computer. A shared device 7 is a primer, a copier, a multifunction printer, a hub enabling communication between computers, a network device such as a switch or wireless LAN access point, or a device shared by a plurality of persons, such as an IP telephone. The information device management server 600 acquires information indicating the power or electric energy consumed by the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 and transmits the acquired information to the energy management server 300. At least one defection sensor 3 and one or a plurality of facility devices 4 are provided in each zone of the building. At least one or both of a PC 6 and shared device 7 belong to each zone of the building. The information device management server 600 and the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 may be connected by a dedicated network or a local area network, or may be connected via the Internet. If the information device management server 600 and the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 communicate via the Internet, the information device management server 600 and the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 may use a VPN to communicate.
The zones into which the region inside a building is divided will be described.
In the example illustrated in
Although in the zone table 3121 illustrated in
The Operation State item stores information indicating the operation state of the information device indicated by the information device ID in the same row. The operation state is, for example, on, off, or sleeping. On is the state in which the information device is operating, and off is the state in which the information device is stopped. Sleeping is the state in which the power consumed is less than in the on state, and from which the time required for the information device to reach the operating state is shorter than from the off state. The Power Supply Used item stores information indicating the power supply used by the information device indicated by the information device ID in the same row. The power supply is, for example, battery or alternating current (AC). Battery is the state in which a primary or second battery of the information device is used as a power supply, and AC is the state in which a power supply external to the information device, for example, a commercial power mains is used.
The History Information item stores the history of changes in the operation state of the information device indicated by the information device ID in the same row. Specifically, the history includes information that indicates the time at which the operation state changed, in combination with the operation state after the change. For example, the information device table 3122 of
Returning now to
The data processor 314 generates data, based on the presence-absence information acquired from the database updater 313 and on the zone IDs of a plurality of zones of the building. Specifically, the data processor 314 collects information stored in the detection results table 3111, the entry-exit table 3112 and the tenant table 3113 and detects the zone IDs for the zone, the personal ID for the person or the tenant ID for the tenant for which a change occurred in the information. The data processor 314 may collect information at a fixed interval, or may collect information in response to a request from the information device management server 600. The data processor 314 outputs to the communicator 315 the collection results as data including the zone ID of a zone that has changed, the personal ID of a person and the tenant ID of a tenant and makes a request to the communicator 315 to transmit the collection results. The data processor 314 may further include into the collection results the zone IDs of zones in which persons are present. The data processor 314 detects the tenant which uses the zone in which the state of detecting a person has changed based on the tenant table 3113 and adds the tenant ID of the detected tenant to the collection results. The data processor 314 collects the detection results table 3111 and the entry-exit table 3112 in the in-building database 311 at a fixed interval and generates the collection results as data. In this case, the collection results include information indicating the zones in which persons are present and the zones in which persons are not present, the personal IDs of persons currently in the building and information indicating the tenants of the zones in which persons are present and the tenants of the zones in which persons are not present. The communicator 315 transmits to the information device management server 600 the collection results output from the data processor 314.
The data processor 314 receives state information from the information device management server 600 as the first power consumption information, via the communicator 315. The state information is information regarding power consumed by information devices such as PCs 6 and shared devices 7. The state information includes information indicating, for example, the information device ID, the zone ID of a zone to which the information device indicated by the information device ID belongs, the power consumption, the electric energy consumption of the information device, and information indicating the operation state, information indicating power supply used, information indicating whether or not the information device is being used, and the time at which operation indicated by the operation state started. Whether or not an information device is being used is determined based on the operation state of the information device, and whether a user operation has been accepted by an input device (keyboard, mouse, or the like) provided in the information device.
The data processor 314 updates the information device table 3122, based on the first power consumption information. Specifically, the data processor 314 detects a row in the information device table 3122 that includes an information device ID coinciding with the information device ID included in the acquired first power consumption information. The data processor 314 updates the information in the items included in the detected row, based on the acquired first power consumption information. Regarding the history information, the data processor 314 determines whether or not the operation state has changed, based on the information indicating the operation state included in the state information. If an operation state change is detected, the data processor 314 updates the history information by appending to the history information information indicating the operation state after the change and the time of the start of that operation state.
The data processor 314, based on cither information stored in the information device table 3122 or the first power consumption information, updates information regarding each of the information devices and the total power and total electric energy in the zone table 3121. For example, the data processor 314 reads the power consumption of the row that includes the information device ID indicating the PC 6 for each zone ID from the information device table 3122. The data processor 314 calculates the total values of the read-out power consumption for each zone ID and updates the PC power in the zone table 3121 with the total value, for each zone. By a similar operation, the data processor 314 updates the power and the other powers, total powers of the shared devices, and the electric energy and total electric energy of information devices in the zone table 3121.
The data processor 314 may acquire the state information by requesting the state information from the information device management server 600, via the communicator 315, or may acquire the state information by periodic transmission from the information device management server 600. The data processor 314 may, each time state information is acquired as the first power consumption information, update the information device table 3122 and the zone table 3121, or may update the information device table 3122 and the zone table 3121 at some fixed period.
The communicator 315, in addition to communicating with the information device management server 600 as described above, communicates with the monitoring terminal 10. The communicator 315, in response to a request for information received from the monitoring terminal 10, reads out information stored in the power consumption database 312 and returns the information.
The facility device controller 316 controls the facility devices 4 in each zone of the building based on the detection results table 3111. For example, if there is no person in zones A and D, the facility device controller 316 stops facility devices 4 provided in zones A and D or lowers the operating level of the facility devices 4 so as to reduce the power consumption.
The facility device controller 316 acquires second power consumption information from each of the facility devices 4. The second power consumption information is information regarding the power consumed by a facility device 4. The second power consumption information includes, for example, a facility device ID, a zone ID of the zone in which the facility device 4 indicated by the facility device ID is located, the power consumption of the facility device 4, the electric energy consumption of the facility device 4, information indicating the operation state of the facility device 4, and the time at which the operation indicted by the operation state started. The facility device controller 316 updates the facility device table 3123, based on the second power consumption information. Specifically, the facility device controller 316 detects a row in the facility device table 3123 that includes a facility device ID coinciding with the facility device ID included in the acquired second power consumption information. The facility device controller 316 updates the information in the items included in the detected row, based on the acquired second power consumption information.
The facility device controller 316 updates the various information regarding the facility device 4 and the total power and total electric energy in the zone table 3121, based on the information stored in the facility device table 3123 or on the second power consumption information. For example, the facility device controller 316 reads out, for each zone ID, the power consumption in the row that includes the facility device ID indicating the air-conditioning equipment. The facility device controller 316 reads out the total value of the read-out power consumption for each zone ID and updates the power of the air-conditioning equipment in the zone table 3121 with the total value, for each zone. By a similar operation, the facility device controller 316 updates the power of the lighting device, the power of the other, total power, the electric energy of the facility devices and the total electric energy in the zone table 3121.
The facility device controller 316 may acquire the second power consumption information from the facility devices 4 at a predetermined period, or may acquire the second power consumption information from the facility devices 4 at each predetermined time. The facility device controller 316 may, each time second power consumption information is acquired, update the facility device table 3123 and the zone table 3121, or may update the facility device table 3123 and the zone table 3121 at some fixed period.
The power supply 317 supplies power received from an external generator or commercial power mains to the in-building database 311, the power consumption database 312, the database updater 313, the data processor 314, the communicator 315, and the facility device controller 316 provided in the energy management server 300. Even if the power supply 317 cannot receive power from the external generator or the commercial power mains, it may hove a rechargeable battery or the like so that supply of power can continue.
Returning now to
The information device controller 653 acquires, via the network interface 654, state information from each of the information devices that are the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7. The information device controller 653 transmits the acquired state information to the energy management server 300, via the communicator 652. The information device controller 653, at a predetermined period or time, transmits a request to each of the information devices that are the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 to transit the state information and acquires the state information returned as a response. The information device controller 653 may acquire state information transmitted from the information devices that are the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 at a fixed period via the network interface 654. There are cases in which a stopped PC 6 or a shared device 7 for which the operation state is off cannot make a response to the information device controller 653 with respect to a request from the information device controller 653. In such cases, the information device controller 653 treats the operation state of the PC 6 or shared device 7 information device from which a response has not been obtained as being off and generates the state information of the information device and transmits it to the energy management server 300.
The network interface 654 communicates with PCs 6 and shard devices 7 located inside the building. The network interface 654 transmits the control information generated by the information device controller 653 to a PC 6 or a shared device 7. The network interface 654 receives state information from the PC 6 or the shared device 7 that is the control target and makes a request to the communicator 652 to transmit the received state information to the energy management server 300.
The power supply 655 supplies power received from an external generator or commercial power mains to the information device database 651, the communicator 652, the information device controller 653, and the network interface 654 of the information device management server 600. Similar to the power supply 317 provided in the energy management server 300, the power supply 655 may have a rechargeable battery or the like, so that (he supply of power can be continued even if the power supply 655 cannot receive power from the external generator or the commercial power mains.
The CPU 381, via the input/output interface 388, acquires entry-exit information from the entry-exit management system 2 and acquires presence-absence information from each of the detection sensors 3. The CPU 381 operating as the database updater 313, based on the acquired entry-exit information and presence-absence information, updates the information stored in the database 389 operating as the in-building database 311. The CPU 381 operating as the data processor 314 collects information stored in the database 389 operating as the in-building database 311 and the power consumption database 312. The network interface 386 operating as the communicator 315 transmits the collection results obtained by the collection to the information device management server 600.
The CPU 381 operating as the data processor 314 and the facility device controller 316 acquires the first and second power consumption information. Based on the first and second power consumption information, the CPU 381 updates the information stored in the database 389 operating as the power consumption database 312. The display 385 displays information of the power consumption database 312 included in the database 389. The display 385, for example, displays the zone table 3121, the information device table 3122, and the facility device table 3123 illustrated in
Similar to the energy management server 300, the information device management server 600 may be implemented by hardware having a CPU that executes a program. In that case, the CPU 381 operates as the information device controller 653, by executing processing in response to an operation by a user or administrator input to the input device 384 such as a mouse or keyboard.
The monitoring terminal 10, in addition to making a request to the energy management server 300 for information stored in the in-building database 311 or the power consumption database 312, may request updating of information stored in power consumption database 312. If a request for updating of information is made from the monitoring terminal 10, in the energy management server 300, the data processor 314 acquires the first power consumption information of each of the information devices from the information device management server 600 and updates the information stored in the zone table 3121 and the information device table 3122. The facility device controller 316 acquires the second power consumption information from each of the facility devices 4 and updates the information stored in the zone table 3121 and the information device table 3122.
A PC 6 in the building may perform the same operation as that of the monitoring terminal 10. For example, for a person using a PC 6 in the building to confirm the power consumed in the building, the user may operate the PC 6 to make a request to the energy management server 300 for information stored in the power consumption database 312. By displaying the zone table 3121, the information device table 3122, and the facility device table 3123 acquired from the energy management server 300 on the PC 6, the person using the PC 6 can confirm the power consumed in the building. In the monitoring terminal 10 and the PC 6, when displaying information regarding the power consumption related to the building, a graph or table generated based on information of the zone table 3121, the information device table 3122, and the facility device table 3123 may be displayed on the monitoring terminal 10 or the PC 6.
The operation of the overall management system of the second embodiment will now be described, with references made to
A PC 6 or a shared device 7 generates state information regarding the power dial itself consumes (step S201). The generation of the state information by the PC 6 or the shared device 7 may be performed upon receiving a request by the information device management server 600, or may be performed at a pre-established period or time. The PC 6 or shared device 7 may generate the state information upon receiving an operation by a person. The PC 6 or shared device 7 transmits the state information to the information device management server 600 (step S202).
In the information device management server 600, the network interface 654 transfers the state information received from the PC 6 or the shared device 7 to the information device controller 653 and the communicator 652 (step S203). The communicator 652 transmits the state information to the energy management server 300 via the network interface 654 (step S204). The communicator 652 may group a plurality of state information that are obtained from a plurality of PCs 6 and shared devices 7 and temporarily stored and transmit them to the energy management server 300, or may transmit to the energy management server 300 each time state information is obtained.
If the state information transmitted from the information device that is a PC 6 or a shared device 7 docs not include a zone ID of the zone to which the information device belongs, the information device controller 653 performs processing to append the zone ID to the state information received, via the network interface 654. The information device controller 653 acquires from the information device table 6511 the zone ID corresponding to the information device ID included in the state information and appends the acquired zone ID to the state information. The information device controller 653 transmits the state information that includes the zone ID to the energy management server 300 via the communicator 652. When the information device controller 653 is to send the state information to the energy management server 300, it is not necessary to transfer the state information to the communicator 652 from the network interface 654.
In the energy management server 300, the communicator 315 transfers to the data processor 314 the state information received from the information device management server 600 (step S205). The data processor 314, based on the state information, updates the information device table 3122 and the zone table 3121 stored in the power consumption database 312 (step S206). The facility device controller 316 collects power consumption information of the facility devices 4 stored in the zone table 3121 (step S207). The collection by the facility device controller 316 includes, for example, detecting, based on the power consumption information, zones in which information devices are not being used, calculating for each zone the proportion of the power consumption in the zone that is consumed by the facility devices 4, and calculating the ratio of power consumption between the facility devices 4 and the information devices related to the building. The collection by the facility device controller 316 further includes determining whether information devices is used in each tenant, calculating for each tenant the proportion of the power consumption of the facility devices 4 with respect to the total power consumption, and calculating for each tenant the ratio of power consumption between the facility devices 4 and the information devices.
Based on the collection results, the facility device controller 316 determines for each zone whether or not control is required with respect to the facility devices 4 (step S208). For example, when an information device is not being used in all of zones which are used by some tenant, the facility device controller 316 determines whether or not there is a facility device 4 operating in the zones. If there is a facility device 4 operating in such as zone, the facility device controller 316 transmits control information that includes an instruction to stop or lower the operating level to the facility device 4 operating in that zone (step S209). The facility device 4 that has received the control information changes the operation state (step S210).
A zone in which an information device such as a PC 6 and a shared device 7 or the like is not operating is, for example, a zone in which the total value of power consumption of the PCs 6 and shared devices 7 is less than a certain value, and a zone that is determined, based on presence-absence information, that no person is using. The energy management server 300, based on the operation state of the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 controlled by the information device management server 600, can reduce the power consumption without sacrificing a person's convenience, by slopping or reducing the operating level of facility devices 4 in the zone.
According to the management system of the second embodiment, the energy management server 300 acquires and stores the power consumed by each information device and facility device 4 in the building. Because the energy management server 300 collects the power consumptions of each information devices und facility device 4 for each of a plurality of zones in the building, it can monitor the power consumption in the building. By the energy management server 300 performing control to suppress the power consumed by facility devices 4 based on the power consumption by zones, it is possible to reduce the power consumption.
The facility device controller 316 may detect a tenant in which the power consumed by information devices is above a certain value and perform control to suppress the power consumed by the facility devices 4 in detected zone which the detected tenant uses. By this control, the management system is able to suppress the total power consumption for each tenant and to suppress the power consumption in the overall building.
The data processor 314 may detect a tenant which uses a zone in which a person is present, based on the detection results table 3111 and the tenant table 3113, and make a request to information device management server 600 for state information regarding the information devices belonging to the detected tenant. By acquiring state information of the information devices in a zone in which persons are present and updating the power consumption database 312 by the data processor 314, it is possible to increase the frequency of updating the power consumption information of zones estimated to have a high power consumption by information devices, and to improve the real-time response of monitoring of the power consumption.
The configuration described has been one in which the history information of the information devices in the information device table 3122 is updated by the data processor 314 based on the state information. However, the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 may each generate history information themselves and transmit state information that includes the history information to the information device management server 600 and the energy management server 300. If the PCs 6 and the shared devices 7 each generate history information themselves, each time the operation state changes, the operation state after the change and the current time are stored in combination. The time series of the combinations of operation state after changes and the current times are the history information for each of the information devices.
In the second embodiment, the description has been for a configuration in which, in the energy management server 300, the database updater 313 stores presence-absence information obtained from the sensors into the detection results table 3111, and the data processor 314 collects information stored in the detection results table 3111 and transmits the obtained data to the information device management server 600. However, the energy management server 300 may transmit to the information device management server 600 presence-absence information obtained from each detection sensor 3. If the information device management server 600 receives presence-absence information, a sensor table into which are stored the combination of a sensor ID that uniquely distinguishes a detection sensor 3 and the information device ID of an information device located in the person-detection range of the detection sensor 3 may be stored into the information device database 651. By having a sensor table, the information device management server 600 can control the information devices based on the presence-absence information.
The management system according to the second embodiment may have one management server 400 in place of the two servers of the energy management server 300 and the information device management server 600.
In the first and second embodiments, the description has been for the case in which the division of the region of the building into zones to which PCs 6 belong is the same as the division of the building into zones to which the shared devices 7 belong. However, the method of establishing the zones with respect to the PCs 6 may be different from the method of establishing the zones with respect to the shared devices 7. For example, in the example of the zones illustrated in
According to at least one of the above-described embodiments, by having a data processor that acquires either first power consumption information regarding power consumed by information devices or state information, a facility device controller that acquires second power consumption information regarding power consumed by facility devices, and a power consumption database that stores the first and second power consumption information, it is possible to monitor the energy consumed in a building.
While certain embodiments been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-104508 | May 2016 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2017/010148 | 3/14/2017 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017/203799 | 11/30/2017 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20180246483 A1 | Aug 2018 | US |
