초록 ▼

An energy and facilities management system and method is provided for energy users with large physical plants which provides these energy users with a comprehensive understanding of the energy consumption of their physical plant and with the ability to manage it in a way that makes sense for their b

An energy and facilities management system and method is provided for energy users with large physical plants which provides these energy users with a comprehensive understanding of the energy consumption of their physical plant and with the ability to manage it in a way that makes sense for their business. The system may include three dimensional facilities navigation tools, powerfill energy consumption analysis processes, TCP/IP communication capabilities and a World Wide Web (WWW)-based interface. The system also includes a real-time data retrieval and dissemination process and system which permits real-time energy data to be communicated within the system.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A system for managing the facilities and the energy consumption of an enterprise of an entity, the enterprise comprising one or more geographically dispersed facilities and buildings, each building and facility having one or more devices which operate and consume energy,

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A system for managing the facilities and the energy consumption of an enterprise of an entity, the enterprise comprising one or more geographically dispersed facilities and buildings, each building and facility having one or more devices which operate and consume energy, the system comprising:means for gathering information about the energy consumption and the operation of each device, wherein the gathering means further comprises a gateway device connected to one or more of the devices for gathering energy consumption and operation data about the device and for converting the energy consumption and operation data from a device format to a standard format;an energy and facility management apparatus for controlling the facilities, buildings and devices in the geographically dispersed enterprise based on the energy consumption and operating information for each device, the energy management apparatus comprising means for communicating the energy consumption and operating data in real-time between the devices, the facilities and buildings and the energy and facility management apparatus, the energy and facility management apparatus further comprising a server for processing the standardized energy consumption and operation data about the devices from the gateway to generate energy consumption management and facility management data, a plurality of user interfaces connected to the server, each user interface requesting data about one or more devices in the physical plant, and a concentrator connected to one or more of the user interfaces for interfacing between the user interfaces and the server, the concentrator comprising means for registering requests for data from a particular device by a particular client application, means for combining requests for data from the same device into a single data request from the server in order to reduce the amount of data requests to the server; anda user interface for requesting energy consumption and operation data about one or more devices, facilities or buildings and for viewing the energy consumption and operation data about a predetermined portion of the enterprise.