“Building System With Occupant Health Analysis Based On Water Usage” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20230152760): Patent Application

2023 JUN 02 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Douglas, Jonathan D. (Mequon, WI, US); Drees, Kirk H. (Cedarburg, WI, US); Ellerman, Rachel D. M. (Shorewood, WI, US); Laughton, Terrill R. (Milwaukee, WI, US), filed on November 12, 2021, was made available online on May 18, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present disclosure relates to building systems of a building. The present disclosure relates more particularly to health of the building.

“In some embodiments, a building includes various building systems that operate to provide environmental control, security, fire response, and various other services for a building. However, based on the operation of the building systems, the performance of building spaces may change based on the operation of the building systems, i.e., whether the building systems are operating correctly or have encountered errors. Users may occupy the spaces of the building. The mental and physical wellbeing of users may be based on the operation of the building systems and/or services offered within the building. Furthermore, the operation of the building systems may affect energy usage and pollution generation, affecting the environment surrounding the building.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “One implementation of the present disclosure is a building system of a building including one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building. The instructions cause the one or more processors to derive one or more health metrics indicating physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and cause one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on values of the one or more health metrics, the one or more operations improving the physical health of the one or more occupants.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to receive an occupancy level indicating a number of the one or more occupants from an occupancy system that tracks occupancy levels of the building and derive the one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and the occupancy level.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine a number of the one or more occupants with an occupancy model based on the water usage data, wherein the occupancy model correlates a level of the water usage data with the number of the one or more occupants.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine an infectious disease risk level for the building based on the one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants, the infectious disease risk level indicating a level of risk of contracting an infectious disease within the building.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to identify a first portion of the water usage data associated with a first area of the building, identify a second portion of the water usage data associated with a second area of the building, derive one or more first health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the first area of the building, derive one or more second health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the second area of the building, and cause a display device of a user device to include information associated with the one or more first health metrics and the one or more second health metrics.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to receive occupancy data identifying a first occupant and a second occupant, identify, based on the occupancy data, first water usage data associated with the first occupant and second water usage data associated with the second occupant, derive a first health metric indicating physical health of the first occupant based on the first water usage data, derive a second health metric indicating physical health of the second occupant based on the first water usage data, and cause a display device of a user device to include information associated with the first health metric and the second health metric.

“In some embodiments, the one or more health metrics include a handwashing cleanliness metric. In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric by identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building, identifying a number of hand washes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to run water at a handwashing sink of the bathroom, and comparing the number of toilet or urinal flushes to the number of hand washes to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to schedule cleaning for one or more particular areas of the building based on the one or more health metrics and send a notification of scheduled cleaning to a user device of one or more cleaning personal.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more pieces of building equipment to perform the one or more operations based on the values of the one or more health metrics by determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below a level and causing an air handler unit of the building to increase a level of clean air changes of the building responsive to determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below the level.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more pieces of building equipment to perform the one or more operations based on the values of the one or more health metrics by determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below a level and causing an ultraviolet light system of the building to activate and disinfect one or more surfaces of objects of the building responsive to determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below the level.

“In some embodiments, the one or more health metrics include an occupant hydration metric. In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the occupant hydration metric by identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building and identifying the occupant hydration metric based on a number of occupants within the building and the number of toilet or urinal flushes.

“In some embodiments, the instructions cause the one or more processors to identify a number of water drinking fountain runs based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to cause water to run at a water drinking fountain and identify the occupant hydration metric further based on the number of water drinking fountain runs.

“Another implementation of the present disclosure is a method of a building system of a building including receiving, by a processing circuit, water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building. The method further includes deriving, by the processing circuit, one or more health metrics indicating physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and causing, by the processing circuit, one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on values of the one or more health metrics, the one or more operations improving the physical health of the one or more occupants.

“In some embodiments, the method further includes determining, by the processing circuit, an infectious disease risk level for the building based on the one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants, the infectious disease risk level indicating a level of risk of contracting an infectious disease within the building.

“In some embodiments, the method further includes identifying, by the processing circuit, a first portion of the water usage data associated with a first area of the building, identifying, by the processing circuit, a second portion of the water usage data associated with a second area of the building, deriving, by the processing circuit, one or more first health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the first area of the building, deriving, by the processing circuit, one or more second health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the second area of the building, and causing, by the processing circuit, a display device of a user device to include information associated with the one or more first health metrics and the one or more second health metrics.

“In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving, by the processing circuit, occupancy data identifying a first occupant and a second occupant, identifying, by the processing circuit, based on the occupancy data, first water usage data associated with the first occupant and second water usage data associated with the second occupant, deriving, by the processing circuit, a first health metric indicating physical health of the first occupant based on the first water usage data, deriving, by the processing circuit, a second health metric indicating physical health of the second occupant based on the first water usage data, and causing, by the processing circuit, a display device of a user device to include information associated with the first health metric and the second health metric.

“In some embodiments, the one or more health metrics include a handwashing cleanliness metric. In some embodiments, causing, by the processing circuit, the one or more processors to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric includes identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building, identifying a number of hand washes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to run water at a handwashing sink of the bathroom, and comparing the number of toilet or urinal flushes to the number of hand washes to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric.”

There is additional summary information. Please visit full patent to read further.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A building system of a building comprising one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building; derive one or more health metrics indicating physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data; and cause one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on values of the one or more health metrics, the one or more operations improving the physical health of the one or more occupants.

“2. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: receive an occupancy level indicating a number of the one or more occupants from an occupancy system that tracks occupancy levels of the building; and derive the one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data and the occupancy level.

“3. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: determine a number of the one or more occupants with an occupancy model based on the water usage data, wherein the occupancy model correlates a level of the water usage data with the number of the one or more occupants.

“4. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: determine an infectious disease risk level for the building based on the one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants, the infectious disease risk level indicating a level of risk of contracting an infectious disease within the building.

“5. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: identify a first portion of the water usage data associated with a first area of the building; identify a second portion of the water usage data associated with a second area of the building; derive one or more first health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the first area of the building; derive one or more second health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the second area of the building; and cause a display device of a user device to include information associated with the one or more first health metrics and the one or more second health metrics.

“6. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: receive occupancy data identifying a first occupant and a second occupant; identify, based on the occupancy data, first water usage data associated with the first occupant and second water usage data associated with the second occupant; derive a first health metric indicating physical health of the first occupant based on the first water usage data; derive a second health metric indicating physical health of the second occupant based on the first water usage data; and cause a display device of a user device to include information associated with the first health metric and the second health metric.

“7. The building system of claim 1, wherein the one or more health metrics include a handwashing cleanliness metric; wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric by: identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building; identifying a number of hand washes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to run water at a handwashing sink of the bathroom; and comparing the number of toilet or urinal flushes to the number of hand washes to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric.

“8. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: schedule cleaning for one or more particular areas of the building based on the one or more health metrics; and send a notification of scheduled cleaning to a user device of one or more cleaning personal.

“9. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more pieces of building equipment to perform the one or more operations based on the values of the one or more health metrics by: determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below a level; and causing an air handler unit of the building to increase a level of clean air changes of the building responsive to determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below the level.

“10. The building system of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the one or more pieces of building equipment to perform the one or more operations based on the values of the one or more health metrics by: determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below a level; and causing an ultraviolet light system of the building to activate and disinfect one or more surfaces of objects of the building responsive to determining that the values of the one or more health metrics are below the level.

“11. The building system of claim 1, wherein the one or more health metrics include an occupant hydration metric; wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the occupant hydration metric by: identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building; and identifying the occupant hydration metric based on a number of occupants within the building and the number of toilet or urinal flushes.

“12. The building system of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to: identify a number of water drinking fountain runs based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to cause water to run at a water drinking fountain; and identify the occupant hydration metric further based on the number of water drinking fountain runs.

“13. A method of a building system of a building comprising: receiving, by a processing circuit, water usage data from one or more network connected water valves, the water usage data indicating water usage by one or more occupants within the building; deriving, by the processing circuit, one or more health metrics indicating physical health of the one or more occupants based on the water usage data; and causing, by the processing circuit, one or more pieces of building equipment to perform one or more operations based on values of the one or more health metrics, the one or more operations improving the physical health of the one or more occupants.

“14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: determining, by the processing circuit, an infectious disease risk level for the building based on the one or more health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants, the infectious disease risk level indicating a level of risk of contracting an infectious disease within the building.

“15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: identifying, by the processing circuit, a first portion of the water usage data associated with a first area of the building; identifying, by the processing circuit, a second portion of the water usage data associated with a second area of the building; deriving, by the processing circuit, one or more first health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the first area of the building; deriving, by the processing circuit, one or more second health metrics indicating the physical health of the one or more occupants associated with the second area of the building; and causing, by the processing circuit, a display device of a user device to include information associated with the one or more first health metrics and the one or more second health metrics.

“16. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving, by the processing circuit, occupancy data identifying a first occupant and a second occupant; identifying, by the processing circuit, based on the occupancy data, first water usage data associated with the first occupant and second water usage data associated with the second occupant; deriving, by the processing circuit, a first health metric indicating physical health of the first occupant based on the first water usage data; deriving, by the processing circuit, a second health metric indicating physical health of the second occupant based on the first water usage data; and causing, by the processing circuit, a display device of a user device to include information associated with the first health metric and the second health metric.

“17. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more health metrics include a handwashing cleanliness metric; wherein causing, by the processing circuit, the one or more processors to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric comprises: identifying a number of toilet or urinal flushes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to flush water on a toilet or urinal of a bathroom of the building; identifying a number of hand washes based on the water usage data, wherein at least one of the one or more network connected water valves are configured to run water at a handwashing sink of the bathroom; and comparing the number of toilet or urinal flushes to the number of hand washes to determine the handwashing cleanliness metric.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Douglas, Jonathan D.; Drees, Kirk H.; Ellerman, Rachel D. M.; Laughton, Terrill R. Building System With Occupant Health Analysis Based On Water Usage. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230152760, filed November 12, 2021 and posted May 18, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230152760)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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