Feasibility and proof of concept of a dense, low cost, network of sensors driving Intelligent building Agents for air quality and energy control.

Commercial buildings use 35% of the entire US energy output, and up to a third of that energy is wasted. Rapidly rising fuel costs, increasing concern about climate change, and policy directives from the Biden Administration are all driving the need for increased energy efficiency and the elimination of waste. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased public awareness of the importance of indoor air quality and driven the growing realization that many indoor spaces are poorly ventilated. Solutions for energy efficiency and improved indoor air quality both start with data. Data driven baselining ensures that capital can be deployed as efficiently as possible, eliminating guesswork. Technological developments such as BACnet allow building systems to communicate and adapt settings but higher efficiency optimization requires intelligent algorithms such as intelligent building agents. Xmark Labs LLC has developed a reliable, networked, affordable environmental sensor for use in commercial buildings. The aim of the proposed research is to establish the feasibility and proof of concept of a network composed of the Nosy™ sensors communicating with HVAC and lighting systems through BACnet protocol and feeding data to intelligent building agents for energy control and air quality regulation.