CA-3120436-C - USING SMART OCCUPANCY DETECTION AND CONTROL IN BUILDINGS TO REDUCE DISEASE TRANSMISSION

CA3120436CCA 3120436 CCA3120436 CCA 3120436CCA-3120436-C

Abstract

A signal is received from an occupancy sensor each time a person passes through an access point corresponding to a building space, and is identified as indicating a person either entering or exiting the building space. An occupancy count is maintained for each of the building spaces by incrementing the occupancy count when the signal indicates a person entering and decrementing the occupancy count when the signal indicates a person exiting. A determination is made as to whether the occupancy count for any of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces has reached a threshold for the corresponding building space. Action is taken in response to determining that the occupancy count for any of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces has reached the threshold for that particular building space.

Inventors

Armin Wellig
Chris Inkpen
Kelvin Towler

Assignees

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210601
Priority Date: 20200619

Claims (13)

What is claimed is: 1. A method of tracking occupancy within a building, the building including a plurality of building spaces, each building space of the plurality of building spaces including an access point that allows access to the building space and a sensor that provides a signal when a person passes through the access point, the method comprising: receiving a signal from a sensor each time a person passes through an access point corresponding to a building space of the plurality of building spaces of the building; identifying the signal as either indicating a person entering or exiting the building space of the plurality of building spaces; maintaining an occupancy count for each of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces by incrementing the occupancy count when the signal indicates a person entering the building space and decrementing the occupancy count when the signal indicates a person exiting the building space; determining when the occupancy count for any of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces reaches a threshold for the corresponding building space; and taking action in response to determining that the occupancy count for any of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces has reached the threshold for that particular building space, wherein taking action comprises controlling one or more building management systems of the building to alter one or more conditions of the particular building space to reduce a likelihood of disease transmission among occupants of the particular building space, including: altering the relative humidity of air in the particular building space relative to a current relative humidity so as to reduce the time a pathogen aerosol will remain in the air; and/ or increasing the air temperature in the particular building space relative to a current air temperature.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action comprises issuing an audio and/or visual warning that current occupancy within a particular building space of the plurality of building spaces has reached the threshold for that particular building space. 22 Date Re1rue/Date Received 2024-01-02
3. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action comprises securing the access point for the particular building space of the plurality of building spaces such that people are allowed to exit but are not allowed to enter until the occupancy count for that particular building space drops below the threshold.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the one or more building management systems of the building to alter one or more conditions of the particular building space to reduce the likelihood of disease transmission among occupants of the particular building space comprises controlling the one or more building management systems of the building to increase a fresh air ventilation rate to the particular building space.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor associated with the access point of at least one of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces comprises a smart floor sensor embedded in a floor covering.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor associated with the access point of at least one of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces comprises a passive infrared (PIR) sensor or a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor associated with the access point of at least one of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces comprises an RFID card reader that can read an access card carried by a person without requiring the person to physically scan the access card to provide frictionless access through the corresponding access point.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor associated with the access point of at least one of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces comprises a video camera having a field of view that includes at least part of the corresponding access point, wherein video analytics are applied to identify the signal from the video camera as either indicating a person entering or exiting the building space of the plurality of building spaces. 23 Date Re1rue/Date Received 2024-01-02
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the video analytics include identifying biometric identification.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the video analytics include identifying compliance with one or more behavioral thresholds.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more behavioral thresholds include one or more of a social distancing compliance threshold, a hand hygiene compliance threshold and a PPE compliance threshold.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the access point comprises one of a building entry, an emergency exit, a door or hall to a room or zone, an elevator, and a stair case.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the access points further comprises a health screening sensor for performing a health screen of a person passing through the access point, wherein the health screening sensor comprises one or more or a video camera, a thermal camera and a microphone. 24 Date Re1rue/Date Received 2024-01-02

Description

USING SMART OCCUPANCY DETECTION AND CONTROL IN BUILDINGS TO REDUCE DISEASE TRANSMISSION Technical Field [0001] The present disclosure relates generally to facility management systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for reducing risk of disease spread among occupants of a building. Background [0002] Infectious diseases can spread through person to person contact, touching of contaminated surfaces, exposure to air borne pathogens, as well as other transmission mechanisms. What would be desirable are systems and methods to help limit the spread of a disease among occupants of a building. Summary [0003] The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for reducing risk of disease spread among occupants of a building. In one example, a method includes tracking occupancy within a building that includes a plurality of building spaces, with each building space including an access point that allows access to the building space. Each building space includes one or more sensors that provide a signal when a person passes through the access point to the building space. A signal is received from a sensor each time a person passes through an access point corresponding to a building space of the plurality of building spaces of the building. The signal is identified as either indicating a person entering or exiting the building space of the plurality of building spaces. An occupancy count is maintained for each of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces by incrementing the occupancy count when the signal indicates a person entering the building space and decrementing the occupancy count when the signal indicates a person exiting the building space. A determination is made as to whether the occupancy count for any of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces has reached a threshold for the corresponding building space. Action is taken in response to determining that the occupancy count for any of the building spaces of the plurality of building spaces has reached the threshold for that particular building space. 1 Date Re9ue/Date Received 2023-01-26 [0004] In some cases the access point may function as a virtual fence or gate. The virtual fence may allow the system to maintain an accurate count of the occupants that are currently in the space without having to outfit sensors throughout the space. The lack of sensors throughout the space may also help increase the privacy of the occupants while in the space. [0005] In another example, a system tracks occupancy within a building having a plurality of building spaces. The system includes a plurality of visible light sources distributed throughout each of at least some of the plurality of building spaces of the building, wherein each of the plurality of visible light sources is associated with ( or has) a corresponding occupancy sensor, wherein when occupancy is detected, the corresponding visible light source is turned on, and when occupancy is not detected, the corresponding visible light source is turned off. A controller is operatively coupled to at least some of the occupancy sensors and is configured to monitor the occupancy sensors to infer an occupancy distribution in each of the at least some of the plurality of building spaces of the building. The controller is configured to compare the occupancy distribution in each of the at least some of the plurality of building spaces of the building with a corresponding occupancy distribution threshold and take action in response to determining that the occupancy distribution in one or more of the at least some of the plurality of building spaces of the building exceeds the corresponding occupancy distribution threshold. [0006] In another example, a system disinfects a space within a building that includes a plurality of building spaces. The system includes a plurality of visible light sources distributed throughout each of at least some of the plurality of building spaces of the building, wherein each of the plurality of visible light sources is associated with a corresponding occupancy sensor, wherein when occupancy is detected, the corresponding light is turned on, and when occupancy is not detected, the corresponding light is turned off. A plurality of disinfecting UV light sources are distributed throughout each of at least some of the plurality of building spaces of the building, wherein when activated, the plurality of UV light sources disinfect at least some surf aces in a corresponding building space. A controller is operatively coupled to at least some of the occupancy sensors and the plurality of UV light sources. The controller is configured to monitor the occupancy sensors to determine when one or more of the plurality of building spaces of the building are unoccupied, activate one or more of the UV light sources in one or more of the plurality of building spaces of the building that are determined to be unoccupied, and monitor 2 Date Re9ue/Date Received 2023