Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning design apparatus and method

Abstract

A system and method for designing an HVAC system using a database to manage values of properties corresponding to design elements. Elements include substantially all physical components and connections available for creating an HVAC system design. A user interface represents design elements arbitrarily selectable by a user and connectable to one another in a schematic to establish the HVAC system design. The system may provide, automatically, default values corresponding to the properties corresponding to the design elements. A user may select arbitrarily, from the design elements, an arbitrary number of selected design elements to be interconnected in the HVAC system design. A user may place and interconnect each arbitrary design element, while the system calculates, automatically, values of properties characterizing the arbitrary design elements; validating correctness of the interconnections and properties, calculating performance parameters, and providing drawings.

1 . An article as a computer-readable medium storing data structures of both executable and operational types, the data structures comprising: 
 an input module configured to receive inputs corresponding to design elements, characterized by properties stored in records, the design elements being connectable to establish an HVAC system to be designed;    a design module operably connected to the input module and configured to operate on the inputs to create the records reflecting the properties of the design elements and interactions thereof to establish a design of the HVAC system;    the input module and design module, further configured to automatically provide multiple schematic representations of a selected design element, selected from the design elements, the multiple schematic representations reflecting distinct operational contexts of the selected design element, and to automatically maintain substantially complete and consistent information in the records, describing the properties of the selected design element in each of the distinct operational contexts; and    an output module configured to provide a user-interpretable output reflecting the design of the HVAC system.    
   
   
       2 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the data structures further comprise a user interface module configured to receive inputs from a user to control selection, relative positioning, and properties of design elements of the HVAC system to be designed and configured to output to a user a graphical representation of the HVAC system reflecting the selection, relative positioning, and properties of the design elements.  
   
   
       3 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the input module and user interface module are configured to interface with the design module substantially independently from one another.  
   
   
       4 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the input module further comprises a user interface module configured to: 
 receive inputs from a user to control selection, relative positioning, and properties of design elements of the HVAC system to be designed, and    output to a user a graphical representation of the HVAC system reflecting the selection, relative positioning, and properties of the design elements.    
   
   
       5 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the operational contexts are selected from mass transport and energy transport.  
   
   
       6 . The article of  claim 5 , wherein mass transport includes at least one of air transport and water transport, and wherein energy transport includes at least one of heating and cooling with respect to the selected design element.  
   
   
       7 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the selected design element comprises a product available from a vendor, independent from the article, the product characterized by product properties corresponding thereto; and    the design module further comprises a specification module, executable to assign the product properties as the properties of the selected design element.    
   
   
       8 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein the data structures further comprise a product module configured to manage data reflecting the product properties.  
   
   
       9 . The article of  claim 8 , wherein the product module further comprises an updating module configured to update the product properties.  
   
   
       10 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein the data structures further comprise a communication module configured to automatically establish communication between a user and the vendor of the product.  
   
   
       11 . The article of  claim 10 , wherein the communication module is further configured to do at least one of making inquiries of the vendor, placing orders with the vendor, and downloading updated values of the product properties from the vendor.  
   
   
       12 . The article of  claim 1 , further configured to interact with a third party module provided by a third party 
 product module holds all data and interfaces with vendor software.    
   
   
       13 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the data structures further comprise a load module configured to provide, to the input module, HVAC loading parameters required to be accommodated by the HVAC system design.  
   
   
       14 . The article of  claim 13 , wherein the data structures further comprise a CAD module configured to provide, to the input module, data reflecting a design of an edifice to be serviced by the design of the HVAC system.  
   
   
       15 . The article of  claim 14 , wherein the data structures further comprise a product module configured to specify products available for sale and meeting requirements to be the design elements.  
   
   
       16 . The article of  claim 15 , wherein the data structures further comprise a compensation module configured to identify monetary compensation due to a user from vendors of the products specified as design elements in the HVAC system design.  
   
   
       17 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the input module is further configured to interact with: 
 a CAD module provided by an independent third party to provide, to the input module, data reflecting a design of an edifice to be serviced by the design of the HVAC system;    a load module configured to receive outputs from the CAD module and provide, to the input module, HVAC loading parameters required to be met by the HVAC system design; and    a vendor module, provided by an independent vendor and configured to specify products available for sale and meeting the requirements to be the design elements.    
   
   
       18 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the output module is further configured to do at least one of generating reports, drawing schematic illustrations, providing schedules of components, and providing performance analyses reflecting the design elements.  
   
   
       19 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the product module further comprises a specification module configured to provide a detailed specification for an arbitrary number of selected design elements.  
   
   
       20 . A method for designing an HVAC system, the method comprising: 
 providing a database having records and configured to manage values of properties corresponding to design elements corresponding to substantially all physical components and connections available for creating an HVAC system design;    providing a user interface configured to represent design elements arbitrarily selectable by a user and connectable to one another in a schematic to establish the HVAC system design;    providing, automatically, default values corresponding to the properties corresponding to the design elements;    selecting arbitrarily, from the design elements, by a user, an arbitrary number of selected design elements to be interconnected in the HVAC system design;    selecting, by a user, a relative location and interconnections corresponding to each arbitrary design element;    calculating, automatically, values of properties characterizing the arbitrary design elements;    validating correctness of the interconnections and properties;    calculating performance parameters corresponding to the HVAC system design; and    providing drawings defining the HVAC system design for construction.