Integrated mechanical, electrical and plumbing appliance for a building

Abstract

An integrated mechanical, electrical and plumbing appliance includes a housing defining a space occupied by an air treatment system, an electric power system, and a water treatment system. The electric power system includes a divides electrical power from an electrical power source connection into electrical circuit feeds for delivery within the housing to the air treatment system and the water treatment system, and to a building. The air treatment system includes receives exhaust air from the building and uses the exhaust air to precondition outdoor air, and receives return air from the building and conditions the return air. The water treatment system receives water from outside the building and divides the water into a water flow for output to the building and water flow to be filtered, filters water and outputs unheated water to the building, and heats water for output to the building.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An integrated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) appliance for a building, comprising:
 a housing defining a space and including at least one outdoor air input port, at least one outdoor exhaust air output port, at least one exhaust air input port, at least one of (1) at least one return air input port or (2) at least one refrigerant output port, and at least one air supply output port coupled to an air treatment system occupying a first portion of the space, at least one electrical input port and at least one electrical output port coupled to an electric power system occupying a second portion of the space, at least one water input port, at least one unfiltered water output port, at least one unheated filtered water output port, and at least one heated filtered water output port coupled to a water treatment system occupying a third portion of the space, and at least one water drain port coupled to a water drain system occupying a fourth portion of the space;   the electric power system including a breaker panel configured to divide electrical power received from an electrical power source connection via the at least one electrical input port into a plurality of electrical circuit feeds, and wherein the electric power system is configured to
 deliver, via a first internal connection within the housing, electrical power to the air treatment system via a first electrical circuit feed of the plurality of electrical circuit feeds; 
 deliver, via a second internal connection within the housing, electrical power to the water treatment system via a second electrical circuit feed of the plurality of electrical circuit feeds; and 
 deliver electrical power to the building via at least one third electrical circuit feed of the plurality of electrical circuit feeds through the at least one electrical output port; 
   the air treatment system including
 i) a recovery ventilator configured to
 receive exhaust air from the building via the at least one exhaust input port, 
 receive outdoor air from the at least one outdoor air input port, and 
 use the exhaust air to precondition the outdoor air, 
 supply the preconditioned outdoor air to the building through the at least one air supply output port, and 
 output exhaust air through the at least one outdoor exhaust air output port; and 
 
 ii) at least one of (1) an air conditioning device configured to receive return air from the at least one return air input port and condition the return air, or (2) a refrigerant manifold configured to transport refrigerant between a heat pump disposed outside of the building and one or more building air conditioning devices disposed within the building and remote from the housing via the at least one refrigerant output port, the one or more building air conditioning devices configured to condition air in the building using the refrigerant; 
   the water treatment system including
 i) at least one water divider configured to
 receive water from outside the building via the at least one water input port, and 
 divide the water into an unfiltered water flow for output to the building via the at least one unfiltered water output port and water flow to be filtered; 
 
 ii) a water filter configured to
 receive the water flow to be filtered from the at least one water divider, 
 filter the water flow to be filtered for the at least one water divider to divide into an unheated filtered water flow for output to the building via the at least one unheated filtered water output port and a water flow to be heated; and 
 
 iii) a water heater configured to
 receive the water flow to be heated from the water filter, and 
 heat the water flow to be heated into heated filtered water for output to the building via the at least one heated filtered water output port; and 
 
   the water drain system configured to receive water from the hot water heater, the water filter, and the air conditioning device, and output the water from the housing to a drain via the at least one water drain port.   
     
     
         2 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one outdoor air input port, at least one exhaust input port, at least one return air input port, at least one air output port, at least one electrical input port, at least one electrical output port, at least one water input port, at least one unfiltered water output port, at least one unheated filtered water output port, and at least one heated filtered water output port are mounted to the housing. 
     
     
         3 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the drain system is mounted to or fluidly coupled to a bottom surface of the housing. 
     
     
         4 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the air conditioning device or the refrigerant manifold is configured to be coupled to a heat pump disposed outside of the housing. 
     
     
         5 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the electric power system includes an inverter configured to receive electrical power from a solar array outside the building via a solar power port of the housing. 
     
     
         6 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a fire suppression system occupying a fifth portion of the space, the fire suppression system configured to receive water from the at least water input port upstream of the water divider and output water having least one of a pressure greater than twenty psi or a flow rate greater than ten gallons per minute. 
     
     
         7 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a control systems hub configured to receive information regarding operation of at least one of the water treatment system, the air treatment system, or the electric power system, and modify operation of the at least one of the water treatment system, the air treatment system, or the electric power system based on the received information. 
     
     
         8 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of removable electrical couplers configured to connect the electric power system to a corresponding one or more electricity consuming devices in the building. 
     
     
         9 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , further comprising a waste heat recovery unit disposed within the housing, the waste heat recovery unit fluidly coupled to the air conditioning device and the water treatment system to exchange heat between air flowing through the air treatment device and water flowing through the water treatment system. 
     
     
         10 . The MEP appliance of  claim 9 , wherein the waste heat recovery unit flows water to and from the water heater. 
     
     
         11 . The MEP appliance of  claim 1 , wherein the water divider includes one or more valves configured to selectively flow water from the at least one water input port to the water filter and the water heater. 
     
     
         12 . A method of installing an integrated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) appliance, comprising:
 positioning the MEP appliance at a location within or proximate to a building, the MEP appliance including a housing defining a space and including at least one outdoor air input port, at least one outdoor exhaust air output port, at least one exhaust air input port, at least one of (1) at least one return air input port or (2) at least one refrigerant output port, and at least one air supply output port coupled to an air treatment system occupying a first portion of the space, at least one electrical input port and at least one electrical output port coupled to an electric power system occupying a second portion of the space, at least one water input port, at least one unfiltered water output port, at least one unheated filtered water output port, and at least one heated filtered water output port coupled to a water treatment system occupying a third portion of the space, and at least one water drain port coupled to a water drain system occupying a fourth portion of the space;   coupling an electrical power source connection to the at least one electrical input port to provide electrical power to the electric power system;   coupling at least one removable electrical coupler to the at least one electrical output port;   coupling at least one removable plumbing connector to the at least one unfiltered water output port, the at least one unheated filtered water output port, and the at least one heated filtered water output port; and   coupling an input water source to the at least one water input port to provide water for the water treatment system.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising coupling at least one duct connector to the at least one exhaust air input port, the at least one return air input port, and the at least one air supply output port. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one duct connector is a gasket duct connector. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising coupling a heat pump disposed outside the building to at least one of a refrigerant manifold or an air conditioning device of the air treatment system. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising a solar power connection to a solar power port of the housing, wherein the electrical power system includes an inverter for receiving electrical power from a solar array via the solar power connection. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the removable electrical couplers are snap-together wiring harnesses. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the removable plumbing connectors are push-together plumbing connectors. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising coupling the water drain system to a drain outside of the housing. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein positioning the MEP appliance includes securing the MEP appliance to the building.