US Patent 9261863 Optimizing and controlling the energy consumption of a building

Described herein are methods and systems, including computer program products, for optimizing and controlling the energy consumption of a building. A first computing device generates a set of thermal response coefficients for the building based on energy characteristics of the building and weather data associated with the location of the building. The first computing device predicts an energy response of the building based on the set of thermal response coefficients and forecasted weather associated with the location of the building. The first computing device selects minimal energy requirements of the building based on an energy consumption cost associated with the building. The first computing device determines one or more temperature set points for the building based on the energy response and the minimal energy requirements. The first computing device transmits the one or more temperature set points to a thermostat of the building.