Energy: consumption, comparison and energy flexing

The energy module is where you follow how much energy a building uses, whether that use is going in the right direction, and where it is going. It covers four views.

Energy consumption

Shows consumption for a selected period and granularity, for the building's meters. You can narrow the view to sub-buildings/zones, group by TFM, and mark the meters you care about as favourites so you can switch to Show favorites only. Every view can be shown as a graph or as a table, and exported.

Energy consumption per hour, with the ET chart above plotting consumption against outdoor temperature.

Energy comparison

Puts the selected period next to another period — most often the same period last year — so you can see the difference rather than just the level. This is the view to use when you want to know whether a measure actually worked.

Energy comparison: the selected period, the difference, and the same period the year before.

Correction method

Consumption can be shown three ways, and the choice matters:

• Uncorrected — what was actually used. Use this for invoicing, budgets and emissions figures.
  

• Temperature-corrected — removes the effect of a mild or cold winter. Use this when tracking the same building over time.
  

• Temperature and location — use this when comparing buildings that sit in different climates.
  

The climate impact widget always shows actual consumption, because it is the real emissions that count there.

Choosing a correction method. The same consumption looks different depending on what you correct for.

Energy flow

Shows how energy moves through the building over a chosen window — 7, 14, 30, 183 or 365 days — with daily or weekly resolution. Useful for spotting which systems account for the consumption you saw in the other views.

Energy flow, showing where the building's energy comes from and where it ends up.

Energy flexing (dynamic energy use)

Energy flexing makes a building's flexibility operational: technical systems are connected to flexibility and reserve markets, and consumption is adjusted for short periods without a noticeable effect on tenants or operations. You define measures, then schedule an activation with a time period, and follow the activation rate. Activations include ramp-up, buffer and ramp-down phases around the active window.

Good to know

• Today's data for the selected meters arrives later in the day, so the latest selectable date is yesterday.
  

• If some datapoints are negative, Properate warns you — check the meter data, as negative consumption usually means a metering problem.
  

• A building without a main meter cannot show total consumption.
  

• Reports can generate a per-tenant energy report that compares degree-day-adjusted use against the same period last year.