Getting started with your Energiency application

The goal of this article is to guide you through a series of practical exercises that will enable you to quickly learn how to use Energiency's main features.

These exercises are listed in the “Action plan” area of your Energiency platform so that you can monitor your progress. Explanations for each exercise are detailed in this article, and you can also consult the User Guide articles and webinar replays for more details.

Before starting

Go to the “Action plan” area of your Energiency platform and find the “NAME - Getting started with your Energiency application” action. Move your mouse over the action without clicking, click on the three small dots then click on “Duplicate”.

A copy of the action is created, and the “Action details” pane opens.

In the Action title, replace “NAME” with your name, and delete the “(copy)” text. You can also change the Status to “In progress”, add dates and assign the task to yourself. Next to Status, you'll find the exercise progress bar, which will update as you go along.

Finally, click on “Save”.

Still in the “Action details” pane, click on the “Tasks” tab. The list of exercises appears. You can click on the arrow to the right of each task to view its details. Follow the corresponding instructions in the rest of this article to complete the exercise. Once you've completed the exercise, you can change the Task Status to “Completed” to update your progress bar.

Now you're ready for the exercises!

1. Import a dataset

Exercise objective: learn how to integrate data into Energiency using a manual Import.

STEP 1: Create a new import and download the Energiency template file

Go to the “Import” area of your Energiency platform, then click on the “Create an element” button to open the “Import data” form. Then click on the word “template” in blue to download the import template.

For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the “Create an import” article in our User Guide.

STEP 2: Modify this file: dates, values and source ID

Open the downloaded file. We'll use it as our import file.

This is an Excel file with a structure that can be understood by the Energiency platform.

As before, please refer to the “Creating an import” article for further details.

NB: the downloaded file contains sample data.

In parallel, open a second file containing the data you wish to integrate into Energiency.

Suggestion: select a simple dataset, such as your electricity or steam consumption. This can be monthly, daily, hourly or other data (for simplicity's sake, we recommend a regular measurement interval, e.g. 1 value per day).

Copy this data from your file and paste it into the import file, respecting the file structure. A few points to keep in mind :

- in column A, make sure that the cell format is “Date”.

- choose a source ID that does not exist in your platform. Otherwise, the meter will be recognized as existing and your dataset will be added to this existing meter.

- be careful to copy only the values. Formulas from an Excel file, for example, will not be recognized.

Once your dataset has been added to your import file, save the file.

NB: in the event of an error or omission in the file, the next step will interrupt the import operation and inform you of the nature of the error, so that you can correct it.

STEP 3: Add your file to the import zone, then import it.

Return to the Energiency page of the import form and import the file.

NB: A loading symbol appears, the duration of which may vary according to the size of the dataset and the potential number of errors.

After a few moments, if the file format is correct, a blue frame appears, indicating the number of points that will be imported. You can then click on “Import”.

Once the import is complete, a validation message appears: this means that your data has been successfully integrated into Energiency! You can find them in the “Meters” area, where they are now contained in a new meter with the source ID you chose earlier.

Before you can view this data in a dashboard, you'll need to configure this meter. Go to exercise 2.

2. Setting up a physical meter

The goal of this exercise is to find out which parameters to choose based on the data contained in a meter, so that the data can be used in other areas of the Energiency platform.

STEP 1: Access meter parameters.

Go to the “Meters” area of your Energiency platform and click on the meter you created when importing data in exercise 1.

A “Meter details” pane opens, displaying the contents of the “Information” tab. This tab contains all the modifiable parameters of a meter and will allow us to adjust the meter's configuration.

STEP 2: Configure the main parameters.

Some parameters allow you to better describe the data contained in the meter, other parameters influence the calculations made with this data, and other parameters allow you to correct the data. We are only going to configure the main parameters, but you can consult the “Edit a meter” article in our User Guide if you wish to go further.

Modify the following parameters (you can use the previous User Guide article as a guide):

• Name
  • Tip: choose a name that makes it easy to understand what the meter's data correspond to.
• Unit
• Aggregation function
  • If it's a quantity (energy, volume, units produced, etc.), use the “Sum” function.
  • For other kind of measurements (power, flow, temperature, pressure, ratio, etc.), use the “Average” function.
• Measurement interval
  • Tip: choose an interval corresponding to the actual interval between two data points.

To finish, click on “Save”.

STEP 3: Move your meter into a folder.

To keep the “Meters” area of your Energiency platform tidy and easy to navigate, we'll move your meter into a folder.

Select the “Tree” view. If your company has already trained with Energiency, you'll find a folder called “Energiency Training”. If this is not the case, you can move the meter to another appropriate folder, or even create a new folder.

To move your meter, place your mouse cursor over the meter. This will bring up six dots to the left of the meter name. Click on these dots, hold the click, then move the meter to the correct folder, then release the click.

Your meter is now correctly set up! You can now use the data it contains to perform a simple calculation.

3. Create a virtual virtuel

Goal of the exercise: to understand how to use a virtual meter to perform calculations.

STEP 1: Create a new virtual meter.

A virtual meter does not contain raw data, but data calculated from a formula. We're going to use this formula to convert meter data from previous exercises into another unit.

To begin, go to the “Meters” area of your Energiency platform and use the “Create an element” button to create a new virtual meter (for more details, please refer to the “Create a meter” article in the User Guide). A creation form opens.

STEP 2: Write the formula.

First fill in the Name.

Tip: choose a name that makes it easy to understand what the meter data correspond to.

Then click in the Formula field, and depending on the data contained in your meter and the conversion you wish to make, write your calculation:

• Use # to access the meter tree structure
• Use ! to access a function
• Access a meter by entering a keyword in its label

NB: to find out what you can add to a formula, please consult the articles in the “Formulas” section of the User Guide.

Suggestion: you can, for example, use division to change the size of the unit, or multiplication to convert kWh into € or tCO2.

Once you've written your formula, click outside the Formula field. If the formula contains one or more syntax errors, the field frame will turn red and the error will be underlined in red in the formula. If there are no errors, the field frame does not change color. You can then proceed to the next step.

STEP 3: Configure the main parameters.

As with the previously configured physical meter, it is necessary to define the parameters of this new meter:

• Unit
• Aggregation function
• Measurement interval
• Parent element
  • This is the folder in which the meter will be stored once created.

Once these parameters have been defined, click on “Add”.

STEP 4: Move your meter into a folder.

As in the previous exercise, we'll finish by moving your virtual meter into a folder.

Move your virtual meter into the same folder as the previous meter.

We'll now look at how to view the data from this virtual meter in a dashboard.

4. Creating a dashboard

Goal of the exercise: to create a new dashboard.

STEP 1: Create a new dashboard.

Go to the “Dashboards” area of your Energiency platform and use the “Create an element” button to create a new dashboard (for more details, please refer to the “Create a dashboard” article in the User Guide). A creation form opens.

Define the required fields:

• Name
• Publication mode

Then click on “Add”.

Your dashboard is created! Its contents are displayed, but it is currently empty.

Return to the “Dashboard” area to finish the exercise.

STEP 2: Move your dashboard to a folder.

To keep the “Dashboard” area of your Energiency platform tidy and easy to navigate, we'll move your dashboard into a folder.

If your company has already done training with Energiency, you'll find a folder called “Energiency Training”. If this is not the case, you can move the dashboard to another appropriate folder, or even create a new folder.

To move your dashboard, place your mouse cursor over it, this will bring up six dots to the left of its name. Click on these dots, hold the click, then move the dashboard to the correct folder, then release the click.

Go on to the next exercise to add a widget to your dashboard to visualize your data!

5. Displaying data in a widget

Goal of the exercise: learn how to use a widget to display meter data.

STEP 1: Add a new widget.

In the “Dashboards” area, click on the dashboard you created in the previous exercise to open it.

Then use the “Add a widget” button to open the widget selection pane (for further details, please refer to the “Create a widget” article in the User Guide). Select the “Timeseries Chart” widget, then click on “Add”.

Tip: you can also drag and drop a new widget with your mouse to place it wherever you like on your dashboard.

The widget configuration pane opens automatically, displaying information from the “Data” tab.

STEP 2: Configure the widget.

We're now going to configure this widget to display data from the virtual meter we created earlier.

In the Y axis, add a “Meter” dataset and select your virtual meter (for more details, please refer to the article “Edit a widget”, paragraph “Timeseries Chart”, in the User Guide). Then click on “Add”.

STEP 3: Select a relevant time range.

On the left-hand side of the screen, you'll see a preview of the data displayed by the widget. If no data is visible, it's probably because the time range of the dashboard doesn't correspond to the dates of the data contained in the meter. By default, the widget displays data corresponding to the time range of the dashboard.

You can modify this time range to match your data (to do so, please refer to the “View a dashboard” article in the User Guide).

Once the data is visible, you can move on to the last step of the exercise.

STEP 4: Customize the widget.

You can now improve the appearance of your widget and its data. Make the following changes (you can use the “Edit a widget”, “Move a widget” and “Resize a widget” articles in the User Guide):

• Change dataset color
• Change curve type
• Specify unit in Y axis title
• Add a title to the widget
• Resize the widget
• Move the widget

NB: don't forget to click on “Save” when you exit the widget's “Configuration” pane.

You've successfully displayed your meter data! Let's take a look at how to automatically generate a report from this dashboard.

6. Setting up an automatic report

Goal of the exercise : learn how to set up automatic PDF generation.

STEP 1: Enable report generation from a dashboard.

In the “Dashboards” area, click on the dashboard you created in the previous exercise to open it.

Then click on the “Dashboard configuration” icon to open the panel containing the dashboard parameters.

Click on the “Report” tab, then activate the “Generate reports automatically” option.

STEP 2: Configure report generation and delivery.

We're now going to set up this report so that a PDF version is e-mailed at the beginning of each month, with the previous month's data. Modify the following parameters (you can refer to the “Transform a dashboard into a report template” article in the User Guide):

• Frequency
  • Choose “Every month on the 1st at 12:00 PM”.
• Time range
  • Choose “1 month” (be careful not to leave the default value “1 day”).
• Send after
  • Choose “8 hours”.

A summary should indicate : “Create a report each month with 1 month data on 1st at 12:00, sent with 8 hours delay”.

Finally, in the Recipients field, select your Energiency user account. Then click on “Save”.

Your report is created! You'll receive it by email on the 1st of next month.

7. Create an alert

Goal of the exercise: set up an alert to monitor consumption.

STEP 1: Create a new alert.

In order to monitor an event (overconsumption, energy drift, etc.), we're going to set up an alert and receive an email in the event of an alert being triggered.

To do this, go to the “Alerts” area of your Energiency platform and use the “Create an element” button to create a new alert (for more details, see the “Create an alert” article in the User Guide). A creation form opens.

Define the required fields:

• Name
• Condition
  • The “Formula” field is identical to that used for virtual meters. You can therefore write a formula to use meter data or to perform a calculation.
  • Then specify the comparator sign and the threshold value. This will enable the alert to regularly compare the result of the formula with the threshold, and if the comparison becomes true then the alert will be triggered (example: if the meter value is greater than 200,000, then the alert is triggered).

Then click on “Add”.

STEP 2: Set alert parameters.

A pane appears with the alert parameters.

Modify the following parameters (for more details, please refer to the “Create an alert” article in the User Guide):

• Time step
  • This is the frequency at which the alert condition is checked.
• Aggregation function
  • Works in the same way as for meters.
• Message
  • This text will appear in the body of the e-mail sent if the alert is triggered.
• Recipient
  • Select your Energiency user account

Finally, click on “Save”.

Your alert is now active! You'll be notified when the alert is triggered, so you can get the information you need and react quickly.

8. Implementing and evaluating an action

Goal of the exercise: to learn how to plan, implement and evaluate an action directly in Energiency.

In the course of your analysis, you'll come up with ideas for improving your site's energy performance. The Energiency Action plan will enable you to transform your ideas into structured actions, plan and monitor their implementation, and finally measure the impact of the action on your energy consumption.

STEP 1: Create a new action.

Once you've come up with an idea for an improvement, go to the “Action plan” area of your Energiency platform and use the “Create an element” button to create a new action (for more details, see the “Create an action” article in the User Guide). A creation form opens.

Define only the Title, then click on “Next”.

Select the “Without evaluation” option (you can change it later), then click on “Add”.

A pane with details of the action appears, with details of the “Information” tab.

STEP 2: Specify the action's general information.

Depending on the level of precision with which you wish to define your action, in the “Information” tab you can fill in the following fields:

• Description
• Labels
• Status
• Start date
• Deadline
• Responsible
• Site

For further details, please refer to the “Creating an action” article in the User Guide.

Then click on “Save”.

STEP 3: Create tasks.

Next, we'll break down your action into tasks. To do this, click on the “Tasks” tab and click on the “+” button to add a new task. Click on the arrow to display the task details.

Replace the default task name with the name of the first task required to complete your action. You can define the task more precisely by filling in the fields below.

Tip: tasks are organized alphabetically, so you can add a number to the beginning of each task name to put them in order.

Continue to create as many tasks as you need to implement your action.

 

STEP 4: Evaluate an action.

Once you've completed your action, we'll evaluate its impact.

To do this, click on the “Evaluation” tab and click on “Configure action evaluation”.

Then select an evaluation method, and click on “Next” (for more details, please refer to the “Evaluate an action” article in the User Guide).

Depending on the method you've chosen, fill in the required fields, then click on “Save”.

In the “Evaluation” tab, define the “Evaluation period” field. This will bring up all the indicators of the action's impact, and give you the results of your action!

Congratulations! You've completed all the exercises and learned how to use Energiency's main features: you're now able to use the platform to monitor and improve your energy performance!