Overview
Buildings created through the B3 building wizard or imported from ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager are typically configured with the minimal amount of detail needed to calculate a benchmark or gather an ENERGY STAR score. Those minimal details include location, primary building type and square footage.
As with all software tools, the more granular inputs you provide, the more precise the results will be. The Building Editor lets you do just that - define your building with very precise details.
The Building Editor can be accessed from a variety of places in the application, most notably, by clicking the site name in the header of the main application.
Once launched, the Details Space tab will appear.
Space Details Tab
The Space Details tab lets you define the primary building type that best describes the overall building’s usage; however, it is the space asset areas that are most crucial, and ultimately what are modeled. You can modify existing space usage allocations in the table and add new space areas from the list of available types. Allocations are based on percentages. The span button automatically adjusts allocations to 100%.
If the building contains an additional overarching composite usage, such as police station, add it as an additional building type. The default police station space asset areas will be defaulted, but they can be configured and customized.
If the building has an open-air, lit parking lot, specify the square footage. If the building includes parking ramps or enclosed garages, they should be added as additional building types and included in the overall building square footage.
Operations Details Tab
The Operations Details tab lets you define occupancy schedules and conditioning attributes for each space asset area within each building type. Drag the hours per day slider to define daily operations. Toggle days and months to define occupancy during those periods.
The Reset button resets schedules back to the defaults. The Apply button applies this schedule to all space asset areas.
By default, most spaces are assumed to be heated and cooled. Adjust conditioning parameters and meter source types accordingly.
Advanced Details Tab
The Advanced Details tab lets you specify precise details of each space usage type, including plug loads, occupant density and ventilation configurations. Humidification and dehumidification setpoints can be configured if known.
ENERGY STAR Details Tab
The ENERGY STAR Details tab allows you specify property-use-details to gather a more precise energy star score. Many of the usage details are automatically derived from B3. The details that are not derived can be specified if known. These property-use-details are automatically imported from ENERGY STAR when synced, and automatically exported to ENERGY STAR for score gathering.
Water Details Tab
The Water Details tab lets you specify water usage details so that a B3 Water Benchmark can be calculated. Inputs include indoor water usage, number of occupants, outdoor water usage, irrigated area and HVAC water usage if applicable. The water usage details will use default values by fixture and by irrigation requirements, but all inputs can be overridden.
Click the 'No Water' checkbox if the building has no water usage, or you don't want to track water. That will suppress water errors and warnings throughout the application.
Site Tab
The Site Tab lets you specify high-level attributes about a site. By default, the site will inherit its first building's address, however you can override that address if you wish.
The Parent Organization dropdown lets you change the organization the site belongs to. You can also reassign parent organizations in the tree using drag/drop mode.
The Reporting On option lets you define what you wish to track - Energy & Water, Energy Only or Water Only. By default, all sites are marked as Energy Only and automatically switched to Energy & Water if/when a water meter is added.
Reporting Options lets you define how the site is displayed in public reports. By default, all sites are marked as Public, however they can be masked as Anonymous, or Hidden altogether.
An EGRID Subregion is chosen automatically based on zip code. You can override/change the assigned sub region with the available dropdown.
If you wish to log the existence of a site, but not include it in any sort of metrics or messages or statistics, mark it as 'Exclude this site from metrics'.
Building Tab
The Building Tab lets you specify high-level attributes about the building, such as location, original occupancy date and comments.
The Original Occupancy Date marks the day a building was fully commissioned and occupied. For older buildings where exact occupancy dates are harder to find, a simple year will suffice (with January 1st as the month and day). For newer buildings, we encourage the entry of the exact occupancy date.
Versions Tab
If the building undergoes any sort of modification that may affect its performance (i.e. an addition, major renovation that changed space types, or substantial increase/decrease in hours of operation), you should create a new version of the building. Creating a new version allows the application to keep the historical data on how the building was operated and its related consumption.
Building Versioning is covered in greater detail here.
Other Tab
The Other Tab contains a handful of tools for tracking building details that aren't directly related to energy or water modeling.
- Custom Attributes are user-defined attributes specific to a client or organization. Contact B3 Support to define those attributes.
- The Building Systems Tab contains inputs for tracking building systems and the vintages of when they were last replaced.
- Photos can be uploaded and maintained in the Photos tab. Uploaded photos can be then be displayed in a carousel on the dashboard using the Photos dashboard widget.
- The Area Calculator lets you draw boundaries on a map to determine approximate square footages. It is especially useful for determining lit parking lot sizes.
- The Identifiers tab lets you specify B3-specific IDs as well as all supported ENERGY STAR identifers.