You can add data to Carbon Signal with our upload template. We’re also actively working on connections to data aggregation services, such as Energy Star Portfolio Manager. In addition, if you need help accessing or formatting data, we’re always available at support@carbonsignal.com.
Template
You can access the spreadsheet template by clicking Upload data on the main Buildings page. At the bottom of the modal, there is a link to download the latest version of the template.
Each row in the spreadsheet template refers to a building in the portfolio, and there is no limit to the number of buildings that you can upload, though processing times may increase with large portfolios added at once.
The spreadsheet includes 4 required fields and several optional fields that, if provided, may improve the fidelity of the analysis.
Field | Description |
Building Name | Required. This is a unique identifier for your building. |
Area | Required. The building area should correspond to the scope of energy use in the building. For example, if you provided whole-building energy data, then the area should correspond to the building gross area. Conversely, if the energy data only covers a portion of the building, as may be the case with a leased space, the area should correspond to that portion of the building.
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Building Type | Required. The primary building program type. The list of options are a subset of EnergyStar Portfolio Manager. |
Location | Required. Provide either an address or a latitude and longitude (or both). The location is only used to identify the nearest weather station for energy analysis, so as long as it is accurate to within 5-10 miles, it should be sufficient. |
Tags | Tags can help organize your data. This field accepts a comma delimited list of tag names. |
Notes | This field can be used to retain any internal notes about the building. |
Heating System | Not read during upload. Every uploaded building is created with an Unknown heating and cooling system, whatever the spreadsheet says. Set the heating and cooling systems after the building has been created, on the Energy Model tab of the building details page. |
Cooling System | See information for Heating System above. |
Year of Data | Used for tracking purposes only. This should refer to the year chosen for utility data. Note that only one year of utility data is supported for processing. |
Utility Data | Optional. Energy data can be monthly readings for any of the four utilities (electricity, natural gas, district heating, or district cooling), annual energy use intensities, or left out entirely. With no energy data, Carbon Signal produces a modeled baseline from the building’s type, size, and location.
If the building uses a combustion fuel other than natural gas, such as fuel oil, it should be included with or replace the natural gas data and the emissions factors should be adjusted accordingly. When using district heating and district cooling data, do not include the fuels used for generating the district energy (e.g. natural gas, electricity). The utility data in the upload spreadsheet represents site energy only. |
Emissions Factors | Not read during upload. Emission factors are set after the building has been created, either per building on the Emission factors tab or in bulk from the Buildings page. By default Carbon Signal selects the most location-specific dataset available for the building, preferring NREL Cambium, then CRREM, then Our World In Data. |
The template also includes several computed fields under Energy Use Intensity that can be used for validating your inputs.
Data Validation
After you upload your data, the buildings land in a review queue rather than going straight into your portfolio. In the Review buildings modal, any field Carbon Signal could not determine is flagged with a Missing badge, and buildings that still need attention are collected under a Needs review tab.
Building name, building type, floor area, and a locatable address or set of coordinates are all mandatory. A building missing any of them cannot be added at all: it stays in the review queue until you fill in the gap. Once a building has been created and calibrated, a separate set of Data checks flags results that look incomplete or inconsistent.
Here are a few best practices to follow when uploading data to Carbon Signal:
- Unique building names: Make sure all building names are unique, unless you are trying to upload new data for buildings that already exist in your portfolio.
- Correct unit selections: In the spreadsheet, there are dropdowns for units above the area fields, utility data fields, and emissions factors fields. Make sure you have selected the right units.
- Complete location data: The best way to enter location data is to enter a latitude and longitude. However, if using the address fields, make sure you fill out all of the fields so that we can properly geolocate your buildings.
- Review validation fields: Make sure there are no data validation warnings within the spreadsheet itself, and that you have reviewed the calculated energy use intensity fields to make sure it properly reflects the utility data you provided (if not, it’s usually the result of an incorrect unit selection).
For more information on data uploads, see Getting Started, Quickstart. If you need help collecting, formatting, or reviewing data, contact support@carbonsignal.com.
These are the Data checks Carbon Signal runs against a building once it has been calibrated:
Check | Where | Meaning |
Utility data coverage | Data checks | Checks the measured utility data for missing months based on the building’s type, location, and settings in model refinement. |
Utility data anomalies | Data checks | Checks the measured data for unusually high or low energy use as well as deviations from expected seasonal profiles based on the building type, location, and settings in model refinement. |
Utility data alignment | Data checks | Measures the alignment between reported utility data and modeled energy use. This check generally follows the protocols for measuring model accuracy and bias according to ASHRAE Guideline 14. |
Duplicate Records
Carbon Signal uses the Building Name as a unique identifier in our database. If you upload data with the spreadsheet template, and there are building names that already exist on your Team, you’ll have the option to update the data for these building, add the buildings using a different name, or remove the buildings from the upload process.
Adding a Building Without the Template
There are two ways to add a building without filling out the spreadsheet template. New building opens a form where you enter the details yourself. Upload data takes documents such as utility bills or audit reports and extracts the details for you.
Adding a building manually
- From the Buildings page, click New building.
- The Add a building modal opens. It is a single scrolling form rather than a multi-step wizard, with Add building and Cancel at the bottom.
General details
Enter basic information for the building, including:
- Building name
- Building type
- Floor area
- Tags (optional)
- Location
For location, you may choose one of the following options:
- Use address – Enter any or all of city, state/province, country, postal code
- Use coordinates – Enter latitude and longitude manually.
Energy data
Select how you would like to provide energy data for the building. The form offers three choices.
Option 1: Monthly Data
Select Monthly data to enter detailed monthly energy use.
- Select the appropriate units from the dropdown for each utility.
- Enter energy consumption for each applicable utility (e.g. electricity, gas, district heating, district cooling).
- Data can be copied from a spreadsheet and pasted directly into the tables.
Option 2: Annual Data
Select Annual data to enter a single annual energy use intensity value for the building.
- Enter the annual energy use intensity in the specified units.
- This option is useful when only aggregate annual energy information is available.
Option 3: No Energy Data
Select No energy data if utility data is not available.
Carbon Signal will estimate baseline energy performance based on building type and location. This allows you to perform analysis even when measured utility data is unavailable.
When the form is complete, click Add building.
Extracting a building from documents
Document extraction is a separate entry point, not a fourth option inside the Add a building form.
- From the Buildings page, click Upload data.
- Choose A single building or Multiple buildings.
- Upload your file. Carbon Signal uses a secure language model to extract the building details and energy data from utility bills, audit reports, and similar documents.
- Extraction runs in the background. When it finishes, the extracted buildings appear in the review queue rather than being created directly.
- Open the review queue, check the extracted values, fill in anything flagged as Missing, and add the buildings to your portfolio.
This reduces manual data entry and lets you ingest utility data held in unstructured formats.
Once added, the building is available for analysis and Carbon Signal starts calibrating it automatically.