Underlying each Building on Carbon Signal is a collection of building energy models that are automatically created based on the information you provide. Most building energy models are built from the bottom-up by manually surveying the building and collecting information to feed into the model, and then adjusting the input variables until the energy use in the model matches the energy use of the building.
Carbon Signal works in the opposite direction, starting with the energy use of the building and then reverse engineering each input variable. Once we know the right combination of variables to use, we automatically create a building energy model, which we can subsequently use to perform different types of analysis.
When you upload information to Carbon Signal, it automatically triggers two separate but related events: calibration and simulation. During the calibration process, we use machine learning to identify the performance characteristics of your building. During the simulation step, we use EnergyPlus to model how your building uses energy throughout the year. Combined, these steps can take 5-10 minutes for each building.
Upload Data
From within a Portfolio, click on + Add Buildings. This will open the upload dialog. From here, you can download the latest version of the spreadsheet template. There are a few things to note:
- Make sure you review the spreadsheet before uploading. The required fields for each row are building name, building size, location (either an address or coordinates), and at least one month of data for one utility. Building names should be unique.
- Remember to select the appropriate units. Select SI or IP units for area, and select the appropriate units for each utility.
- Check the validation cells. There are several columns in the spreadsheet which calculate energy use intensity for each utility. Review this information to make sure it looks correct. Oftentimes, this will help catch errors involving unit selections.
For more information on data best practices, see the section on Uploading Data.
Review Data
After you upload the spreadsheet, you have the opportunity to quickly review the data for additional errors and warnings before Carbon Signal starts creating the energy models. There are several types of notices that you might encounter:
Notification | Type | Meaning |
Energy use intensity is outside normal range | Warning | The energy use intensity (EUI) of the building is significantly higher or lower than most buildings. We show this warning when the EUI is less than 5 kbtu/ft2 or greater than 1000 kbtu/ft2. This may be an indication that there is missing data or an incorrect unit selection. |
Address information is incomplete | Warning | You provided the country and city, but you’re missing other address fields. This may cause the model to fail if we can’t locate the building. Try adding the address, state, and zip for a complete address lookup. |
Building location could not be verified | Error | Either the coordinates are wrong or the address could not be found. If using the address field, make sure you have both the country and city. |
Missing building area | Error | The building area is used to normalize the energy data. Make sure the value entered is a number greater than zero. |
Missing energy data | Error | Either the utility data is missing, or the sum of the utility data is 0. Make all values are numbers. |
For buildings that have errors, Carbon Signal won’t be able to create an energy model. If you want to exclude these buildings from the upload process, uncheck the box next to the building name.
Duplicate Entries
Carbon Signal uses the building name as a unique identifier. Therefore, within any given portfolio, every building name must be unique. If you attempt to upload data for buildings that already exist in your portfolio, you will have three options:
- Update the data for existing entries. This will create a new version of the building. You can always revert to older version if needed.
- Create a new record. To make sure the names are unique, we will append the date and time to the building name.
- Don’t add the duplicate buildings. This will exclude the duplicate entries from the data upload process.