In this article, we will explain how to configure zones, locations and sublocations, in the platform so that you can organise your portfolio.
Contents of this article:
Requirements
In order to be able to access the configuration menu, you will need administrator rights for your EMS Platform user. You will need a Professional license of the EMS Platform in order to configure more than one location.
Configuration
To access to the configurations of Zones, Locations and Sublocations, access to the "Settings" menu of the EMS Platform by clicking the gear icon on the top right corner of the screen, and then Click on “Locations” on the left side menu.
In your Professional account, you can create 3 different kinds of elements: zone, location and sublocation. For more information click on the following link. By default, only the root of the account is created (Corporate Buildings in the screenshot).
In this screen caption, the 3 different hierarchy levels can be observed, the zones (Demo.Europe and USA), the locations (01. Stuttgart Building, 14. Miami Building...) and 2 sublocations for the Stuttgart building (Business Area and Laboratory Area).
This is an example of the use of zones to organise different regions separately. Locations represent the different buildings in our portfolio and sublocations represent areas within a location.
A location is the EMS Platform logical unit. Depending on your deployment, a location can be a single office, a building, a factory, an airport...
We recommend spending some time to design the hierarchy of the locations before starting to create all the elements.
Example: If we are deploying the EMS Platform in a restaurant, we can synchronise a real gateway with many electrical meters and an internet weather station. Then we will need to configure the real location called, for example, “Restaurant Núria” (the restaurant’s name).
Configure a zone
In order to configure a new zone, click on the New zone button within the Locations screen. The following menu will display, where you can configure the zone details:
- Name*: the name of your zone.
- Key*: an identifier for your zone, that can be used for in-bulk configuration of your account. You can change this string or leave the default proposition when you create the zone.
- Region parent*: the location's parent in the hierarchy. It can be the root of the account (default setting) or another zone.
Fields marked with * are mandatory.
Once all data has been input, you can press continue to finish the configuration of the zone by assigning devices to it:
On the left side of this screen you can choose which from the list of unassigned devices you want to assign to the zone. Select the devices you want to assign en press the right arrow button in the middle to assign them and then press save to finish creating the zone.
Configure a location
In order to configure a new location, click on the New location button within the Locations screen. The following menu will display, where you can configure the location details:
- Name*: the name of your location.
- Key*: an identifier for your location, that can be used for in-bulk configuration of your account. You can change this string or leave the default proposition when you create the location
- Region parent*: the location's parent in the hierarchy. It can be the root of the account (default setting) or a zone.
- Activity*: a dropdown menu where you can select the activity of the location, for example Department store, factory, hospital, hotel, restaurant...
- Area*: the total area of your location, in square meters (m2). This will be used in the surface ratio in the Analyse section or to better calculate estimate consumptions in the Detect section. If you do not know the surface when creating the location, it is better to leave it as 1 m2.
- Summer reference temperature: the base temperature (in ºC) used to automatically calculate Cooling Degree Days for your location, based on temperature data.
- Winter reference temperature: the base temperature (in ºC) used to automatically calculate Heating Degree Days for your location, based on temperature data.
- Degree day method: the method that the EMS Platform will use to calculate Degree Days. You can find more information about Degree Days in the platform here.
- Tags: here you can add tags to your location, which can help you navigate your hierarchy in the Analysis section, among other uses. You can find more information about tag here.
- Select image: you can add an image of the location.
- Location by address or by geolocalisation*: you can specify either the address or the latitude and longitude coordinates. Once configured, you can press the button to see it in the map.
Fields marked with * are mandatory.
Once all data has been input, you can press continue to finish the configuration of the location by assigning devices to it:
On the left side of this screen you can choose which from the list of unassigned devices you want to assign to the location. Select the devices you want to assign en press the right arrow button in the middle to assign them and then press save to finish creating the location. Note that it is not necessary to assign devices to the location in order to create it. Skip this step by clicking on "Save".
Configure a sublocation
- Name*: the name of your sublocation.
- Key*: an identifier for your location, that can be used for in-bulk configuration of your account. You can change this string or leave the default proposition when you create the sublocation
- Location parent*: the sublocation's parent in the hierarchy. It can be a location or another sublocation.
- Sublocation type*: a dropdown menu where you can select the activity of the sublocation, for example Office, Floor, Apartment, Department...
- Area*: the total area of your location, in square meters (m2). This will be used in the surface ratio in the Analyse section or to better calculate estimate consumptions in the Detect section. If you do not know the surface when creating the sublocation, it is better to leave it as 1 m2.
- Summer reference temperature: the base temperature (in ºC) used to automatically calculate Cooling Degree Days for your sublocation, based on temperature data.
- Winter reference temperature: the base temperature (in ºC) used to automatically calculate Heating Degree Days for your sublocation, based on temperature data.
- Degree day method: the method that the EMS Platform will use to calculate Degree Days. You can find more information about Degree Days in the platform here.
- Select image: you can add an image of the sublocation.
Fields marked with * are mandatory.
Once all data has been input, you can press continue to finish the configuration of the sublocation by assigning devices to it:
On the left side of this screen you can choose which from the list of unassigned devices you want to assign to the sublocation. Select the devices you want to assign en press the right arrow button in the middle to assign them and then press save to finish creating the sublocation.
Editing
- Information: basic information such as the name, the surface, winter and summer temperatures, address, tags, etc.
- Devices: assign devices to that element. Remember that one device can only be assigned to one element (root, zone, location or sublocation)
- Groups: create groups using single devices assigned to the location or by hierarchy
- Reference Meters: configure the reference devices to use in the Reports or the Dashboards
- Assign Supplies and prices: assign a supply to a device to visualise its Cost. Remember that a device can only be assigned to one supply.
- Ratios: configure and create ratios to normalise your consumption