Cloud-Ready Web Application simplifies display of live building data

QA Graphics announced the release of version 2.0 of their Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard (EEED), an interactive solution used by organizations to display real-time building data and educate occupants on sustainable building practices. Version 2.0 is a fully standalone web-based application that can be integrated into any IT framework, eliminating many security roadblocks.

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QA Graphics announced the release of version 2.0 of their Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard (EEED), an interactive solution used by organizations to display real-time building data and educate occupants on sustainable building practices. Version 2.0 is a fully standalone web-based application that can be integrated into any IT framework, eliminating many security roadblocks.

The EEED is now a fully encapsulated application that runs as a standalone client or software as a service with no browser constraints. QA Graphics chose to develop the application to run on an Adobe Integrated Runtime platform, Adobe AIR, because it doesn’t require the use of multiple software or third-party resources and is capable of cloud computing. The data is fully encrypted during transfer across the network, and because of its adaptability, the application is configurable to any network, resulting in fewer integration obstacles. The EEED can also be used across multiple operating systems including hardware solutions, desktops and mobile devices.

QA Graphics’ Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard is broken into several components; updates include:

Gateway

The Gateway is a device specifically designed for the EEED to communicate with a BAS or metering device to access real-time building data that is then relayed to QA Graphics’ Data Manager. The Gateway can communicate with multiple protocols simultaneously now, including: BACnet IP, BACnet MS/TP, LON, Modbus RTU, and Modbus TCP.

Data Manager

The Data Manager is a fully encapsulated web-based application that collects the live building data to distribute it both internally and externally for viewing on the Dashboard. The Data Manager is the central communication hub between the Dashboard, Gateway and database which stores the building data. Version 2.0 of this application allows it to poll any web server and make the data available through the encapsulated web service. It automatically provides the Dashboard with real-time information and configures the database to accept this new data.

Previously, the EEED could poll real-time building data to display it in weekly/daily/monthly/yearly increments; with v2.0, hourly data is also available. Displaying baseline building data has also been simplified, making it easier and faster to compare actual building data to relevant industry standards. Users can upload their own baseline data in a CSV file, which could contain data from an energy model, energy portfolio, Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) or other building goals.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the final display for viewers, consisting of a series of graphical user interface (GUI) screens that creatively display the organization’s energy efficiencies/green features. The light application can be installed anywhere with a web server with PHP5 installed, whether that be on QA Graphics’ all-in-one hardware solutions, other hardware, desktops already in place at an organization, or a web-hosted environment. The graphs and charts on the final display are fully customizable, providing advanced data visualization.