Adding a New 'Native' Unit of Measure (Example)

Issue: When setting up a bill entry template, the desired Unit of Measure is not a choice in the drop-down list.

EXAMPLE 1: Creating HGAL Unit

In this example, it is necessary to create a new unit of measure for sewer usage--HGAL (hundreds of gallons)--because HGAL is the “native” unit of measure shown on the bill.

Solution: Create a new usage unit for sewer as follows:

1. Go to Tools – Unit System. The Units System Editor window will open. 
   
2. From the Unit System Editor, click the Units tab. Click the Unit Type heading to sort by Unit Type. Slide down to the “Volume” Unit Types because HGAL is a type of volume measurement. Does the unit of HGAL exist? 
   
3. In this case, the unit of HGAL does exist, it just hasn’t been “turned on” for Sewer. (Skip to step 5 in a situation like this)
4. If HGAL did NOT exist, you could quickly create it by (1) clicking on the + button to add a new unit, then (2) clicking on the + button under Convert To to add a conversion unit to allow EnergyCAP to convert this new unit of measure to COMMON volume units. Common units are shown in Unit System – Commodities tab. In this case, all Sewer usage is rolled up to Common units of MGAL (thousands of gallons) so you must add a conversion for HGAL to MGAL. (Multiply HGAL by 0.1 to get MGAL) 
   
5. After the required unit of measure has been created, you must turn it on for this commodity and this “class.” From the Unit System Editor, click the Equivalencies tab, find the commodity and select the class and unit type. In this case, we select usage and volume because we need to track usage in units of volume (HGAL) on the template. 
   
   
   
6. Click the Properties button, then click the HGAL checkbox to turn this unit of measure on. 
   
7. HGAL is now available for selection in the Template Manager.
   

EXAMPLE 2: Creating a new EKWH (Equivalent Kilowatt-Hours) Unit

1. Open the Unit System Editor (Tools> Unit System>Units tab) and verify that the desired unit does not exist.
   
2. click on the ‘+’ button below the list of Units to add it. The Create Unit window will open.
   
3. Enter the Code, Display and Unit Type information needed to create the Unit. Then click the OK button to save it.
4. Select/highlight the new unit from the Units tab and locate the Convert To pane in the top right corner of the Units tab display. Then click the associated ‘+’ button. The Create Conversion window will open.
   
5. To add a new conversion for the new unit, select the conversion unit from the dropdown list and input a conversion factor (multiplier) formula. Then click OK.
6. Repeat this process for each conversion within the same unit type. If necessary, use the Add this constant: option.
   
   
   NOTE: For a new common or global roll-up unit, it will be necessary to assign the Unit accordingly and set up equivalencies as well.

An obvious followup question is “Why aren’t all units of measure turned on for every commodity all the time?” If every possible option was available, drop-down selector lists would be unwieldy and unmanageable, increasing the opportunity for configuration errors. EnergyCAP just shows commonly used choices and allows you to configure those options that are uncommon. This is a quick a one-time configuration.