Group Administration

The Group Manager contains a number of shortcut tools you can use to access group functions.

Toolbar Icon	Shortcut	Description
	New	Create a new category, group, or item (place or meter assignment) depending on your selection in the Group hierarchy tree
	Delete	Deletes the selected category, group, or item (place or meter assignment) depending on your selection in the Group hierarchy tree
	Properties	Opens the Properties window for the selected category, group, or item (place or meter assignment) depending on your selection in the Group hierarchy tree
	Favorite Reports	Accesses report favorites
	Help	Accesses online User Manual

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The Group Manager supplements the existing Facilities and Account Tree Views in EnergyCAP by providing a way to associate meters and/or places (and their associated data) without regard to physical location and/or financial association. Group Manager features are designed expressly for benchmarking purposes; charts available from the Group Manager permit quick and convenient comparison of use/cost data for members of the defined group.

The Group Manager provides a user-configurable tree structure for designing virtually any number of Categories and Groups with virtually any number of items (Places/Meters) per group. This enables the user to organize by criteria most useful for benchmarking and comparisons, including building type, commodity, cost or usage range, retrofit status, associated rate schedule, type of ballast, location, account, etc.. In addition to user-configured groups, auto-groups are also maintained automatically by EnergyCAP.

Groups can also be used as a filter for many reports on meters or places that may be unrelated in physical location or financial responsibility. Warehouses located at various sites throughout an organization could be assigned to a group called Storage Facilities, for example. Using this group as a filter when querying data for EnerygCAP reports would generate information relevant only to those Places in the group.

Understanding Group Manager Design

The Group Manager is designed with a three-tiered organizational structure (Categories, Groups and Items). During group creation, group categories may be created in either the Meters folder or the Places folders in the Group Manager Tree View. Any number of place or meter Categories may be created, and then any number of Place or Meter groups may be created within a single category.

An item is a place or a meter that belongs to a group within a user-defined category. Items can be added to groups during initial creation of the group or at a later date when new places or meters are created. An item can only belong to a group that has been created in a Category under the Place or Meter folder in the Group Manager. An item can belong to multiple groups.

The Group Manager workspace is divided into two panes:

Hierarchy Pane A hierarchy displayed similarly to the Windows Explorer display of folders and files. Click to navigate to place or meter groups.

View Pane Lists the items associated with the group by their code and display. You can sort the lists by clicking a column heading. To sort the lists in reverse order, click the column heading once more.

•  represents Place items in the Place Group levels

•  represents Meter items in the Meter Group levels

Accessing the Group Manager

1. On the navigation bar, select the Setup module.

2. Click the Groups icon. The Group Manager appears.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click to select the folder under which to create the category. Either:

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3. From the Group menu, select New > Category. OR right-click and select New > Category. The Create Category window appears.

4. In the Code field, enter the unique, self-defined identifier.

5. In the Display field, enter the name to appear throughout the system.

6. After making your selections, click OK.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click  or  to navigate to the place group or meter group under which the category exists.

3. Select the category to modify.

4. From the File menu, select Properties. The Category Properties window appears.

5. Modify the code by clearing the Code field then entering the new code.

6. Modify the display clearing the Display field then entering the new display.

7. After making your selections, click OK.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click  or  to navigate to the place group or meter group under which the category exists.

3. Select the category to delete.

4. From the Group menu, select Delete. The Confirm window appears.

   • Click Yes to delete the category.

   • Click No to cancel the operation.

There are two categories of Groups in EnergyCAP:

• Place Groups
• Meter Groups

NOTE: For detailed descriptions and related rules for any chart, click on the chart in EnergyCAP to open the Explain Chart window.

Place Groups are derived from Properties associated with Places in the Facility Manager hierarchy, including place primary use. Meter Groups are based upon the meter details, including commodity, vendor, rate and meter primary use. All group bar graphs include a separate bar for Total Cost for the Billing Period Range. This enables the viewer to quickly evaluate the costs and potential savings.

To view group benchmarking charts from the Group Manager:

1. Click Setup > Groups to open the Group Manager.
2. Select the desired category and group from the Group Manager Tree View.
3. Use the tabs at the bottom of the Group Manager chart view pane to select the desired benchmarking chart.

Place Group Charts

• Cost/Area Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the annualized Cost per unit Area for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. 
  
• Use/Area Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the annualized Use per unit Area for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. Building square footage (as defined in the Place Properties/Building tab) is required for this benchmark to function properly.
  

Notes regarding ANNUALIZED group chart data:

• Annualized data corresponds with the values produced for the AN17 and AN18 reports, which provide comparisons of actual and annualized data in a tabular format.
• Total use in global units of measure (or cost, depending on the chart) for each account/meter associated with the place is determined, and then divided by the number of days represented in the respective billing periods. The resultant daily values for all meters associated with that place are summed and then multiplied by 365 to derive the annualized value for use (or cost, depending on the chart). This value is then divided by the associated place area (usually expressed in square footage) to produce the annualized use (or cost) per unit area.
• The logic for determing the number of days associated with the bill 'set' for each account/meter is as follows:

1. EnergyCAP looks for the earliest bill Start Date and the latest bill End Date and counts the total days minus 1.
2. EnergyCAP looks at all bills and sums the days represented by each billing period minus 1.
3. The two numbers are compared, and EnergyCAP uses the LESSER number to determine the total number of days in the billing period represented by the bills. This procedure ensures that gaps between billing periods, or separate deregulated account bills for the same meter do not adversely affect calculations.

• The "Average" line for the annualized Group charts is determined by summing the total annual use (or cost, depending on the chart) and dividing that sum by the total square footage associated with the group members. Only places with cost/use AND square footage (unit area) data are considered when calculating the average.

• Demand/Area Rank: (electrical only) Displays and orders group members based on the Demand per unit Area for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. Building square footage (as defined in the Place Properties/Building tab) is required for this benchmark to function properly.
  
• Cost Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the Average Cost Per Day for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. 
  
• Use Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the Average Use Per Day for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. 
  

Meter Group Charts

• Cost Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the Average Cost per Day for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. 
  
• UnitCost Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the Average Unit Cost for the grouped items during the selected billing period using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. 
  
• Use Rank: Displays and orders group members based on the Average Use Per Day for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. 
  
• UnitCost by Cost Rank: Displays group members based on the Average Unit Cost for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. Ordered by Total Cost for Billing Period Range. 
  
• UnitCost by Use Rank: Displays the Average Cost Per Day for the grouped items using the currently-selected viewing and ranking options. Ordered by Total Use for Billing Period Range. 
  
• Demand Rank (Electric Commodity only): Displays and orders group members based on the highest electricity Demand for each meter for all bills within the selected Billing Period Range. This chart only appears when all the meters in the Meter Group are associated with the electricity commodity.
  

Altering viewing and ranking options for Charts

1. Click the viewing and ranking options button  from the Group Manager Title Bar. The View Options window will open. 
   
   
2. Use the radio buttons to select the desired Billing Period for the chart data.
   
   NOTE: If User Defined Range is selected, input the desired Start and End months for the billing periods to be included.
3. Use the radio buttons to select the desired Ranking Order (Highest to Lowest or Lowest to Highest).
4. Click OK to save Ranking Order changes and close the View Options window. Or click Cancel to exit the window without saving the changes.

Removing a Group Member from the Graph Display

There may be occasions where it is desirable to maintain a group member but to exclude that member from the benchmarking chart, such as a case where a particular place or meter consistently ranks at the top or bottom of the benchmarking chart for reasons unrelated to the benchmarking purpose for that particular group.

EXAMPLE: A very low usage meter account has a fixed charge that routinely skews the Unit Cost. It is desirable to exclude this small account from the benchmarking charts for reporting purposes.

To exclude an item from the charts, click the checkbox to the left of the meter or place icon in the ranking list. Then click the down arrow for the Action on Selected ... field to reveal the drop-down action options. Select the Remove from Benchmark Charts option. Then click the Go button.

The checked items will be removed from the chart.

Auditing Bills from the Group Manager

The EnergyCAP Group Manager has an audit option. To audit bills for an item or group of items:

1. Select the item(s) from the ranking list, using the checkbox(es) provided.
2. Click the drop-down arrow for the Action on Selected... field and click the Audit option.
3. Click the Go button. The Select Audit Groups window will open.
4. Select the desired Audit Group and the desired date parameters for the bills represented by the item(s).
5. Click OK. The Audit will be performed and the Audit Results window will display audit results.

NOTE: Make sure the Show Results check box is selected if audit results should be displayed!

Additional Chart Ranking Options

Benchmark Charts/Meter Charts Toggle Icon: This option alternates the benchmark view with the chart view(s) for the meter highlighted in the ranking list. When displaying the meter charts, use the up and down arrow keys to scroll the ranking list to quickly and conveniently display chart data for other meters in the group.

Limit Rows Drop-Down: This option is available for all Meter Groups. Click the drop-down arrow to select the number of rows that will appear in the benchmark chart. Selecting a lower number will improve processing speed for drawing the graph elements.

Action on Selected Drop-Down: Click the drop-down arrow to select the desired action to be performed on 'checked' items in the ranking list.

Go Button: Click to execute the selected Action.

Show Excluded Checkbox: Click to show all items (including excluded items) in the benchmarking chart view. Uncheck the checkbox to hide excluded items.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the vertical dashed line in the group graphs?
  ANSWER: The vertical line represents the average value for the primary measured value (purple bar on chart) for all group members, whether the members are displayed or not.
• How do I set ‘viewing and ranking options?
  ANSWER: See Altering Viewing and Ranking Options for Charts, above.
• What does ‘annualized’ mean?
  ANSWER: Cost/Area Rank and Use/Area Rank charts use annualized data to avoid distortion that would otherwise result from comparing meters or places with incomplete billing data for the selected billing period range. To compensate for circumstances where there are missing bills or incomplete billing information for the entire range, daily values for the available data in the range are determined and then multiplied by 365 days to determine the annual or 'annualized' cost or use. This is a meaningful and frequently-used value for energy use comparisons.
• How do I print and/or copy group charts?
  ANSWER: To print group charts, display the chart and click File/Print. The displayed graph will be printed to your default printer. To copy the chart image to the Windows clipboard, right-click and select Copy to Clipboard. You can paste the image into other Windows applications using the Ctrl-V key combination.
• How do I copy associated data to a spreadsheet program like Microsoft^® Excel^®?
  ANSWER: Click the Display Chart Data hyperlink from the graph view pane. The Data Viewer window will open, displaying the chart and its underlying data in a spreadsheet-type format. Click and drag to select desired data. Or right-click and choose the Select All option from the popup menu options (all table data will be copied). Then right-click and select the Copy option. Open the spreadsheet application, and then use the Ctrl-V key combination to paste the copied information to the application.
• When I see something unusual, how can I 'drill down' to see the underlying data?
  ANSWER: To quickly view the Place or Meter associated with the benchmarking chart, select/highlight it from the ranking list and then right-click. Select Locate Meter in Facility Manager from the popup menu options. The Facility Manager will open, and the place or meter will be displayed and highlighted. 
  
  
  To return to the Group Manager, click Setup>Groups.
• How do I create a group?
  ANSWER: See Creating a Group.
• How do I assign a place or meter to a group?
  ANSWER: See Assigning an Item to a Group.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click  or  to navigate to the Category under which to create the group.

3. Select the appropriate category under which to create the group.

4. From the Group menu, select New | Group. OR right-click and select New/Group from the popup menu.

     
   

   The Create Group window appears.

    

5. In the Code field, enter the unique, self-defined identifier.  

    

6. In the Display field, enter the name to appear throughout the system.

7. After making your selections, click OK.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click  or  to navigate to the place group or meter group under which the group exists.

3. Select the group to modify.

4. From the File menu, select Properties. The Group Properties window appears.

5. Modify the code by clearing the Code field then entering the new code.

6. Modify the display by clearing the Display field then entering the new display.

7. After making your selections, click OK.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click or  to navigate to the Category and then click to select the place or meter Group where you wish to add items.

3. From the Group menu, select New > Item. The Assign Place or Assign Meter window appears.

To assign an item place to a group:

1. In the Assign Place window, select the appropriate place in the left pane of the window. The sub-places are displayed in the right pane.

2. Select the appropriate place in the right pane.

NOTE: It is possible to select and add multiple items simultaneously by using the Ctrl-Click or Shift-Click key combination to select more than one item from the right pane of the Assign Meter/Place window:

3. Click Add.

4. Repeat as necessary to attach additional places to the same group.

5. After making your selections, click Close. The Assign Place window closes.

Place items from different places in the Tree View can belong to the same group. Navigate to another place in the Group Manager Tree and repeat the previous steps.

To assign an item meter to a group: 

1. In the Assign Meter Facility Tree View window, locate the appropriate place in the left pane of the window. The meters belonging to that place are displayed in the right pane.

2. Click to select the desired meter from the right pane.

3. Click Add.

4. Repeat as necessary to attach additional meters to the same group.

5. After making your selections, click Close. The Assign Meter window closes.

Meters belonging to different places can belong to the same group. Navigate to another place in the Tree View and repeat the previous steps.

Adding/Removing an item from a Group in Place/Meter Properties (Facility Manager)

In addition to the procedures listed above, it is also possible to assign a Place or Meter to a group by adding that place or meter to the Active Group list maintained in the Facility Manager Place/Meter Properties: 

1. From the Facility Manager, open the Place or Meter Properties window.
2. Click the Groups tab. The Place or Meter Properties window will open. 
   
   
3. Click the Plus button (+) to add a group. The Browse Groups window will open. Browse the Groups tree to select/highlight the desired group. Then click OK. The meter or place will be added to the group selected, and the group will display in the Active Groups: list.

To remove a place or meter from a group or groups from the Place/Meter Properties window, follow the procedure above, but use the Minus button (-) rather than the Plus button.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Select the group under which the item belongs. The items belonging to that group are displayed in the list view on the right.

3. Select the item(s) to remove and click the Group menu to select Delete. Or right-click the item(s) and select Delete from the popup menu. Multiple items can be selected at one time with the Shift-click or Ctrl-click functionality. The Confirm window appears.

1. Select Yes to delete this item.

2. Select Yes to all to delete all selected items.

3. Select No to cancel this deletion and continue.

4. Select No to all to cancel the operation.

1. Select Setup > Groups. The Group Manager appears.

2. Click  or  to navigate to the place group or meter group under which the group exists.

3. Select the group to delete.

4. From the Group menu, select Delete. Or right-click the group and select the Delete option. The Confirm window appears.

   • Select Yes to delete the group.

   • Select No to cancel the operation.

To enhance the utility and ease of maintenance for popular types of Groups, the EnergyCAP Group Manager has been supplemented with multiple "Auto-Groups".

Auto-Grouping automatically adds these groups (identified by the blue folders in the Group Manager navigation Tree View) to the Group Manager, and then dynamically maintains them as your organization changes. As Places and/or Meters are added or subtracted, your auto-groups will always be up-to-date! Auto-Groups are included in both the Place and Meter group categories. Current auto-groups include:

• Place Primary Use Auto-Group: groups places by the new Primary Use field (Place Properties, see graphic)  
  
  
• Meter Commodity Auto-Group: groups meters by every commodity being measured by the organization (as determined by historical bills and the billing template associated for each).
• Meter Primary Use Auto-Group: groups meters by the new Primary Use field (Meter Properties, see graphic) 
  
  
• Meter Vendor-Commodity Auto-Group: groups meters by VENDOR and each COMMODITY associated with that vendor. The benchmarking charts make it easy to see what meters are statistical ‘outliers’ that merit consideration for further investigation. 
  
  
• Meter Vendor-Rate Auto-Group: groups meters by VENDOR and each RATE associated with that vendor. Since it is expected that all meters with the same rate and vendor will have nearly identical average unit costs, the benchmarking charts make it easy to see what meters are statistical outliers with unusual costs.

NOTE: In all Meter-based groups, including the meter Auto-Groups, there’s also a clickable icon to switch back and forth between the benchmarking charts and the PowerView charts for the highlighted meter.