Viewing Group Benchmarking Charts

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:

Click Setup > Groups to open the Group Manager.
Select the desired category and group from the Group Manager Tree View.
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:

EnergyCAP looks for the earliest bill Start Date and the latest bill End Date and counts the total days minus 1.
EnergyCAP looks at all bills and sums the days represented by each billing period minus 1.
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

Click the viewing and ranking options button from the Group Manager Title Bar. The View Options window will open.
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.
Use the radio buttons to select the desired Ranking Order (Highest to Lowest or Lowest to Highest).
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:

Select the item(s) from the ranking list, using the checkbox(es) provided.
Click the drop-down arrow for the Action on Selected... field and click the Audit option.
Click the Go button. The Select Audit Groups window will open.
Select the desired Audit Group and the desired date parameters for the bills represented by the item(s).
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.