System requirements

This page describes the system requirements for the various hello energy products to be operational in a building. Please note:

  • These system requirements only apply when the aspects mentioned are part of the order.
  • The supplier should contact hello energy beforehand if these system requirements are part of a tender.
  • Installers are invited to contact hello energy in order to use our expertise and network of specialist partners in this area.

Your building might not use smart meters via hello energy. Please check with your client.

hello energy gets energy & sustainability data from smart meters for electricity, gas, and water. This data is used to provide an energy monitoring system (EMS) and to visualize energy on screens. In order to enable digital reading, all meters in and around the building need to be smart and digital (no pulse). All generating systems (e.g. solar, wind) and charging stations (for electric transport) must have their own electricity meters. It is

important these meters are equipped to send data with the right connectivity.

data (& connectivity)

  • For all smart meters the following requirements apply:
  • All data supply is the responsibility of the metering company (for official main meters) or the installation company (for submeters). Both to be called “supplier”.
  • Availability: the data must be available at the latest the next day at 06:00 (local time).
  • Interval time: the data must be available at a fixed interval of 15 minutes.
  • Time stamp: the data must be validated and provided with a time signature in UTC (00:00:00 (hh/mm/ss).
  • Time signature: explanation whether the data relates to the period prior to or following the timestamp.
  • Unit and factor: the data’s unit and factor should be clear
  • Data type: it should be clear whether the provided data is a readout of the value at a certain point in time, or the value difference between two consequent timestamps.
  • Data format: value with 3 decimals.
  • Data validation: the data is checked for validity. The supplier will indicate how this will be realized.
  • Data labeling: to make sure the data is recognized correctly, data need to be labelled using a unique ID, consisting of: client, city, building id, source, location, unit. (Example: Prologis Tilburg DC5 Electricity, hal A, kWh -> “TBDC5ELhalAkWh”)
  • Transport: data can be included in the hello energy platform in four ways:

    Push: database link (API), by which the data is pushed to the hello energy database to an URL defined by hello energy.

    Pull: data link (API), in which the hello energy database retrieves the data from the database on a daily basis. This requires a secure login.
    (s)FTP server: if required, hello energy can make available a FTP server location

    Email: a daily email is sent including a .csv file (which fulfills the requirements mentioned above) to an email address provided by hello energy.

Your building might not use narrowcasting via hello energy. Please check with your client.

If hello energy provides narrowcasting for a building, a 43” TV screen, a media player, and a content management system are standard.

hello energy provides:

  • 43” TV screen
  • Media player
  • Content management system
  • Installation and delivery of the narrowcasting system


Installer provides:

  • 2 sockets
  • 1 fixed internet connection

Read our guidelines for positioning these electricity and accessibility points here.

Requirements

  • The wall on which the screen is mounted should be strong enough to hold the 10 kg screen (no drywall). This risk will be held by the client.
  • Sockets and internet connections need to be connected and tested 3 days prior to the installation date of the screen. Proof of this (photos and signal strength) need to be sent to hello energy.
  • A dedicated, not shared, fixed internet connection with a speed of at least 50 Mbits/s.
  • The media player network setup works with DHCP. There is no fixed IP or port specification to run the narrowcasting application, just the regular https protocol.

 

Abnormal situations, for which further contact is required:

  • More than one screen is required. A design needs to be made beforehand and approved.
  • Other screens are required (bigger screen, a touch screen, tablet, video wall). A design needs to be made beforehand and approved.
  • The screen(s) need to be built into furniture. A design needs to be made beforehand and approved.
  • Network setups with fixed ip-adress configurations or mac-adress security settings.

In case the screen will be built in a cabinet or wall the the design and setup needs to be approved by hello energy first.

If the building uses an existing narrowcasting system, this can be used to display the hello energy feeds.  We will test if the narrowcasting system is able to process the hello energy feeds beforehand. Read on here to find out how we go about it.

Your building might not connect to hello energy via a BMS. Please check with your client.

Energy data can be collected in various ways. One of the methods is by way of a building management system (BMS). When all the smart meters are already connected to a BMS, we prefer to connect directly to the BMS. Important requirements to connect a BMS to hello energy are:

  • The BMS should be able to save the data locally for at least three months, and at least36 months at an external (cloud) location.
  • The connection between the BMSs and hello energy takes place in the external (cloud) database.
  • A connection to a local PC is not accepted.
  • Uptime and restoration: the supplier guarantees a minimal uptime of 99%. If a data supply is disrupted the supplier will inform hello energy immediately and ensure the connection is recovered in less than 48 hours. Data that could not be processed by hello energy due to the disruption will be made available/supplied as soon as possible.
  • Data connection: data can be included in the hello energy platform in four ways:

    Push: the API of the BMS sends the data to the hello energy database via a URL defined by hello energy.

    Pull: the hello energy API retrieves the data from the database on a daily basis. This requires a secure login.

    (s)FTP server: if required, hello energy can make available a FTP server location

    Email: a daily email is sent including a .csv file (which fulfills the requirements mentioned above) to an email address provided by hello energy.

data (& connectivity)

For all BMS data the following requirements apply:

  • All data supply is the responsibility of the supplier.
  • Availability: the data must be available at the latest the next day at 06:00 (local time).
  • Interval time: the data must be available at a fixed interval of 15 minutes.
  • Time stamp: the data must be validated and provided with a time signature in UTC (00:00:00 (hh/mm/ss).
  • Time signature: explanation whether the data relates to the period prior to or following the timestamp.
  • Unit and factor: the data’s unit and factor should be clear
  • Data type: it should be clear whether the provided data is a readout of the value at a certain point in time, or the value difference between two consequent timestamps.
  • Data format: value with 3 decimals.
  • Data validation: the data is checked for validity. The supplier will indicate how this will be realized.
  • Data labeling: to make sure the data is recognized correctly, data need to be labelled using a unique ID, consisting of: client, city, building id, source, location, unit. (Example: Prologis Tilburg DC5 Electricity, hal A, kWh -> “TBDC5ELhalAkWh”)

Your building might not use sensors via hello energy. Please check with your client.

 

When a building uses sensors to measure things such as indoor climate, hello energy confers with the client to discuss which sensors should be placed and where. hello energy is provided with a map on which we can pinpoint where the sensors should be placed. The data that the sensors provide can be read using various protocols, such as LoRa, Wifi, or a cabled connection.

Requirements

  • All sensors need to be installed according to a floor plan.
  • Some sensors must come with an uninterrupted 230V connection. Uninterrupted connection means 24/7 power and should therefore be separated from the general power network. These sensors should be explicitly mentioned on the floor plan.
  • Some sensors require a steady internet connection or wifi. If a gate is installed, it should be provided with an uninterrupted 230V connection.
  • Availability: the data must be available in realtime, at least in batches of 15 minutes.
  • Time stamp: the data must be validated and provided with a time signature in UTC (00:00:00 (hh/mm/ss).
  • Time signature: explanation whether the data relates to the period prior to or following the timestamp.
  • Data type: data can be provided as a string (max length 80 characters), decimal (decimal precision 3), Boolean (true/false).
  • Cloud: the data should be available via cloud. We do not accept local PC or database.
  • Data validation: the data is checked for validity. The supplier will indicate how this will be realized.
  • Storage: the data should be stored in the supplier’s database for at least 12 months.
  • Uptime and restoration: the supplier guarantees a minimal uptime of 99%. If a data supply is disrupted the supplier will inform hello energy immediately and ensure the connection is recovered in less than 48 hours. Data that could not be processed by hello energy due to the disruption will be made available/supplied as soon as possible.

 

Labels: all data should be labelled using a unique ID, so the data’s location and unit are clear.