WO2008131492A1

WO2008131492A1 - Method and system of evaluating performance of properties

Info

Publication number: WO2008131492A1
Application number: PCT/AU2008/000598
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chris Wallbank; Gary James; Kristina Conceicao
Original assignee: Jones Lang Lasalle (Nsw) Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2007-04-30
Filing date: 2008-04-30
Publication date: 2008-11-06

Abstract

Method of evaluating a property, comprises: collecting measurements of inputs (210, 340, 214) and outputs (272, 274) of the property over multiple time periods with a collector (14); comparing (270, 272, 274) the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods with a comparator (14).

Description

Method and System of Evaluating Performance of Properties

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to evaluating the performance of a property.

Background

Property managers are concerned with the management of a property for its owner. Management of a property involves assessment of energy and water consumption of a building and its tenants. A relatively new concept has arisen in property management where it is desired to manage the property on an environmental sustainability basis, which takes into account the impact the property has on the environment, including how efficiently it manages utilities and in particular the consumption of energy and water and the production of waste.

The present invention seeks to provide a method of evaluating the performance of properties.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of evaluating environmental performance of a property, comprising: collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of the property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of evaluating environmental performance of properties, comprising: collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of each property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of one properly over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

In an embodiment the environment impacting inputs comprise one or more of: energy, water and waste. In an embodiment energy is comprised of electricity and fuel. In an embodiment the environmental impacting outputs comprise one or more of waste and carbon dioxide gas. In some embodiments the measurements are derived from other measurements. Typically fuel is comprised of natural gas and diesel.

In an embodiment the measurements are of one of more of the following: electricity consumption; water consumption; waste production.

In an embodiment the measurements further comprise fuel consumption. In some embodiments, fuel consumption is natural gas consumption and/or diesel consumption.

In an embodiment the measurements are also of one or more of the following: electricity cost; water cost; waste disposal costs.

In an embodiment the measurements further comprise fuel consumption costs.

In an embodiment further information is recorded for use in the comparison. In an embodiment the further information comprises one or more of the following: occupancy level; occupancy area; ambient temperature.

In an embodiment the further information further comprises occupancy type, such as, industrial, commercial, residential, retail, hospitality, educational or by sub-type, such as office or occupancy usage by type, manufacturing (by type) or equipment (by type). In an embodiment the measurements are taken on an overall basis for each property and for a plurality of components of the property. In one embodiment each component is defined by a physically divided area, such as by building area and/or tenancy and/or floor space. In another embodiment each component is defined by type of consumption, such as by heating/cooling, elevators and/or by lighting.

In an embodiment measurements are taken by meters, or by meters which are grouped by component type for each component and by main supply meters. In an embodiment the sum of the meters for all components of a building is compared to the overall main supply meter of each type of environment impacting input measured. In an embodiment components comprise lighting and power, air conditioning, pump and heating, transport (e.g. lifts, escalators, travelators) etc. In an embodiment the component measurements are compared.

In an embodiment one or more component consumption values are derived from two or more meter measurements and the component values are compared with other measurements.

In an embodiment the measurements are taken hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly as appropriate to the input/output being measured. Selection of the period of measurement defines the granularity of the measurements.

In an embodiment the measurements are normalised for making the comparison to other measurements.

In an embodiment the comparison is reported to a user. In an embodiment the report is presented on a screen and/or printed. In an embodiment the report comprises a graphical display of the comparison. In an embodiment the report is presented in overall terms and/or by type of input/output. In an embodiment the level of detail of the report is configurable. In an embodiment the types of information presented in the report is configurable. In an embodiment a plurality of selectable report types are predefined. In an embodiment input types correspond to component types. In an embodiment the method further comprises comparing the measurements with a budget over a multiple of periods. In an embodiment the method further comprises conducting trend analysis of the measurements. In an embodiment the method further comprises determining a baseline of a building consumption over one or more periods. In an embodiment the method further comprises comparing the measurements with one or more of the determined baselines.

In an embodiment the report compares the measurements to the budget. In an embodiment the report compares the measurements with the trend. In an embodiment the report shows a variance between compared measurements.

In an embodiment the period of measurements is smaller than units of a displayed scale of a time axis.

In an embodiment measurements are displayed by portfolio; by property; within a property by year, month, or day; by total of a category; components of each category; or by meter.

In an embodiment by the report displays measured units per period of time.

In an embodiment the property being evaluated is one of a portfolio of properties and the portfolio is evaluated by comparing measurements of all of the properties of the portfolio with one or more of: one or more measurements of the portfolio over one or more different time periods, and measurements of a different portfolio over the same one or more periods.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for evaluating environmental performance of a property, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of the property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

According to a fourth aspect of the presenting invention there is provided a system for evaluating environmental performance of properties, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of each property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of evaluating the performance of a property, comprising: collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of the property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of evaluating the performance of properties, comprising: collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of each property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for evaluating the performance of a property, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of the property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

According to an eighth aspect of the presenting invention there is provided a system for evaluating the performance of properties, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of each property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention there is provided a system for performing one or more of the above methods comprising means for conducting the respective steps of the respective method.

According to a tenth aspect of the invention there is provided a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program in the form of instructions for controlling the computer to perform one or more of the above methods.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system for implementing an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of an architecture of an application server of the system of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of modules of a computer application according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a schematic hierarchy diagram showing an embodiment of a structure of user interaction by a computer application, according to the present invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention; Figure 7 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 9 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 10 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 11 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphically displayed report according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 12 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 13 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 14 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 15 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 16 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 17 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 18 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention; Figure 19 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention; and

Figure 20 is a schematic simulated screen capture of a graphical display of a report according to an embodiment of a method of the present invention.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Present Invention

Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown a system architecture 10 which comprises a first computer server 12, a second computer server 14, a LAN switch 16, a router 18, wide area network or global network, such as the internet 20 and computing devices 22 of application users. The first computer server 12 operates as a database server and is configured to provide access to data of a database by one or more users. The computer server 14 operates as an application server executing an application which accesses the database of the database server 12 according to instructions and rules of the computer application running on the application server 14. The LAN switch 16 provides a network connection between the database server 12 and application server 14 and a router 18. The router 18 provides routing over the internet 20 between the application users computing devices 22 and the servers 12 and 14.

While the database server 12 and application server 14 are depicted as individual physical devices they may each be implemented as virtual servers on a single physical device or may be implemented across a number of devices. Additionally while, in this embodiment, the servers 12 and 14 are linked together across a local area network via the LAN switch 16, in another embodiment they may be networked over a wide area network or global network.

The application running on the application server 14 comprises a computer program in the form of a set of instructions for controlling a processor of the application server 14 to implement the method of the present invention. The database server 12 comprises a database server application in the form of a set of instructions for controlling a processor of the database server 12. The database server application allows access to the database contained therein under the control of the application of the present invention. An embodiment of the application is configured with an architecture shown in Figure 2. It comprises a Hardware/OS Tier, a Data Tier, a Data Access Tier, a Business Tier, an Application Tier and User/System Interface Tier.

In an embodiment the application is configured to generate web pages and send these to connected web browsers of the computing devices 22 over the internet 20. Data within the database of the database server 12 is used to populate information provided in these web pages. The database is comprised of a number of subsidiary databases as explained below.

Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of the application 200. The application 200 comprises a number of modules. A first module 210, 212 & 245 implements environmental inputs. A second module 220, 222 implements meter details. A third module 230, 232 implements meter association. A fourth module 240 implements meter reconciliation. A fifth module 250 implements an interface to an external database. A sixth module 260 implements an interface with a property manager database. A seventh module 270, 272, 274 implements reporting of energy, water and waste. An eighth module 280 implements portfolio information. A ninth module 290 implements system parameters configuration. A tenth module 300 implements greenhouse gas emissions. An eleventh module 310 implements audit requirements. A twelfth module 320 implements user management. A thirteenth module 330 implements building greenhouse ratiηg reporting. A fourteenth module 340 implements green energy supply inputs. A fifteenth module 350 implements greenhouse gas abatement certificates. A sixteenth module 360 implements building system types. A seventeenth module 370 implements building simulation forecasting. An eighteenth module 380 provides access to an interface to an external asset database. A nineteenth module 390 provides an interface to an external document management system.

Modules 210, 220, 230, 250, 340 and 360 provide energy inputs to the application 200. Modules 212, 222, 232 provide water inputs to the application 200. Module 214 provides waste input to the application 200. Modules 240, 270, 300, 330, 350 and 370 provide energy outputs for the application 200. Module 272 provides water outputs to the application 200. Module 274 provides waste outputs for the application 200. Modules 260, 280, 290, 310, 320, 380 and 390 provide other supporting functions.

The environmental input modules 210, 212 & 214 receive and process entered resource consumption data taken from meter measurements of properties and deposit this data in a measurements database. Each measurement is associated with a physical meter of a property.

In particular, each property will be provided with a main supply utility meter for measurement of overall supply of electricity, gas and water to the property, as well as sub meters for these resources in various components of the property, such as, for example: a meter for the base building lighting and power, lifts, air conditioning (which may also be broken down into further categories); property water consumption; and meters for tenancies such as by area, floor or by room, such as specialized air conditioning, computer rooms, cooking equipment, manufacturing equipment. Water meter readings can also be broken down by hot water, cold water, and boiler and by tenancy. Other fuels can also be broken down as well, such as gas and diesel. Each of the readings is taken periodically. In particular, it is desired to take electricity readings at least hourly, other readings daily. The more frequent the reading the more likely an automated data reading is desirable.

The interface to live external database module 250 imports live data from the automatically electronically read meters and deposits relevant information into the measurements database.

Each meter is provided with an identifier and in this embodiment is allocated to a resource type, being energy or water. In the case of an energy resource, an energy type such as electricity, natural gas, diesel, green power is given. In the case of the meter being for a gas supply, it may also be allocated with a gas supply pressure value such as low or high. A meter type is allocated, such as a main utility meter or a sub meter of a section or component. Additional information may also be provided such as serial number, manufacturer and meter units.

The meter details module 220, 222 stores and retrieves information about the characteristics each of the meters in a meter database. The meter association module 230, 232 records, in a meter associations database, associations between the meters and a property identifier and a location of the meter in the property. Each meter may also be associated with various components in a hierarchal manner. This facilitates grouping of meters by component type. For example meters may be grouped by energy type, such as electricity and then by sub-type such as air-conditioning.

In some cases there may be consumption that is un-metered. This can be calculated from the whole property utility meter reading by subtracting individual sub meters for the property. Where it is expected that all of the property is metered, unexpected un-metered losses can also be determined in the same way.

The meter reconciliation module 240 tests that a metering system is in energy balance by comparing component meter measurements with a property's whole property main supply utility meter measurement. It determines the amount of un-metered consumption that may be occurring.

The interface with property manager database module 260 allows access to general property information from the database of the property manager.

A client of the property manager will have one or more portfolios. Each portfolio will have one or more properties and each property will have one or more buildings. For example, a property named Australia Square may have an office tower and a retail plaza. Each building may have a number of spaces therein, such as gardens, car park, office space or retail space. Each space may be further defined into floors or tenancies.

The portfolio information module 280 stores and retrieves information for a given property portfolio including for example, floor area, site details, greenhouse ratings, building use in a client database.

The system parameters module 290 stores and retrieves system wide information in a reference database. This information defines the parameters used in reporting type functions, for example ambient temperature for each date, working days of the month, units and conversion types. The parameters affect how data is entered and how it is used in reporting. These factors ensure the integrity and compatibility of system outputs and in particular allow normalizing of data over a given time frames or by regions.

Greenhouse gas emissions module 300 provides consumption or disposal information in a form that shows the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the activity. Emissions can be calculated according to standard methods and co-efficients.

The user management module 320 allows administration of the system users and can configure user details permissions and reports provided by particular users in a security database.

The greenhouse rating reporting module 330 assist with rating properties according to greenhouse rating protocols, such as the Australian Building Greenhouse Gas Rating (ABGR) protocol. Historic greenhouse rating data can be stored and reports provided to track rating performance.

The greenhouse energy supplies module 340 inputs and processes green or alternative energy supplies to the building.

The greenhouse abatement certificate module 350 provides consumption information for inclusion in greenhouse abatement certificate schemes.

The building system types module 360 allows the input of building system types and data in a building database to be used in the process analysis stage of the forecast module. The forecast module 370 provides the ability to simulate different scenarios and forecast trends based on building characteristics and historical energy consumption.

The reporting module 270, 272 & 274 delivers comparative reports to various user groups to facilitate strategic decision processes. Standard reports can be provided on a portfolio, property or individual meter level, to facilitate monitoring and trend analysis across a given portfolio or property.

Various consumption calculations can be used to determine consumption of specific components by adding/subtraction/proportioning etc. the measurement taken from a number of meters. The determined values are regarded as derived measurements. In addition to trend analysis, budget analysis, baseline analysis and average consumption analysis can also be calculated. A baseline is a 12 month profile used to map the unique signature of a building while it is in a typical operation cycle. It is predominantly determined utilising a combination of historical data, account information and factoring in variables such as occupancy levels, systems works and ambient temperatures. Abnormal measurements may be excluded from the baseline calculation, whereas abnormal measurements may be included in an average measurements calculation.

The reporting module 240, 242 & 244 can produce, for example, the following standard reports at a portfolio level: a statistical summary, annual trends for total energy consumption, annual trends by components, monthly trends and total energy consumption, monthly trends by components, pie chart of energy consumption by portfolio, a pie chart of energy consumption by a property for a rolling 12 month period, current year versus previous year by portfolio or property, current year versus previous year monthly by portfolio property, annual costs by property, monthly costs by property, benchmark analysis showing comparison of selected properties against long term averages, and a comparison of actual costs versus budget. Comparisons of measurements can also be compared to trends, averages, baseline or budget.

The reporting can be more refined to property level, building level, building space level, component level or meter level.

Referring to Figure 4, an embodiment of a web page structure 100 generated by the application 200 is shown. The web page structure 100 shows the hierarchical structure of a number of web pages a user of the system can access in order to receive reports, input information or configure the system. The web page 100 structure commences at 102 with a welcome screen and presents the user with a log in. Once the user has logged in, a home page screen 104 is presented in which the user is greeted and is provided with a "dashboard" in which the user can make a number of selections. These selections include proceeding to one of: an enter consumption data page 106, an enter account data page 108, a reporting page 110, a setup page 112, an admin page 114, or a contact page 116.

Each user may be given access to various web pages depending upon their granted privileges. For example, certain users maybe allowed to enter data in the data entry pages 106 & 108, other users may be allowed to see the reporting pages 110, yet other users may be allowed access to the set up pages 112 and still further users may be allowed access to the admin page 114. Some users may be allowed combinations of these privileges. The user management module 320 controls this access.

The enter consumption data page 106 is created by the environmental inputs module 210, 212 & 214. At the enter consumption data page 106 various types of consumption data of a property can be entered. Consumption data entered into the consumption data page 106 involves manual meter readings and the manual entry of data from those readings. In this example the consumption data is broken down into energy 120 and water 122. Water measurement entry is controlled by sub module 212. Energy is broken down into electricity 124, gas 126 and diesel 128. Energy measurement entry is controlled by sub module 210. Other data may also be provided such as, for example, generation of green electricity or green heating. This is controlled by green energy supplies module 340. The term "green energy" is used to mean energy, such as electricity, produced by non-polluting or "environmentally friendly" methods, for example, solar or wind generated electricity and the term "green heating" is used to mean heating created by non-polluting or "environmentally friendly" methods, for example, solar water heating. Each entry is taken from and recorded against a meter identifier and a time measurement in the measurements database.

Waste measurements may also be entered under control of sub module 214. Typically this will be by weight or volume of waste removed per week (or other time period).

The enter account data page 108 allows for the entry of utility accounts from utility service providers by category, such as energy 130, water 132 and waste disposal 134. Energy cost is broken down into electricity 136 from a power utility, gas 138 from a gas utility and diesel 140 from a fuel supplier. Each entry has a cost amount, a value in units (such as power for electricity, volume for water and weight for waste), meter identifier (where appropriate) from which the value was taken and a bill date. This information is recorded in an accounts database.

The reporting page 110 is created by the reporting module 270, 272 & 274. The reporting page 110 is broken down into a number of categories including a consumption page 142, a cost page 144, an advanced report page 158 and a Green House Gas page 159. The consumption page 142 allows for the selection of a number of different types of report of comparisons of measurements entered in pages 106 and 108, such as a total energy report 146, an energy components report 148, energy sub component report 150, a meter level report 152, a variance total report 154, and a variance components report 156. The total energy report 146 can be presented on an annual basis, on a monthly basis, on a month by month basis or on a budget variance basis. The energy components report 148 can be presented on an annual basis or a monthly basis. The energy sub-components report 150 can be presented on a monthly, month by month, daily or hourly basis. The meter level report 152 can be provided on a monthly, daily or hourly basis. The variance total report 154 can be presented on an annual or monthly basis. The variance components report 156 can be presented on an annual or monthly basis. Other configurable types of reports can be presented by setting up the various requirements on an advanced report page 158. Other time periods can be used.

The cost page 144, presents a report on the costs on an annual, monthly, month by month or budget variance basis. Each of the reports can be provided on a client basis including all of their portfolios, a portfolio group basis, a portfolio basis, a property site basis, a building basis or a building space basis. Building spaces include for example, gardens, car parks, offices, retail etc.

The Green House Gas page 159 presents a report on the Green House Gas (such as CO2) output of a portfolio, a building, spaces of the building or tenancies.

The setup page 112 allows for the setup of details related to the properties 160, accounts 162, meter details 164, meter associations 166, meter reconciliation 168 and budgets 170. The property configuration page 160 controlled by the portfolio information module 280 allows for the defining of and detailed setup of portfolios at 172, sites 174, buildings 176 and spaces within buildings 178. The buildings 176 page allows setup of a star rating and tenant details.

Setup of accounts 162 allows for each of the types of energy 180, water 182 and waste 184 to be set up according to the property details and meter details for each account, so that, for example when an electricity account arrives it is known what meter and property the account relates to, so that when entered in the cost screen 144 it is allocated into the correct meter and building.

The meter details screen 164 is controlled by the meter details module 220 & 222. It allows for the setup of details relating to each meter. The meter association screen 166 is controlled by the meter association module 230 & 232. It allows for each meter to be associated with a property, a category of energy, a site location, equipment serviced and information about the type of reading that is taken from each meter.

In the meter association menu 168 each meter is allocated with a property, and a location within the property. An energy meter may be additionally categorized according to energy component, such as lighting and power (both standard and non standard), air conditioning (heating, cooling, fans, pumps), transport, pumps and heating. A water meter may be allocated to the appropriate component such as potable water (bathroom, pantry), non potable water such as showers, ground water for hand basin systems, urinal, hot water, irrigation, cooling towers, fire, general.

The budget screen 170 allows for budgeting by cost and consumption of the various types of consumable (energy, water) or cost types on a building (e.g. waste) by year, month etc. Budgets can be established in a budgets database for the base building, for each tenant or for the whole building. The budget can estimate resource consumption on a monthly or yearly basis both in terms of units consumed and cost.

The admin screen 114 allows for the importation of data 180 from electronically read meters by the module 250. It also allows for the entry of system parameters 182 such as unit conversion values etc by the system parameters module 290.

In the system parameters page 182, details of public holidays can be entered. Reading of ambient temperature for each building / geographic region can also be made. In addition, details of amount of generation of greenhouse gas by fuel consumption can be calculated. Furthermore building greenhouse ratings can be provided.

The application 200 allows either or both the client and property manager to assess the consumption of resources and costs for the operation of a building in order to assess the environmental performance of the properties. Furthermore, with access restrictions, even tenants may be allowed to access information relevant to their tenancy.

It may be necessary to conduct conversions between readings. For example, a first reading of a power meter is conducted on 2 April 2006 at 9.00am with a meter reading being 15.56 megawatt hours (MWh). The second meter reading is taken on 3 May 2006 at 9.00am with a meter reading being 25.78 MWh. The consumption for the period is calculated by subtracting the smaller value from the larger value to produce 10.22 MWh. This is converted to standard units of kilowatt hours (kWh) and thus the consumption for that period is 10,220 kWh. A calculation of consumption per working day per hour may then be performed. From information stored in the property database, the working days are weekdays from Monday to Friday with working hours being 8.00am to 6.00pm (10 hours per day). From the reference database, public holidays occurred on 7 April 2006 and 10 April 2006. A number of working days during this period is calculated by determining the number of days, deducting the number of public holidays and weekend days to produce 21 working days. The number of working hours during this period is calculated by multiplying the number of working days by the number of working hours per day to produce 210 working hours. The hourly average consumption per working hour is then calculated by dividing the consumption 10,220 by the number of working hours 210 to produce 48.667 kWh per working hour. A daily average consumption is calculated by dividing the consumption 10,220 by the number of working days 21 to produce 486.67 kWh per working day. These calculated values are then written into the respective database. All units will need to be converted into a standard amount. For example, electricity is converted to kilowatt hours, gas is converted from megajoules to kilowatt hours, diesel can be converted from litres into kilowatt hours, water is generally measured in kilolitres and waste is generally measured in kilograms or tons. In addition for normalisation the net lettable area per period is recorded as is the rated area and occupancy.

Total energy consumption can be calculated by summing the electricity energy consumption, the gas energy consumption and diesel energy consumption (as well as any other energy types consumed in the building).

Energy consumed can be converted into units of carbon dioxide (CO₂) produced. For example, for each kilowatt hour of energy the building uses a standard amount can be allocated. For example, a power station may be assumed to produce, say, 0.86 kilograms of carbon dioxide for each kilowatt hour of electricity produced and consumed by the building. Thus a notional amount of carbon dioxide gas can be calculated for the energy consumed by the building. Additionally other amounts can be calculated for consumption of fuel, such as gas and diesel, in order to produce an overall carbon dioxide production for the building.

Generally the conversion from energy units to greenhouse gas is determined by an amount set by each jurisdiction. Thus the calculation may be dependant on the jurisdiction of the building. In addition a greenhouse rating may be calculated from the energy units by applying a co-efficient for each energy type. The co-efficient can be determined according to the location of the building by looking up the appropriate co-efficient.

An occupancy factor can be calculated based on occupancy hours where the actual consumption is multiplied by a factor to convert it to a standard operating week of, for example, 50 hours per week. The occupancy factor is the standard working hours per month divided by the net working hours in the month.

The database may be constructed on a number of subsidiary databases. For example there may be a security database which controls access according to the user administrative privileges, viewing privileges and data entry privileges. A client database will be provided including the information about the client, their portfolio of properties, buildings within the property and spaces within the property. A building database may be provided which provides information about the building, its location, its tenants, its spaces, working hours, cooling types, air conditioning type, heating type and occupancy. A meter database provides information about each meter, the meter type, meter source, energy / water type, measurement units and the provider of the meter. The meter association's database associates a meter with a building and a location within the building. The budgets database stores a budget for a building according to resource type. A measurements database associates the meters with measurements taken from that meter. An accounts database associates a meter account with a meter. A star rating database associates a star rating with a building. A reference database records ambient temperatures, public holidays according to the state records, and conversion factors.

The reporting web pages 110 allow for comparison between measured values over defined time periods against other time periods, against other buildings, against trends, against a budget, against costs selectable by portfolio site, building space, resource type and by selectable time periods. The report can be presented as tabulated information and/or graphical representation such as a graph, pie chart, etc and can be displayed on a screen, printed or exported.

For each report displayed, a portfolio and/or property must be selected. A resource must also be selected such as energy, energy category, water or waste. One or more normalisations may be selected, such as Nett Lettable Area (NLA) (m2), rated area (RA) (m2), working days, occupancy hours, weather, NLA per working day, RA per working day. Time period and time scale is also selected. According to the selections a graph and/or tabulation is generated.

In the case of a graph the x-axis can reflect portfolios, buildings, meters or resource categories and within each of these there can be two or more time periods represented. Units of the resource are displayed in the y-axis and/or budget values, trend or baseline. Alternatively the x-axis can reflect time according to the selected scale in relation to a selected portfolio, site, building, component, sub-component or meter. Again the y-axis can reflect units consumed or cost. The value displayed in the y-axis may be points, a line graph or bars. Where the units are presented as bars each category of resource may be indicated by dividing the total height of the bar into portions for each resource. Further the units may be represented as marks (for example dots or crosses ("X")), or apexes of a line. Different unit types, measurement or component types, or derived measurements may be represented differently on the same graphical representation, such as by used of bar/line, shape or colour.

When the ambient temperatures are recorded and the item selected for the display includes the air conditioning sub-component, this can be displayed relative to the ambient temperature. This allows a comparison to be made between energy consumption of air conditioning components and the ambient temperature.

Figure 5 shows an energy consumption annual report 400 by portfolio with each portfolio comparing the previous year to the current year.

As can be seen, the type of data shown can be selecting as follows. The portfolio is selected from portfolio pull down menu 402. The site group can be selected from a site group pull down menu 404. The site can be selected from site pull down menu 406. The building can be selected from building pull down menu 408. Menus 402, 404, 406 & 408 are hierarchical such that if a particular portfolio is selected then it will populate the options available in the next level i.e. the site group menu 404. If the site group is selected it will populate the options available in the site pull down menu 406. If the site is selected it will populate the options available in the building pull down menu 408. The details are obtained from the client database.

A raw data pull down menu 410 allows for the selection of raw data or converted data. In this figure, consumption data in kilowatt hours is selected.

An owner/occupier pull down menu 412 allows selection between whether the information displayed is that responsible by the owner, i.e. consumption costs or by an occupier (that is a tenant) or both. In this example, both have been selected.

The level and tenancy pull down menus 414 allow the selection of particular areas of a building for display of comparison information. An energy/water category pull down menu 416 allows for a selection of categories of energy or water for display of comparison information. Year and month drop down menus 418 allow for the selection of the date (in month and year) for the comparison of information. A normalisation drop down menu 420 allows for the data to be normalised according to a number of normalisation categories. Examples of normalisation are by: number of working days, number of working hours, level of occupancy, public holidays, FTE occupancy or occupancy types (e.g. commercial, retail, industrial, car park, ancillary areas).

Beneath the drop down menus is a graphical display area 422 which provides a graphical display of the selected comparison provided in the report. In this case it is a bar graph showing an annual total trend of a rolling twelve month period up to January 2006. The x-axis is split into each of the portfolios of the selected client (in this case there are two PF1 & PF2). The PF1 section shows the number of units on the y-axis of total energy consumed by the portfolio in the right hand bar for the current year. This is compared to the previous year total energy consumed by the portfolio in the left hand bar. In the PF2 section the right hand bar shows the current year's total energy consumption of the portfolio and this is compared to the left hand bar which shows the previous year's total.

An optional legend 426 may be provided that displays legend information about the bars being displayed. Additionally shown is an X overlaid with each of the current year bars which shows the budgeted level for the current year for each portfolio.

Beneath the graphical display 422 is a tabulated display 424. This shows a table with numerical amounts of the bars depicted in the graphical display 422. Thus for example, it shows that the previous year for PF1 was 60,050 kilowatt hours (kWh) and for PF2 the previous year was 80,500 (kWh). The current year for PF1 is 78,550 (KWh) and for PF2 95,000 (kWh). The budget for the current year for PF1 is 67,400 (kWh) and for PF2 is 96,500 (kWh). The difference between the current and the budget is shown as 11 ,150 (kWh) over budget for PF1 and for PF2 1 ,500 (kWh) under budget. The difference in percentage for the PF1 for the current year is 17% over budget. The difference for PF2 for the current year is 1.6% under budget. It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that other relevant calculations can be performed and displayed in the tabulated display area 424.

Naturally if the data is narrowed from all portfolios to a site, building or area within the building then the respective data set displayed for comparison will change according to that selection.

Figure 6 shows an energy consumption monthly report 500 showing energy consumption per month, measured against values from the previous year and budget values.

In this report 500 graphical display area 522 shows a bar graph from April 2005 to March 2006 with each month represented by a bar of height in units of energy of all portfolios of a client.

Additionally shown in the graphical display 522 is a line graph showing the previous year, with each point forming an apex in the line representing the value in units on the y-axis for the corresponding month on x-axis for the previous year. Also shown is a dashed line representing the budget for the current year, each month has an X with the budgeted value in the y-axis with the Xs joined by a dashed line. The graphed information is also shown in the tabulated display 524.

Figure 7 shows energy consumption monthly components report 600 in which each month is displayed with each bar for each month being divided into components.

In graphical display area 622 month by month consumption is shown by components, where the x-axis scale represents months. The units of consumption on the y-axis are shown as bars for each month, where the bar is divided into components of energy consumption. Legend 626 shows the meaning of each section. For example, the bar is broken down into lighting and power (STD and non STD), air conditioning (heat, cool, fans and pumps), transport, heating, pumps and un-metered. Figure 8 is a waste consumption annual report 700 showing waste production by waste broken into waste destination (landfill and recycle) in two portfolios with each portfolio showing the previous year compared to the current year.

Report 700 shows a graphical display area 722 in which the waste produced by the client's portfolios are shown. In this case a client has two portfolios, PF1 and PF2 which are shown on the X axis. PF1 shows a comparison of the current year waste production on the right hand side and the previous year's waste production on the left hand side. These bars are further broken down into the types of waste as shown in the legend 726. These types are landfill and recycled waste. PF2 also shows a current year on the right hand side, the previous year on the left hand side again broken down according to types of waste. Additionally an X is shown overlaid with the current bars showing the budgeted amount.

Figure 9 is a consumption total energy month by month report 800 showing the month of March 2006 with each category (electricity, gas and diesel) each having two bars side by side with the first bar being the previous year and the right hand bar being the current year.

Report 800 shows a graphical display section 822 in which the consumption is split amongst energy type on the x-axis. Thus the x-axis is broken down into an electrical section, a gas section and a diesel section. The electrical section again has a bar showing the current year on the right hand side and a bar showing the previous year on the left hand side. There is also an X showing the current year's budgeted amount of electrical consumption. The gas section also has a bar on the right showing current consumption, a bar on the left showing previous year's consumption and an X overlaid with the current bar showing the current year's budgeted amount. Likewise, the diesel section has a bar on right showing current consumption, a bar on the left showing the previous year's consumption and an X overlaid with the current consumption bar showing the current year's budgeted amount.

Figure 10 is consumption by components variance annual report 900 which shows the variance for each portfolio broken down over a rolling 12 month period into categories where each portfolio's variance is shown. - 2A -

This report 900 includes a graphical report section 922 which shows a variance display with the x-axis broken down into portfolios: P1, P2, P3, P4 and P5. The y-axis being the percentage of variance on the current year (2006) compared to the previous year (2005). Each component of energy has its current year consumption compared to its previous year. Where the consumption is above the previous year, it is shown as a positive percentage on the y-axis and where it is below it is shown as a negative percentage on the y-axis. So for example, it can be seen in PF1 the air conditioning consumption of this portfolio was approximately 15% more in the current year compared to the previous year. The heating was approximately 15% under the previous year and the lighting and power was approximately 5% under the previous year. All of the components in PF2 were above the previous year's consumption. In P3 lighting and power was above last year's consumption, whereas air conditioning and heating was below the previous year's consumption. In P4 all types of consumption were below the previous year. In P5 lighting and power, and heating were above the previous year's consumption, whereas air conditioning was below the previous year's consumption.

Figure 11 is a pie chart report 1000 showing the annual portfolio analysis by a property. Report 1000 shows a pie chart 1012 comprised of annual portfolio consumption for the properties shown in the legend 1020. Values of the portions of pie are calculated from the sum of consumption for the property normalized by area (MJ/m²). The pie 1012 is then divided up according to the percentage allocated to each of the properties. The value of property 5 is indicated as 1010, the value of property 6 is indicated as 1008, the value of property 7 is indicated as 1006, the value of property 8 is indicated by 1004, and the value of property 9 is indicated by 1002.

Figure 12 is a site level consumption summary report 1100 which shows energy consumption graph 1122 of a site over a rolling 12 month period (Jan to Dec), which has components of each month broken down by unmetered, base building (during normal hours of operation), base building (after normal hours) and tenant (both after normal hours and normal hours), as well as energy consumption for each month in the previous year and in the budget. The y-axis 1128 has units of energy consumption in kWh. The ledged is shown as 1126. Figure 13 shows a site level consumption summary report 1130 similar to report 1100, however the y-axis 1138 has units of energy consumption as a cost in currency units ($).

Figure 14 shows a site level consumption summary report 1160 similar to report 1100, however the y-axis 1168 has units of energy consumption as kilograms of carbon dioxide (kg CO2).

Figure 15 shows a site level consumption summary report 1200 similar to report 1100, however the tenant units are omitted. Thus report 1200 is a base building only report. The report 1200 comprises graph 1222, ledged 1226 and the y-axis is in kWh. Like report 1100, this report can also be produced with y- axis units being currency or kg CO2.

Figure 16 shows a site energy consumption by component report 1300 for the base building only. It comprises a graph 1322 displaying monthly energy consumed, with each bar being portioned into the component contribution to the total energy consumption for the month. It also shows a comparison to budget, which is represented by the line. A tabulation of the values graphed is displayed at 1324. A legend 1326 is shown.

Figure 17 shows a graph 1400 by month of maximum, minimum and average temperature of a site for each month over a rolling 12 month period. Legend 1426 is shown.

Figure 18 shows a building energy consumption by component report 1600 for the base building only. It is similar to report 1300 except only the consumption of a selected building of the site is in the report 1600. The report comprises a graph 1622 displaying monthly energy consumed, with each bar being portioned into the component contribution to the total energy consumption for the month. It also shows a comparison to budget, which is represented by the line. A tabulation of the values graphed is displayed at 1624. A legend 1626 is shown.

Figure 17 shows a portfolio baseline summary report 1700 as a tabulation of sites and each sites' baseline values (in currency, kWh and kg CO2), budget (in currency, kWh and kg CO2), current year costs (in currency, percentage of baseline and percentage of budget), current year consumption (in kWh, percentage of baseline and percentage of budget), and current year carbon dioxide (in kg CO2, percentage of baseline and percentage of budget).

Figure 20 shows a portfolio level consumption summary report 1800, similar to report 1100, except that the graph 1822 value are for the whole portfolio rather than just one site in the portfolio. Legend 1826 is shown.

It is clear that the present invention provides the ability to assess the environmental performance of a property and in particular allows comparisons of various aspects of resource consumption by property over time or against other properties. Additionally the invention provides flexibility in the type of reporting provided.

The present invention allows property managers to evaluate the environmental and/or economic performance of properties, provide reports on the performance and comply with sustainability / environmental performance standards or meet environmental ratings.

It will be understood to persons skilled in the art of the invention that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In the claims of this application and in the description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the words "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of evaluating environmental performance of a property, comprising: collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of the property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

2. A method of evaluating environmental performance of properties, comprising: collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of each property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the environment impacting inputs comprise one or more of: energy, water and waste.

4. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the measurements are of one of more of the following: electricity consumption; water consumption; waste production; fuel consumption; electricity costs; water costs; waste disposal costs; and fuel consumption costs.

5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein further information is recorded for use in the comparison, and the further information comprises one or more of the following: occupancy level; occupancy area; ambient temperature; occupancy type; and occupancy usage.

6. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the measurements are taken on an overall basis for each property and for a plurality of components of the property, and each component is defined by one or more of the following: a physically divided area; and type of consumption.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the components comprise lighting and power, air conditioning, pump and heating, and transport.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6 or 7, wherein measurements are taken by meters for each component type and by main supply meters.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sum of the meters for all components of a building is compared to the main supply meter of each type of environment impacting input measured.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein one or more component consumption values are derived from two or more meter measurements and the component values are compared with other measurements.

11. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the measurements are taken hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the period of comparison of measurements is selectable.

13. A method as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein the measurements are grouped into selectable periods for comparison.

14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the measurements are normalised for making the comparison.

15. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the

5 comparison is reported to a user, and the report comprises a graphical display of the comparison.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the report is presented in overall terms or by type of measurement. 0

17. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the method further comprises comparing the measurements with a budget over a multiple of periods. 5

18. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the method further comprises conducting trend analysis of the measurements.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the comparison comprises comparing the measurements with the trend. 0

20. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the method further comprises determining a baseline of a building consumption over multiple periods. 5

21. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the method further comprises comparing the measurements with one or more of the determined baselines.

22. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21 , wherein the measurements are displayed by portfolio; by property; within a property by year, o month, or day; by total of a category; components of each category; or by meter.

23. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein the property being evaluated is one of a portfolio of properties and the portfolio is evaluated5 by comparing measurements of all of the properties of the portfolio with one or more of: one or more measurements of the portfolio over one or more different time periods, and measurements of a different portfolio over the same one or more periods.

24. A system for evaluating environmental performance of a property, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of the property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

25. A system for evaluating environmental performance of properties, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of each property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

26. A system as claimed in claim 24 or 25, wherein the collector is configured to collect inputs comprising one or more of: energy, water and waste.

27. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 26, wherein the collector comprises a measuring device for measuring one of more of the following: electricity consumption; water consumption; waste production; fuel consumption; or. ambient temperature;

28. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 27, wherein the collector comprises an input device for receiving one of more of the following: electricity costs; water costs; waste disposal costs; fuel consumption costs; occupancy level; occupancy area; occupancy type; and occupancy usage.

29. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 28, wherein the collector comprises a measuring device for taking overall measurements for the property and further measuring devices for measuring a plurality of components of the property, and each component is defined by one or more of the following: a physically divided area; and type of consumption.

30. A system as claimed in claim 29, wherein the components comprise lighting and power, air conditioning, pump and heating, and transport.

31. A system as claimed in claim 29 or 30, wherein the collector comprises a plurality of meters for taking measurements for each component and one or more main supply meters.

32. A system as claimed in claim 31, wherein the comparator is configured to compare a sum of the meters for all components of one type of input measured to a corresponding main supply meter of the type of input measured.

33. A system as claimed in claim 31 or 32, wherein the comparator is configured to derive one or more component consumption values from two or more meter measurements and compare the component values with other measurements.

34. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 33, wherein collector is configured to take the measurements hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

35. A system as claimed in claim 34, wherein the comparator is configured to compare the measurements over a selectable period.

36. A system as claimed in claim 34 or 35, wherein the comparator is configured to group the measurements into selectable periods for comparison.

37. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 36, wherein the comparator is configured to normalise the measurements for making the comparison.

38. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 37, further comprising a report generator for generating a report based on the comparison performed by the comparator.

39. A system as claimed in claim 38, further comprising a display for providing a user with a graphical display of the report.

40. A system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the report generator is configured to generate the report to show a comparison in overall terms or by a selected type of measurement.

41. A system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the report generator is configured to generate the report to show a comparison of one or more selected measurements with a budget over a multiple of periods.

42. A system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the comparator is configured to conduct a trend analysis of the measurements.

43. A system as claimed in claim 42, wherein the report generator is configured to generate the report to show a comparison of one or more selected measurements with the trend.

44. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 43, wherein the comparator is configured to determine a baseline of a building consumption over a time period, and the comparator is configured to compare the measurements with one or more of the determined baselines.

45. A system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the report generator is configured to generate the report to show a comparison of the measurements by portfolio; by property; within a property by year, month, or day; by total of a category; components of each category; or by meter.

46. A system as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 45, wherein the property 5 being evaluated is one of a portfolio of properties and the report generator is configured to generate the report to show a comparison of the portfolio measurements of all of the properties of the portfolio with one or more of: one or more measurements of the portfolio over one or more different time periods, and measurements of a different portfolio over the same one or more periods.0

47. A system for evaluating environmental performance of a property, comprising: means for collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of the property over multiple time periods; 5 means for comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

48. A computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program in o the form of instructions for controlling the computer to: collect measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of the property over multiple time periods; compare the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time5 periods.

49. A system of evaluating environmental performance of properties, comprising: means for collecting measurements of environment impacting inputs and o outputs of each property over multiple time periods; means for comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same5 one or more time periods.

50. A computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program in the form of instructions for controlling the computer to: collect measurements of environment impacting inputs and outputs of each property over multiple time periods; compare the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

51. A method of evaluating the performance of a property, comprising: collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of the property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

52. A method of evaluating the performance of properties, comprising: collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of each property over multiple time periods; comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

53. A system for evaluating the performance of a property, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of the property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

54. A system for evaluating the performance of properties, comprising: a collector for collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of each property over multiple time periods; a comparator for comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

55. A system of evaluating the performance of a property, comprising: means for collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of the property over multiple time periods; means for comparing the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

56. A system of evaluating the performance of properties, comprising: means for collecting measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of each property over multiple time periods; means for comparing the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.

57. A computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program in the form of instructions for controlling the computer to: collect measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of the property over multiple time periods; compare the measurements of the property over one or more time periods with measurements of the property over one or more different time periods.

58. A computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program in the form of instructions for controlling the computer to:: collect measurements of consumable inputs and produced outputs of each property over multiple time periods; compare the measurements of one property over one or more time periods with other measurements, where the other measurements are at least one of: measurements of the same property over one or more different time periods; and measurements of a different property over the same one or more time periods.