Webinars:
B3 Benchmarking staff will be showcasing these new features as well as answering any questions at the following sessions.
- Thursday, September 12th at 11:00am Central - Register Now
- Tuesday, September 17th at 1:30pm Central - Register Now
New Features:
Help Content
B3's help system has been revamped and integrated with our customer service software. Help links within the application will now direct users to that topic within the new platform. Clicking the Index link at the top will provide a list of all help topics.
Many of the help topics now include training videos. These can be viewed within the help platform, or users can launch YouTube to view B3 Benchmarking's YouTube Channel. Thirty videos have already been created, covering beginner to advanced topics. Depending on your B3 portal, a Videos menu link can be found under either About or Resources. Here the entire B3 playlist can be viewed or select a specific topic by linking to the playlist or channel. Subscribe and learn how to get the most out of B3 Benchmarking.
Export to Excel Updates
The Export to Excel engine has been revamped. Updates include:
- Colorized column headers to better visualize groupings
- Reorganized column orders in standard template exports
- New Load Factor field included in Monthly and Annual Usage exports when applicable
- More control over summation of columns and inclusion of individual meter source types
- Expected Outcomes now included in Events export
- Consolidation of flowmeter usage
- New custom field options
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM) Integration
If you have B3 sites that auto-sync and pull building data from ESPM, site and building fields that would be overwritten by ESPM are now locked to help avoid confusion on where that data is managed. For B3 meters that pull usage data from ESPM, either auto-synced or utility automation, there is now a blue star icon on the far right of the meter editor table to indicate that connection. This will help identify which meters your organization is responsible for updating in B3 and which will pull usage from ESPM.
Meter Updates
Some changes to meters and usage this round include:
- Support for a new Load Factor column in the Meter Readings table. In the Options tab of the meter editor, the Load Factor column can be toggled on/off, similar to Peak Demand and other optional columns.
- For interval meters, the separate Interval tab within the meter editor to track the frequency of interval readings has been consolidated into the Options tab.
- Account and meter number columns can be toggled on/off within the Meters grid on the Data tab. This can be controlled in the User Settings window on the Options tab. User Settings is found under the Tools menu in the upper right corner.
Dashboard Configurations
Each user can customize their dashboard with the widgets most important to them. Drag/drop has been enhanced. Now, in addition to adjusting a widget's width, the widget height can also be adjusted. This is helpful for organizations that have a longer list of sites.