BMON Resources

User Guide Contents

Introduction to BMON

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
  • Figure: Alaskan BMON User Collecting Fuel Use Data
  • Figure: Basic Architecture of the BMON System
  • Video: Introduction to BMON

How to Choose/Set Up Sensors

• Introduction
  • Figure: Basic Architecture of the BMON System
  • Table: LoRaWAN Sensor Comparison
  • Figure: Types of Electrical Outputs Found in Sensors
• Temperature
  • Figure: Potential Energy Savings of Measuring Building Temperature
  • Figure: Collecting Indoor Temperature Data Using an Existing Building Control System
  • Figure: Ecobee Thermostat
  • Table: Examples of Elsys and Dragino LoRaWAN Indoor Temperature Sensors
  • Table: Wireless Outdoor Temperature Sensor Options
  • Figure: Installation Guidelines for Temperature Sensors
• Light Levels
  • Figure: Potential Energy Savings of Measuring Light Levels
  • Table: Recommended Wireless Light Level Sensors
• Indoor Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Levels
  • Figure: Potential Energy Savings of Measuring Indoor Carbon Dioxide Levels
  • Figure: Elsys ERS CO₂ LoRaWAN Sensor*
  • Figure: What to Consider When Installing CO₂ Sensors
• Boiler and Domestic Hot Water Temperature
  • Figure: Potential Energy Savings of Measuring Boiler and Domestic Hot Water Temperatures
  • Figure: Wireless Temperature Sensor Options With External Temperature Probes
  • Figure: A Temperature Probe Correctly Installed on a Pipe
• Building Electric Power
  • Figure: Potential Energy Savings of Measuring Electricity
  • Video: Wiring an External Sensor to Elsys ELT LoRaWAN Sensor
• Building Fuel Use Data
  • Figure: Potential Energy Savings in Measuring Fuel Use
  • Figure: Natural Gas Meter With a Monnit Wireless Pulse Counter
  • Figure: Typical LoRaWAN Pulse Counter, Elsys ELT-Lite LoRaWAN Sensor
  • Figure: An Elster 4p Fuel Flow Meter Installation
  • Figure: Boiler Burner Fuel Solenoid Showing Placement of a Dry Contact Sensor
  • Figure: A Motor Sensor Used to Sense Whether a Motor is On or Off
• Typical Sensor Wiring Examples
  • Figure: Wiring a Voltage-Output Sensor or a Switch Closure Sensor to an Elsys ELT-Lite Sensor
  • Figure: Correct Wiring of a 4-20mA Output on an ELT-Lite Sensor With Resistor
  • Figure: Correct Wiring of an External Sensor Powered From the ELT Sensor Battery
  • Figure: Internal Temperature Sensor Wired Inside the ELT-Lite Sensor Enclosure
• Connecting Wireless Sensors to the Internet with Gateways
  • Figure: Gateways for Wireless Sensors
  • Table: Pros and Cons of Select LoRaWAN Gateways
  • Figure: Solutions for Potential Sensor Connection Issues
  • Figure: Simple External Antenna That Can Be Mounted on a Wall Or Roof Fascia
  • Figure: A Properly Installed Exterior Antenna for a LoRaWAN Gateway

How to Set Up Your BMON System

• Figure: What you Need to Set Up a Basic BMON System
• The BMON User Interface vs the System Administrator Interface
  • Figure: Ways to Interact with the BMON Software
• LoRaWAN Wireless Sensor Configuration
• Overview of the System Administrator Interface
  • Figure: A View of the BMON System Administrator Interface
  • Figure: How to Access the Administrator Interface
  • Video: System Administration Interface
• Adding a Building
  • Figure: Essential Information Needed to Add a Building in BMON
  • Video: Basic Information for Adding a New Building into BMON
  • Figure: Examples of Building Details That Can Be Entered in BMON
  • Video: Advanced Building Information; Occupied Schedule & Additional Description
• Adding a Sensor and Assigning it to a Building
  • Figure: Information Needed to Add a Sensor to the BMON Software
  • Video: How to use Unassigned Sensors when Setting Up New Sensors
  • Video: Basic Steps for Adding a New Sensor
• Editing Information for an Existing Sensor
  • Video: Editing Sensor Information
• Adding Weather Data from the Internet
  • Video: Getting National Weather Service Temperature and Wind Data
• Assigning Sensors used by Energy Reports
  • Video: Identifying & Entering Key Sensors for Energy Reports
• Creating a Dashboard
  • Figure: The Dashboard for the AHFC Headquarters Building Illustrates Some Options of What Can Be Displayed
  • Figure: Guidelines for a Useful Dashboard
  • Video: Choosing Sensors to Display on the Building Dashboard
  • Video: Adding Custom Reports and Links to the Dashboard
• Using and Creating Alerts
  • Figure: Examples of What to Use Alerts for in BMON
  • Figure: How to Create an Alert
  • Video: Creating Alerts and assigning Recipients
• Editing and Cleaning Sensor Data
  • Video: Sensor Data Utilities

How to Use BMON Sensor Data

• Creating a Monitoring Plan
  • Figure: Key Steps to an Effective Monitoring Strategy
• Analyzing Data
  • Figure: Drop Down Menu in the Graph/Report Tab That Allows Selection of Available Data Visualization Tools
  • Figure: Listing of the Most Common BMON Graphs and Reports
  • Figure: The top part of a Current Sensor Values report
  • Figure: Example of a Plot Sensor Values over Time Graph Used to Measure Temperature of Selected Building Areas Over a Period of Months
  • Video: Plot Sensor Values over Time Graph
  • Figure: Example of an X vs Y Scatter Plot Used to Measure the Correlation Between Fuel Use and Outdoor Temperature
  • Video: Sensor X vs Y Scatter Plot
  • Figure: Example of an Hourly Profile Plot Used to Measure Differences in a Building’s Electric Use on Occupied and Unoccupied Days
  • Video: Hourly Profile Plots
  • Video: Overview of Other Available Reports/Graphs
  • Video: Custom Reports
  • Figure: Indoor Temp Report in the Energy Reports Section of BMON
  • Figure: A Closer View of the Indoor Temp Report
  • Figure: Indoor Temperature Report Displaying a Potential Problem in a Building’s Heating Pattern
  • Figure: Temperature Energy Report Feature That Alerts Users of Indoor Temperatures Outside the Normal Range
  • Figure: Lighting Energy Report Showing Several Light Sensor Patterns Through a Week
  • Figure: Lighting Energy Report Showing a Single Light Sensor
  • Figure: “Heat Map Hourly Profile” for One Light Sensor at AHFC Headquarters
  • Figure: Examples of Energy Reports That Focus on Displaying and Analyzing Electric and Fuel Data
  • Figure: Ways to Compare Fuel Use and Account for Outdoor Temperature
  • Figure: What to Look for When Diagnosing High Energy Use in an Unoccupied Building
  • Figure: Sensors Over Time Plot with Supply, Return, and Outdoor Temperature Can Show if an Outdoor Reset is Working
  • Figure: X vs Y Scatter Plot Showing a Boiler with an Outdoor Reset Curve Applied to the Supply Temperature Controls
  • Figure: X vs Y Scatter Plot for a Heating System Without an Outdoor Reset Curve
  • Figure: Why Measuring Domestic Hot Water Supply Temperature is Useful
  • Figure: Example of an IAQ Energy Report

Appendix: Configuring LoRaWAN Sensors for BMON

• Introduction
• Registering Sensors on the Things Network
  • Figure: Screenshot of Activation, Version, and Network Settings
  • Figure: Screenshot of Device ID
  • Figure: Screenshot of Frequency Plan
  • Figure: Screenshot of Root Keys
  • Figure: Import End Devices link on the End Devices Page
• Configuring an Elsys Sensor
  • Video: Configuring Elsys Sensors with your Smartphone
  • Figure: Screenshot of Sensor, Timebase, and External Sensor Settings in the Elsys Sensor App
  • Figure: Screenshot of Period Settings in the Elsys Sensor App
  • Figure: Screenshot of Sensor Keys Settings in the Elsys Sensor App
  • Figure: Screenshot of LoRaWAN Configuration Settings in the Elsys Sensor App
  • Figure: Screenshot of Extended LoRaWAN Configuration Settings in the Elsys Sensor App

Appendix: Notes on Various Sensor Applications

• Notes About External Sensors Connected to the Elsys ELT-Lite or ELT-2
  • Table: Elsys External Sensor Wiring and Configuration
• Miscellaneous Sensor Wiring and Configuration
  • Table: Use and Configuration of Selected LoRaWAN Sensors

Appendix: Configuring Dragino LoRaWAN Gateways

• Figure: System Diagram for Dragino LoRaWAN Gateway
• Configuring a Gateway for the Things Network
  • Figure: Screenshot of LoRa Radio Settings
  • Figure: Screenshot of Gateway ID
  • Figure: Screenshot of Primary LoRaWAN Server
  • Figure: Screenshot of Frequency Plan
  • Figure: System Diagram for Dragino LoRaWAN Gateway with Green Checkmarks

Other Resources

Other web resources helpful for developing a monitoring plan and implementing BMON:

• BMON User Forum: A forum for all users to post questions, answers and tips on hardware, software or anything else related to BMON and energy use in buildings.

• Analysis North: The primary software developer, contains links to other related projects such as the heat pump calculator and AkWarm energy modeling software.

• BMON documentation: Detailed software documentation for more complex situations and network administrators.

• AHFC SEMP Manual: A manual to introduce public facility owners and managers to tools and resources that can be used to complete successful energy efficiency retrofit projects.

• LoRa Alliance: the group representing the communication technology LoRa (Long-Range wireless communication).

• The Things Network: The web service that enables LoRaWAN devices to communicate with BMON.

• Monnit: A wireless sensor manufacturer utilizing a proprietary technology.

• Dragino: A wireless sensor manufacturer utilizing LoRaWAN technology.

• Elsys: wireless sensor manufacturer utilizing LoRaWAN technology.