Data Sheet for Product

Page 2 of 6 Siemens Industry, Inc.
data into useful utility information. As an InfoCenter
client application, Utility Cost Manager includes the
same licensing, security and operating system
requirements as other InfoCenter Suite client
applications. Access to the InfoCenter server is
controlled by the same integrated Windows security
functions as other InfoCenter Suite client applications.
The licensing for InfoCenter Suite client applications
is controlled at the server. InfoCenter Suite security is
indifferent to the type of InfoCenter application
connecting and only controls the number of
connections.
Utility Cost Manager
The Utility Cost Manager client application provides
the user interface for organizing and reporting on
information stored in InfoCenter server. Through the
Utility Cost Manager client, meter data records are
organized into a structure that automatically rolls up
data to provide both micro and macro views of how
the utility services are being utilized throughout the
facility. The Layout Hierarchy (see Figure 1) is a “tree”
style view of the organization of the meters and the
aggregation levels for the facility.
Figure 1. Layout Hierarchy - Expanded View.
Utility Cost Manager allows you to interact with their
data on a meter basis instead of individual points.
Individual points collected from the system and stored
in InfoCenter may simply be one data channel from a
meter. Utility Cost Manager allows you to group
individual data points such as KW and kWh, along
with information such as account numbers, and utility
costs to form a meter. Meter definition is facilitated by
using a wizard application that guides you through the
steps of defining the meter parameters. Utility Cost
Manager supports multiple energy types including, but
not limited to, electricity, natural gas, steam, hot and
chilled water and fuel oil.
Figure 2. Meter Wizard Point Association Dialog Box for
Electric “Meter”.
For areas where no physical points or meters are
located, a virtual meter or virtual submeter may be
created to track energy for the area. Virtual meters
and virtual submeters may be created based on
formula calculations. The Formula Builder within
Utility Cost Manager allows you to select existing
meters and submeters to be included in formulas and
supports: operators such as +, -, *, /; functions such
as SIN,COS, ROUND; and constants such as PI.
Virtual meters allow you to reduce your hardware
metering and data storage requirements.
The cost allocation feature in Utility Cost Manager is
designed to allow you to distribute energy costs
throughout a facility or organization, not reconcile
energy cost with a utility bill. Utility Cost Manager
uses a blended rate that is designed to take into
account all costs associated with a utility bill. These
costs are made a function of utility consumption by
dividing the total cost by the total consumption. By
applying this blended rate to the lowest level of the
hierarchy, you can effectively examine cost allocation
at any micro or macro level desired. The average
cost-pricing model includes an effective date, which
allows you to vary the rate over time. This allows you
to take into account rate variations over the life of the
facility and see the impact of changes on a single
report. Other rate specific information includes (see
Figure 6) energy types, demand calculation options,
service provider and billing periods.