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Before exploring your data, it helps to understand how Data Hub structures it. This page walks through the core building blocks — what each one is, how it relates to the others, and why it matters for everyday use.

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The Data Flow at a Glance

An organization is the account that owns the data — a college, a city, or another institution. Inside an organization, a metered entity represents a building or asset. Each metered entity has one or more variables, the individual metrics being measured, fed by a data source such as a datalogger or public API. Variables are explored through visualizations and can be pinned to a metered entity’s default dashboard.

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Organizations

An organization is the top-level container for a set of buildings and their data. Most users belong to a single organization, but some — like researchers working across institutions — have access to more than one, and can switch between them from a dropdown in the top navigation. Switching organizations updates the Home section to show that organization’s buildings and variables. Access to an organization is invite-only: an Admin — typically the person or entity responsible for the organization’s account — invites other users to view and work with its data.

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Metered Entities

A metered entity is a building or asset that Data Hub collects data for — for example, a campus building or a water treatment plant. Each metered entity has its own metadata: Metered entities can be viewed as a List (a detailed table) or as Tiles (a simplified card view), toggled from the top of the Metered Entities page.

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Variables

A variable is an individual data point tracked for a metered entity — electricity use, water consumption, precipitation, and so on. Each variable has:
  • A type — Instantaneous, Totalizer, or Average Rate
  • A data source — the integration or datalogger providing the readings
  • A status — Enabled (actively recording), Disabled (not recording), or Historical (deprecated, but has past data)
  • A data reception state — Online (receiving data normally) or Offline (no data for more than 12 hours)
Variables can be viewed in Table or Graph format, with up to 5 variables selected for simultaneous comparison. Data can be viewed at different resolutions (source, minute, hour, day, week, month, year) and exported as CSV for offline analysis.
Every variable also has a Details view showing its formula (if it’s a derived/calculated variable), any variables it depends on, and metadata like the last recorded value and units.

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Data Sources

A data source is the external system feeding data into a variable — a datalogger (Obvius, JACE, BuildingOS), a sensor platform (Motion), a public API (AirNow, OpenWeatherMap, GLOS), or a generic CSV upload. See Connecting Data Sources for setup details on each.

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Visualizations

Visualizations turn variable data into charts for analysis and comparison. They fall into two categories: Trend Analysis — tracks one or more variables over time:
  • Single Point Line / Bar Trend Analysis (one variable)
  • Multi Point Line / Bar Trend Analysis (multiple variables)
  • Heatmap Analysis (data intensity across time or other dimensions)
Comparison — compares variables or entities side by side:
  • Bar Chart Comparison
  • Portfolio Comparison (proportional, hierarchical view)
Visualizations can be filtered by geographic region, organization, building type, specific metered entity, and resource type, and can reference Typical Usage or a Previous Period for context.

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External Data Access

Beyond the Data Visualizer and dashboards, Data Hub provides two additional, complementary ways to access variable data directly:
  • The Data API — low-latency, read-only, programmatic access for applications and automated workflows, authenticated with a personal access token. See the API Reference.
  • The Data Downloader — a UI-driven bulk export tool for larger datasets, submitted as asynchronous jobs rather than generated instantly. It has no public API of its own. See Share & Export.
Both expose the same variable as the primary object — not the underlying sensor or data source — and both require the same registered, authenticated user account used to log into Data Hub. Access to a given organization’s variables is governed by the same permissions already granted to that account; neither mechanism introduces a separate permission model.
The Data API’s confirmed design (base URL, authentication, endpoints, rate limits) is documented in the API Reference. The Data Downloader’s interface hasn’t been built yet — see its section on the Share & Export page for what’s confirmed versus still in design.

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Roles

Data Hub uses two roles today:
  • Admin — associated with the entity responsible for the organization’s account. Admins invite and manage users.
  • User — someone using the system without being the billed party (for example, a student doing coursework). Users are invited by an Admin.
Data Hub’s access model is invite-only — there is currently no public self-serve signup for joining an existing organization. More granular, custom permission sets are on the roadmap but not yet available.

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Logs

Every metered entity and variable has a Logs tab — an audit trail of changes and activity, including user-added notes, timestamps, and a description of what changed. Logs can be filtered by date and browsed chronologically using the Newest / Newer / Older / Oldest navigation controls.