> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.communityhub.cloud/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction to Data Hub: Building & Organization Data Platform

> Discover what Data Hub is, who it's designed for, and how organizations, metered entities, variables, and visualizations work together to turn raw building data into insight.

Data Hub, by Community Hub, is a platform that stores, interprets, and transforms raw data from buildings and organizations into interactive visualizations. It's built to help teams make data-driven decisions that support a more sustainable future — whether that's tracking electricity use across a campus, monitoring water consumption at a single facility, or comparing resource usage across an entire portfolio of buildings.

## Who Data Hub Is For

* **Researchers and academics** analyze reliable, longitudinal data for studies, projects, and publications.
* **Facility managers** monitor and optimize building performance in real time.
* **Decision-makers and planners** use historical and live data to guide sustainability initiatives.
* **Organizations and teams** collaborate on shared data and insights to reach environmental goals together.

## Key Capabilities

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Centralized Data Management" icon="database">
    Collect and store data from dataloggers, building systems, and public environmental APIs in one place — energy consumption, water usage, air quality, occupancy, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Interactive Visualizations" icon="chart-line">
    Turn raw readings into time series, heatmaps, and comparison charts. Customize views to highlight the trends that matter most.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Scalable Across Organizations" icon="building-columns">
    Works for a single building or an entire portfolio spanning multiple organizations — switch between them without losing context.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Data Source Integrations" icon="plug">
    Connect dataloggers (Obvius, JACE, BuildingOS, Motion) and public APIs (AirNow, OpenWeatherMap, GLOS), or upload data directly via CSV.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How Data Hub Is Organized

Data Hub organizes everything around a simple hierarchy:

```text theme={null}
Organization → Metered Entity → Variable → Visualization / Dashboard
```

An **organization** (for example, a college or a city) is the top-level account that owns the data. Within an organization, a **metered entity** represents a building or asset — each with its own metadata like area, occupancy, and address. Each metered entity has one or more **variables** — the individual metrics being tracked, such as electricity use or water consumption, fed by a **data source** like a datalogger or an API. Variables are explored and shared through **visualizations** — trend charts, heatmaps, and comparisons — and can be pinned to a metered entity's **default dashboard**.

Access to an organization's data is invite-only: an **Admin** (typically the person or entity responsible for the organization's account) invites other **users** to view and work with the organization's data.

<Note>
  Ready to see this in action? Follow the [Quickstart guide](/quickstart) to log in, explore your organization's buildings, and view your first variable.
</Note>