Energy Consumption

Track electricity, gas, water, and other energy sources across your buildings to support sustainability goals, identify usage spikes, and measure progress against reduction targets.

Overview

The Energy Consumption dashboard connects to your building's metering systems and displays usage data over time. Navigate to HqO Admin > Operations > Energy Consumption to access the dashboard.

Energy data is sourced through integrations with building management systems (BMS), IoT sensors, or third-party metering platforms. Once connected, data populates automatically and updates on the schedule determined by your metering hardware.

⚠️ Note: Energy Consumption requires an active integration with your building's metering or BMS infrastructure. If the dashboard is empty or this page is not visible in your Operations menu, contact your HqO implementation team to configure data sources.

🔒 Permission required: Viewing Energy Consumption data requires Operations permissions in HqO Admin. Contact your HqO account team if you don't see this page.

Dashboard views

The dashboard provides two primary views for analyzing energy data:

ViewDescription
ConsumptionTotal energy usage plotted over a selected time period; shows overall usage trends with values on the Y-axis and time on the X-axis
Consumption by TypeUsage broken down by energy category, letting you compare sources side by side

Consumption view

The Consumption chart displays aggregate energy usage over your selected time period. The vertical axis shows usage in the unit relevant to your building's configuration (commonly kWh for electricity, m³ for gas or water). The horizontal axis shows the time range.

Use this view to:

  • Identify usage spikes or anomalies
  • Compare current performance to previous periods
  • Understand overall consumption trends at a glance

Consumption by Type view

The Consumption by Type view breaks total usage into individual energy categories. Common categories include:

Energy typeWhat it measures
ElectricityElectrical consumption from the building grid or sub-metered circuits
GasNatural gas consumption from the building supply
WaterWater consumption from building meters
SteamSteam usage where district heating systems are connected
OtherAdditional categories defined by your metering integration

💡 Tip: The energy types that appear depend on the sensors and meters connected to your property. Not all categories may be present in every building.

Time period filter

Use the date range selector at the top of the dashboard to control the time period displayed:

Range optionDescription
DailyHourly breakdown for a single day
WeeklyDay-by-day totals for a 7-day period
MonthlyDay-by-day or week-by-week totals for a calendar month
CustomSelect any start and end date for a tailored range

Navigate forward and backward through periods using the arrow controls beside the date selector.

Portfolio view

If your organization manages multiple buildings, toggle Portfolio view at the top of the page to switch from building-level data to a cross-portfolio summary. This view aggregates energy usage across all connected buildings, helping sustainability and operations teams track portfolio-wide performance.

⚠️ Note: Portfolio view requires active integrations across multiple buildings. Individual buildings without a configured meter integration will not appear in the portfolio aggregate.

Getting started

Energy data does not appear automatically — it requires integration setup by your HqO implementation team. To enable Energy Consumption for your property:

  1. Contact your HqO account team or implementation team to initiate the integration.
  2. Provide details about your building management system (BMS), IoT metering platform, or utility data provider.
  3. The implementation team configures the data connection.
  4. Once live, data begins populating the dashboard on the next scheduled sync cycle.

Use cases

  • Track energy performance against sustainability or ESG targets
  • Identify high-consumption periods and investigate root causes
  • Compare energy usage before and after operational changes (HVAC schedules, occupancy policies)
  • Support regulatory or compliance reporting with consumption data exports
  • Monitor multi-building portfolios for outlier properties with abnormal usage

FAQ

Why is my Energy Consumption dashboard empty? No meter or sensor integration is connected to this property. Contact your HqO implementation team to set up a data source. If an integration was recently configured, allow one full sync cycle for data to appear.

How often does the data update? Update frequency depends on your metering hardware and the integration type. Most integrations refresh hourly or daily. Contact your HqO implementation team for your specific refresh schedule.

Can I export energy data for reporting? Export options depend on your HqO plan and integration configuration. Contact your HqO account team to discuss reporting and data export capabilities.

What units does the dashboard use? Units are determined by your metering integration and building configuration. Common units include kWh (electricity), m³ or CCF (gas and water), and BTU or MWh for thermal energy. Units appear on the chart axes.

Can I set targets or benchmarks in the dashboard? Benchmark and target tracking availability depends on your HqO plan. Contact your HqO account team for details.

Energy Consumption is not in my Operations menu — how do I get access? Energy Consumption requires a product add-on and an active metering integration. Contact your HqO account team to discuss enabling this feature for your property.

Need help?

Contact your HqO account team or email appsupport@hqo.co.

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