Shopping Centre Online Real-Time Data Solutions

About

In most multi-tenanted markets, the user-pays for the energy they consume. This often isn’t the case in legacy shopping centres, where utility charges can be apportioned according to floor area and service type, which doesn’t accurately reflect the energy used. This blanket charging can lead to tenant inequality and customer dissatisfaction.

Where individual meters are installed, they are typically required to be manually read, recorded and costs calculated and charged, which is laborious, inefficient, and expensive.

In other legacy situations, the billing meters are connected to the Building Management System (BMS), and are often interrupted by HVAC maintenance, representing loss of billing data for that period. While utility meters have onboard data storage to prevent such data loss, the BMS interfaces for billing meters often don’t support the recovery of these “log files”. Billing requiring manual interventions are messy and error prone.

WideSky overcomes these challenges with economical and fit-for-purpose solutions that incorporate AEMO accredited compact utility meters, secure and easy to install data communications, industrial grade hardware and flexible software packages.

Our Solution

WideSky has developed a simplified, cloud-based, billing data and asset management solution that meets the needs of large shopping centres. Suitable for new greenfield developments or major extensions to existing centres, WideSky provides modern, reliable online systems that can be tailored to meet your business needs.

Solution features and benefits:

• AEMO accredited solution, ensuring customer billing is compliant to energy regulations
• Direct connection to billing meters, eliminating data loss with automatic recovery of meter log files
• Whole of site billing solution that accommodates all ancillary facilities, including common services
• Additional submetering for energy efficiency purposes. Greenstar and NABERS ratings can be integrated with the billing system platform
• Integration with a range of Centre Management and Billing Systems for simplified access to data, eliminating data silos and providing a single source of truth
• Data communication systems include cable or mesh wireless to meet centre layout and economics
• Robust, self-healing, bank level, wireless mesh infrastructure
• Onsite data storage to ensure data is never lost
• Remote firmware updates across the wireless network
• Where power quality is an important consideration, a dedicated Energy Management System can be supplied and integrated with the sitewide WideSky platform
• Condition monitoring of critical assets for the purpose of predictive maintenance. This includes some direct connected devices such as vibration sensors, as well as other condition and performance data via the BMS interface to WideSky
• The WideSky VPP Manager (Virtual Power Plant) integrates solar PV, site battery, demand response and tenant metering systems with individual tenant control for fair allocation of “green” energy
• Electrical Vehicle Chargers (EVCS) are integrated into the overall WideSky monitoring system
• Tenants can be given secure visibility and control over their own domain via the TenantView app on their mobile devices
• The WideSky platform supports anonymised people sensing to optimise the operation of individual tenancies as well as that of the entire facility
• Visitor comfort and health sensors, e.g., temperature, humidity, air quality, etc. are integrated into the WideSky platform
• Cloud-based portfolio solution that supports multiple sites in diverse and remote locations with drill-down facility to individual sites and individual sensors.