Glimpse Platform
Hosted at vee.constellation.com, you can create your own account and test
out the calculations in less than five minutes!
The Glimpse Platform is a method of accessing Glimpse calculations. It
currently supports the following features: baseline projections, EIM projections,
and calibration. The main output of the platform is a PDF report.
How to Use
Create Account
If your organization does not have an enterprise account, you can use the “Sign Up” button at vee.constellation.com. We require the name of your organization and only the absolutely necessary personal information to create your account.
If your organization does have an account, you can skip this step and go directly to Step 2.
Sign In
If your organization has an enterprise account, and SSO has been configured, you can use your organization’s SSO to log in. Otherwise, use the standard login interface and the domain of your email address will be used to make sure you are assigned to the correct organization.
Create a New Building
After you log in, you’ll see your dashboard. Here, you’ll have access to view the last five buildings that you’ve created (if you’ve created any), any buildings that you’ve saved to finish later, and access to links to other parts of the web app on the left sidebar.
You’ll also be able to add a new building. Once you have a building in mind, navigate here.
Choose an Accuracy Level
See below for descriptions of each accuracy level.
Choose which EIMs to Analyze
If you or your organization has set up any Custom Measures, you’ll see them here. Otherwise, you’ll always have the option to simulate the Standard Renovation Package, which contains a list of standard energy improvements to analyze.
Enter Required and Optional Details
You’ll be notified if you missed any required fields before the submission goes through. For optional fields, only use an input if you are sure of its accuracy. In any optional input’s absence, a wealth of data is used to make assumptions for its value.
If you need to navigate away from this page before you finish up, select “Save and Back to Dashboard” before you go so that your changes are saved. When you come back, the information will be saved in “Pending Submissions” on the dashboard, under the building name you’ve entered.
After you’ve completed all the fields you wish to specify, select “Submit” and the simulations will begin.
Download Results as a PDF
Simulations may take anywhere from 1 minute to 1 hour, depending on how complex the building is, and how many inputs were given. The Glimpse Calculator methodology uses the EnergyPlus simulation engine in the background, calculating energy usage of each piece of equipment in the building during each hour of the year.
Any EIMs that are projected to reduce the annual energy consumption of the building will appear in the downloadable report, along with projected energy savings, cost savings, and emissions reductions.
Tier-1 (Simple)
The simple input option on the Glimpse Platform is tailored to use cases
where only a small amount of information is known about the building or time
is of the essence, such as when a portfolio owner is completing this analysis
for many buildings or when energy efficiency as an investment opportunity
is only starting to be quantified.
The building stock data sources are fully leveraged when using this option,
gaining as much information about the building as possible without requiring manual input.
Tier 1 inputs and their functions
The building’s name will be at the top of any reports generated for this building. It is often most useful to include the building’s address in this field, or any internal identifiers. Do not use any special characters, and keep the name as short and human-readable as possible.
The building’s function is a main determinant of its energy usage.
A restaurant’s energy usage per square foot can be more than
10 times that of an office.
The classification of building functions used by the Glimpse
Platform is the one used by the Department of Energy in their
Commercial Reference Buildings project. For residential buildings,
four building types are added. There is no coverage for industrial
buildings. If you don’t find an exact match to the function of
your building, choose the closest match.
- Large Office - Commercial
- Medium Office - Commercial
- Small Office - Commercial
- Stand-alone Retail - Commercial
- Strip Mall - Commercial
- Primary School - Commercial
- Secondary School - Commercial
- Supermarket - Commercial
- Quick Service Restaurant - Commercial
- Full Service Restaurant - Commercial
- Hospital - Commercial
- Outpatient Health Care - Commercial
- Small Hotel - Commercial
- Large Hotel - Commercial
- Multifamily (over three floors) - Residential
- Multifamily (three floors or less) - Residential
- Single-family Attached (condo, part of a duplex) - Residential
- Single-family Detached (house, whole duplex) - Residential
The construction date of a building is one of the main determinants of what equipment exists in that building and what materials and envelope constructions were used to build it. It is therefore used to make assumptions of those items, when they are not explicitly specified (through the Tier-2 form). If the building has had a recent major renovation, in which 50% of the HVAC systems were replaced or major envelope areas were renovated (windows, roofs), then use the date of the last major renovation instead.
The floor area of a building is one of the major determinants
of its energy consumption. Not only does it influence the volume
of air that needs to be conditioned, it also is an indicator
of how many people and how much energy-using equipment and appliances
are in the building.
The net floor area is also called the conditioned floor area.
If you only have the gross floor area, you can use that metric
too. However, if available, the net floor area should be used.
The climate of a building is often the number one influencer
of how much energy that building uses. In order to keep your
data private, we do not ask for the address of the building if
we don’t need it. However, the zip code is required so that we
can understand the climate that the building is subject to.
To match a ZIP code with weather, we calculate the latitude and
longitude of the middle of the zip code’s ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Area). We match that with the closest of all the weather station
latitude/longitude pairs in our weather database.
The main heating fuel impacts the emissions and costs of using energy for heating on site, and it’s also a main indicator of the overall efficiency of the heating system. The options are:
- Natural gas
- Heating oil
- District steam
- District hot water
- Propane
- Electricity
This is an optional field. It is used for calibration, if given. Excel uploads are accepted, for which a template is provided. After uploading, you will be asked to specify which year in the data is most representative of the building’s average operation. For example, if the building is an office, and a work-from-home policy was put in place in 2022 and is still in place, choose the most recent full year of data after 2022 to represent the average building operation.
This is a set of optional fields. If no custom utility rate is given, average state energy costs or OpenEI’s utility rate database is used to understand the structure and price of energy utility billing for a given zip code. Otherwise, various options are available for the specification of a utility rate.
Tier-2 (Detailed)
The detailed input option on the Glimpse Platform allows the specification
of over 100 energy-relevant attributes to increase the accuracy of the energy
model created, and subsequently the insights gained. While working through
the form, inputs can be saved and returned to later before submission. After submission,
if more information is gathered, the inputs can be edited and resubmitted.
Tier 2 inputs and their functions are listed below. The Tier-2 form will show only
the relevant inputs for a given building, and, as the user enters more information
about their building, additional relevant details are also
shown.
General
| Building Name or Address |
| What best describes the function of the building |
| Date of construction (or last major renovation) |
| Net floor area [sqft] |
| Zip Code |
| Building Shape |
| Number of above-ground floors |
| Number of below-ground floors |
| Length of the building's largest facade (ft) |
| Orientation of the building's largest facade |
| What condition describes the building's ground contact? |
| Average floor-to-floor height (ft) |
Activities and Occupancy
| From when to when is the building occupied Mon–Fri? (10% occupancy) |
| From when to when is the building occupied on Saturday? (10% occupancy) |
| From when to when is the building occupied on Sunday? (10% occupancy) |
| Is there another major operation in the building? (building is mixed-use) |
| Mixed-use Building Uses: 2nd Building Operation / Operation (best fit) |
| Mixed-use Building Uses: 2nd Building Operation / Percentage of floor area (from 0 to 100) |
| Mixed-use Building Uses: 3rd Building Operation / Operation (best fit) |
| Mixed-use Building Uses: 3rd Building Operation / Percentage of floor area (from 0 to 100) |
| Mixed-use Building Uses: 4th Building Operation / Operation (best fit) |
| Mixed-use Building Uses: 4th Building Operation / Percentage of floor area (from 0 to 100) |
| Typical occupancy during peak times (# people) |
| How packed is the building? |
| Are there regularly-running laundry machines in the building? |
| Is there a regularly-used kitchen in the building? (it must have a stove or oven) |
| If there are laundry dryers in the building, what fuel do they use for heating? |
| Compared to other buildings of the same type, how would you describe the level of electric equipment (computers, copiers, process equipment, etc)? |
| Number of regularly-used computers |
| Average number of hours per week the computers are used |
| Rated wattage of non-vented process equipment |
Materials & Envelope Assemblies
| Which year of energy code is the building designed to? |
| Is the window-to-wall ratio approximately equal over the whole building? |
| (Average) Window-to-wall ratio |
| (Average) North-facing window-to-wall ratio |
| (Average) East-facing window-to-wall ratio |
| (Average) South-facing window-to-wall ratio |
| (Average) West-facing window-to-wall ratio |
| What type describes the majority of the Walls? |
| What type describes the majority of the Roofs? |
| What type describes the majority of the Windows? |
| What is the R-Value of the wall? (ft²·°F·h/BTU) |
| What is the R-Value of the roof? (ft²·°F·h/BTU) |
| What type of foundation insulation exists? |
| Thickness of insulation on the ground-contact floors? (in) |
| Depth or width of insulation on the ground-contact floors? (in) |
| What is the U-Value of the windows? (BTU/ft²·°F·h) |
| Do windows facing different directions have different solar heat gain properties? |
| (Average) Window solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) (0–1) |
| (Average) North-facing window solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) (0–1) |
| (Average) East-facing window solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) (0–1) |
| (Average) South-facing window solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) (0–1) |
| (Average) West-facing window solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) (0–1) |
Lighting & Lighting Control
| Are there multiple types of lighting in the interior (i.e., LED and fluorescent) |
| What is the main type of interior lighting? |
| Types of interior lighting: Main type / Type |
| Types of interior lighting: Main type / Area % (0–100) |
| Types of interior lighting: Type 2 / Type |
| Types of interior lighting: Type 2 / Area % (0–100) |
| Types of interior lighting: Type 3 / Type |
| Types of interior lighting: Type 3 / Area % (0–100) |
| How much of the interior area is controlled by occupancy sensors? [Area % (0–100)] |
| How much of the perimeter area is connected to daylight dimming? [Area % (0–100)] |
| Are there widespread, regularly-used task-lighting fixtures? (i.e. desk lamps) |
| Is there exterior lighting? |
| What is lit on the exterior? |
| What is the main type of exterior lighting? |
| Approximate number of parking spaces |
| What percent of the facade is lit? |
| With respect to other buildings of the same type, how would you describe the interior lighting? |
| With respect to other buildings of the same type, how would you describe the exterior lighting? |
| Total rated wattage of exterior lights |
| Average building lighting power density of interior lights [W/sqft] |
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
| Primary System |
| Is there any space heating in the main HVAC system? |
| Is there any space cooling in the main HVAC system? |
| If there is a heating hot water system, which best describes it? |
| If there is central air heating, which best describes it? |
| If there is system-connected zone/room level heating, which best describes it? |
| If there is standalone zone/room level heating, which best describes it? |
| Source equipment (boiler or furnace) heating fuel |
| Source equipment (boiler or furnace) heating efficiency (0–1) |
| Source equipment (heat pump or VRF) heating COP |
| Zone equipment (PTAC) heating fuel |
| Zone equipment (PTAC) heating efficiency (0–1) |
| Zone equipment (PTHP) heating COP |
| If there is a chilled water system, which best describes it? |
| If there is central air cooling, which best describes it? |
| If there is system-connected zone/room level cooling, which best describes it? |
| If there is standalone zone/room level cooling, which best describes it? |
| Source-equipment (chiller, AHU/RTU DX, or VRF) Cooling EER |
| Cooling tower combined fan horsepower |
| Zone-equipment (PTAC or PTHP) Cooling EER |
| How is fresh air provided? |
| Type of centralized ventilation system |
| Do the ventilation systems have economizers? |
| Controls |
| Do you want to enter space temperature setpoints? |
| Occupied Heating Temperature Setpoint (°F) |
| Occupied Cooling Temperature Setpoint (°F) |
| Are there setbacks (different setpoints for unoccupied periods)? |
| Unoccupied Heating Temperature Setpoint (°F) |
| Unoccupied Cooling Temperature Setpoint (°F) |
Domestic / Service Hot Water
| Is there hot water provided to sinks, showers, or other fixtures in the building? |
| What type of water heater provides the hot water? |
| Hot water heater fuel type? |
| Hot water heater efficiency? (0–1) |
| Hot water heater COP? |
| Which heating hot water system serves the domestic hot water heater? |
| Enter fixture counts and other information? |
| How many showers are in the building? |
| How many kitchen sinks are in the building? |
| How many bathroom sinks are in the building? |
| Are a majority of the fixtures low-flow? |
| At what temperature is domestic hot water supplied? (°F) |
Enterprise Clients
Many companies have buildings that are designed as prototypes or using templates. They may also have design standards that determine certain aspects of the design that significantly impact the energy performance of the building during operation. In these cases, the accuracy of the Glimpse Calculator simulations can be greatly increased and the effort involved in using the tool significantly decreased by leveraging design standards and prototypes.
Custom Glimpse Platform Environments
Enterprise clients have custom Glimpse Platform environments that are tailored to one of the following goals:
- Scoring or benchmarking similar existing facilities against each other, understanding which facilities are operated in a more efficient way, and which ones might have opportunities for savings just by operating them more similarly to the higher performers.
- Communicating opportunities, risk, or requirements to franchisees or building operators. A great way to meet emissions reduction or operational efficiency goals is to enable those working at the building level with information on how to increase their performance.
- Simply gaining Glimpse Calculator insights with higher accuracy at lower levels of effort across a large portfolio.
Enterprise clients are given the opportunity to request custom measures (i.e., a grocery store chain wanting to understand the impact of a certain type of refrigerated case). They are also given an SSO login option that allows seamless access to the tool.
Reporting Capabilities
The standard report generated by the Glimpse Platform is a downloadable PDF with the following information:
Annual energy savings of the top 5 EIMs
Annual energy utility cost savings of the top 5 EIMs
Annual emissions reduction of the top 5 EIMs
Building summary
Maximum possible savings with modeled EIMs
For enterprise clients, custom reporting capabilities are also available. We can customize the downloadable PDF reports in the following ways.
If there is an additional metric that would be helpful in a table or graphic format, we can add that and format it to meet specifications. Any metric available from an energy model can be shown—energy, demand, capacity, temperature, etc.
We can customize the PDF report to align with our enterprise client’s brand guidelines.
See the Custom EIMs section for more information on how to create a custom energy improvement measure.