Configuring meter data absolute rules

An absolute rule is based on a user defined absolute threshold, for example, if demand exceeds 20 kW within a given time period. You can configure absolute rules through the Meter Summary page or from any meters grid.

Before you begin

Create notification contacts for normal alerts and BEPA alerts in all locations where you want issues to be assigned to a specific user. For more information, see the related link.

About this task

You can configure alerts for different periods, for example, just for one or more days per week. By default, the data displayed on the alert rule screen is based on a whole week Monday - Sunday.

Procedure

Configuring an absolute rule for consumption measures

  • Configure an absolute rule for consumption measures that triggers an alert when the cumulative consumption over a defined period exceeds a user defined threshold:
    1. To create an absolute rule, right-click a meter in the Meters grid, or on any meters dashboard click More > Absolute Rules.
    2. In the Set Alerts page, select a period using the time navigator.
    3. In the Select Measure grid, select a unit of measure and click Generate Chart. A cumulative consumption chart is displayed showing average, minimum, maximum, 68% confidence interval (1 standard deviation from the mean), and 95% confidence interval (~2 standard deviations from the mean). You can use these charts to determine the appropriate threshold for the rule.
    4. Click the New Rule button.
    5. In the New Rule dialog, complete the fields:
      Draft comment: annette.sohor1@ibm.com
      The fields I see don't quite match up with those in the comment.
      Alert Name
      Draft comment: annette.sohor1@ibm.com
      Dialog says Event Name rather than Alert Name.
      This name will appear as the summary on the issue that is created when the alert is triggered.
      Alert as
      Set the priority of the alert and issue to be created. This will also impact which notification contact, if any, is assigned to the issue and receives a notification email.
      When Value Is Greater/Less Than value
      Set the rule condition and threshold value.
      Monitor From time To time Over days of week
      Draft comment: annette.sohor1@ibm.com
      In the UI, instead of 'Over' the New Rule dialog has 'When data older than', 'Updated by' and 'Updated on'?
      Select what period and days of the week the rule applies to. For example, for a load that is operating 24 hours a day 7 days a week, select the default options, which are Monitor From 00:00 To 24:00 Over Whole Week. For an office building, the options might change to Monitor From 08:00 To 18:00 Over Monday to Friday.
      Delay_On
      Not applicable for consumption measures.

Configuring an absolute rule for demand measures

  • Configure an absolute rule for demand measures that triggers an alert when the instantaneous demand over a defined period exceeds a user defined threshold:
    1. Click the New Rule button.
    2. n the New Rule dialog, complete the fields:
      Alert Name
      Draft comment: annette.sohor1@ibm.com
      Dialog says Event Name rather than Alert Name.
      This name will appear as the summary on the issue that is created when the alert is triggered.
      Alert as
      Set the priority of the alert and issue to be created. This will also impact which notification contact, if any, is assigned to the issue and receives a notification email.
      When Value Is Greater/Less Than value
      Set the rule condition and threshold value.
      Monitor From time To time Over days of week
      Draft comment: annette.sohor1@ibm.com
      In the UI, instead of 'Over' the New Rule dialog has 'When data older than', 'Updated by' and 'Updated on'?
      Select what period and days of the week the rule applies to. For example, for a load that is operating 24 hours a day 7 days a week, select the default options, which are Monitor From 00:00 To 24:00 Over Whole Week. For an office building, the options might change to Monitor From 08:00 To 18:00 Over Monday to Friday.
      Delay_On
      This setting inhibits alerts from triggering because of spurious demand readings, which prevents false alarms. For example, if you configure an absolute rule for kW demand with a threshold of greater than 20kW and a delay period of 3 hours, an alert is triggered only if the demand is sustained above the 20kW threshold for at least 3 hours during the monitoring period. If the delay is not configured, any interval above the 20kW threshold triggers an alert.

What to do next

Select a measure and click Generate Chart to display existing configured rules in the Manage Rules grid, where you can edit and delete rules.