Utilizing Sankey Diagrams for Energy Flow Analysis

Sankey diagrams are an effective visual tool for illustrating energy flows within a system. They enable the visualization of energy transfers between various stages of a process, clearly highlighting areas of loss and gain. With their proportional band structure, Sankey diagrams offer a clear and intuitive view of flows, making it easier to identify inefficiencies. In energy analysis, they are instrumental in optimizing systems by pinpointing critical consumption points. Essentially, Sankey diagrams are crucial for effective and sustainable energy management.

This guide will assist you in setting up Sankey diagrams to monitor the global consumption of electricity, gas, and water in a building project. Our project consists of a building (Tabellion) with various units (66 Office, 64 Office, and 64 Private). Energy consumption is measured by unit, though some units may not have a counter for each energy type due to practical constraints.

The aim is to configure assets to represent the energy distribution within the project and display energy usage by unit thanks to the “sub metering of” option.

1. Design Your Assets type:
   • Our “unit” type asset is designed to use smart devices as data sources, which measure electricity (Elec), gas (Gas), and water (Water) consumption.
2. Create Assets:
   • Upon creating an asset and adding your smart devices to these aliases, you can now select a “sub meter of” another asset within your project.
3. Configure Energy Assets:
   • Our goal was to display usage by energy type. We created three assets named ELEC, GAS, and WATER, and selected these assets for each electricity sub-metering in the units.
4. View the Sankey Diagram:
   • The asset's view suggest a Sankey mode
   • The Sankey diagram initially shows the relationship between the asset and the sub-asset.
   • By default, the relationship is by unit, but you can check the box to the left of the date selector to display the relationship proportional to consumption.
5. Filter Your Analysis:
   • Use the filter to enter an energy tag and focus your analysis as needed.

To add a Sankey widget to your dashboard, simply select the desired energy type and specify a time range.

By following these steps, you can effectively set up and use Sankey diagrams to visualize and analyze energy flows in your project, leading to improved energy management and optimization.