APIs mean Freedom
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) add significant value to Energy and Building Management systems (EMS/BMS). More broadly, they play a key role in enabling integration, interaction – and automation in any software-based infrastructure. NexRev’s new Freedom EMS/BMS API provides a good example of this, so let’s take a close look at the recent release. Read on.
Commerce today is essentially transacted by software applications, billing systems, operational management systems, network management systems, and others. The systems may vary in function or detail according to the industry or domain, but the observation is generally true that most companies have lots of software applications managing the various tasks that make up the business.
They generate and consume data – but they can also ingest data from and share data with other sources and applications. In essence, this is why we need APIs – to enable these different application silos to be connected, so that data can be shared easily between them.
In our line of business — property and facilities management — the most common example of an application we rely on is the Energy and Building Management System (EMS/BMS). Of course, it’s just one among many; our customers also use many others, not just to manage facilities but also software for accounting, HR, and other everyday tasks.
Bearing this in mind, if you look at the infrastructure of a modern company, what you’d find is a variety of different applications each of which delivers value (and hopefully an operational advantage) in its particular domain.
For example, the billing system makes collecting revenue easier and more accurate; the accounting system makes it easier to “do the books”, the EMS/BMS makes sure we manage our properties optimally, and so on.
That’s where APIs come into the picture to allow all of those applications to be able to communicate with each other.
APIs – a quick reminder
APIs are the conduit through which one software process or device from a software program communicates with other software platforms. As you’d expect, applications, devices and processes therefore need to have APIs if they’re not going to function in isolation. If they need to share information, or be controlled from a remote server, an API is a table stakes requirement.
The API itself comes in the form of code, ideally (and generally) published in a user-friendly language, such as REST. It is designed to allow what’s known as asynchronous functionality – so, among many possible examples, data could be requested from a service, at periodic intervals, and perhaps then aggregated and shared with another separate system. Similarly, one system might request another to take action based on events that it is tracking. Asynchronous operation means that these decisions can be made unilaterally.
The value of APIs also goes beyond this obvious advantage. They enable more than simply data sharing because they also relate to how infrastructures are managed. Where APIs don’t exist, applications become siloes meaning companies end up having to run multiple systems in parallel with whatever data has been captured scattered among them, but beyond the reach of effective aggregation.
With APIs, these silos disappear, and data can be consolidated giving comprehensive visibility into a multitude of different processes and systems, thereby unlocking the real value of each. An example: you might merge reporting from energy monitoring systems with data from HVACs, or temperature sensors to better tweak a facilities energy usage performance – or, better, align these controls with weather forecast data to enable autonomous proactive operations.
The NexRev answer
The landscape facility managers are confronting today is increasingly one of interconnected and ever smarter buildings. Because of this, APIs are set to play critical roles in the architecture of Energy and Building Management Systems (EMS/BMS) if they’re not already doing so.
If you see APIs as the 'connective tissue,' that joins the various systems, devices, and applications within your EMS/BMS, then their importance should be obvious as, without APIs, you’d be unlikely to unlock the full potential of your different software system investments.
Fortunately, for users of NexRev’s Freedom, that’s not a problem. NexRev’s team can now integrate any device or platform you might be using with its own API into the overall Freedom EMS/BMS framework. How do we do that?
Beyond our library of existing integrations, the new Freedom API enables the seamless extension of Freedom to match the user’s assets, thus preserving their investment in existing infrastructure elements, while transitioning to a new, comprehensive EMS/BMS platform.
Freedom APIs mean whether you’re a facilities manager, a NexRev partner, or an application developer you’ll be able to access previously unprecedented control over building systems and equipment. It means, for example, that you’ll be able to leverage not only status queries from individual applications but full command capabilities down to the equipment level.
But, this goes way beyond integrating systems, sensors, and operations on your own estate. You can do so with external platforms and partners. Another example: With the Freedom API you can collaborate with Automated Demand Response (ADR) providers to enroll buildings and equipment, driving substantial savings across entire portfolios. For ADR providers and utilities, this means seamless integration with any building in the NexRev Freedom EMS/BMS portfolio, subject to owner authorization.
Let’s summarize by listing the Freedom APIs key benefits beyond simply providing unparalleled access to building and equipment operations through a standardized API set. More specifically, they include:
- Full Command Capabilities: Beyond status queries, users can control equipment at a granular level.
- Integration with ADR Providers: Drive exponential savings by enrolling buildings and equipment with ADR services.
- Seamless Utility Integration: Utilities can directly control authorized buildings within the NexRev portfolio.
- Standardized API Access: Facilitates unprecedented operational access for third-party organizations.
Moving into the connected future, facilities managers will quickly learn that legacy infrastructures are not enough to sustain long-term success.
About NexRev
At NexRev, we’ve been unlocking the power of facility and energy management data with over a million connected devices across North America. Our team of experts is focused on helping you deliver more with your budgets, infrastructure, and assets to create sustainable savings in operations and energy, reducing your risk and increasing operational confidence.
To begin a discussion on how we can help you to reduce energy waste please email us at