All About Green Button

Energy consumption is a major concern for many. Therefore, both residential and commercial users are mindful of their usage. The latter is not only for going green but also for saving money.

Over the years, there have been several initiatives to help save money from using electricity, natural gas, and water. Among others, one good example is the Green Button. Read on to learn more about it.

What is Green Button?

In a nutshell, the Green Button is an industry-led project responding to a call to action from the White House. While it started in the United States, the program is now present in many countries, including Canada.

Essentially, it’s like setting the bet and winning in a casino. Both can provide options for saving money, although in different ways.

The main goal of the Green Button is simple. It aims to provide secure and easy access to energy usage information. In addition, such information is available in a computer and consumer-friendly format. Therefore, you’ll not only monitor your usage, but you can also find ways to cut costs and go green.

More so, Green Button connects to different apps. For example, there’s an app to compare your energy usage to a certain number of cheeseburgers. In addition, you can also download an app that converts energy data into easy-to-understand charts.

Plus, an app provides insights on becoming more energy-efficient in your home.

Aside from awareness, the Green Button is also beneficial in mitigation. It allows users to measure their environmental impacts. They can find ways to correct their usage and become more efficient.

To better understand the Green Button, you must also be familiar with the Green Button Alliance. 

The latter is a group of organizations calling for the wide adoption of tools to monitor energy use. It’s an industry ecosystem that involves not only residential customers. Instead, it also involves private businesses and utility providers.

What is the Green Button Data Standard?

The data standard seeks to maximize the benefits of Green Button. It was formerly known as the Energy Services Provider Interface Model Business Practices. Today, it’s the Green Button Connect My Data.

It’s an open-data standard. Further, it unlocks access to billing and utility data usage. More so, it authorizes third-party providers to obtain and analyze data. In turn, customers can gain insights to determine the best ways to minimize energy consumption.

The Green Button Data Standard is available in different formats. As a result, it supports complex data structures while offering security. However, it’s unavailable in CSV or EDI formats.

Furthermore, the Green Button Data Standard creates secure data-sharing. This way, customers can provide authorization and access to their data. Meanwhile, they can also revoke such access.

Lastly, the Green Button Data Standard ensures data accuracy and integrity. It does this by eliminating the need to manually input relevant information.

What Does the Green Button Data Include?

The Green Button data includes information related to your energy consumption. It provides data to both residential and commercial customers. Plus, the data can be from different intervals. For instance, it can be within a 15-minute or one-month interval.

Utilities implementing the Green Button use smart meters. They can also use conventional and bi-directional meters for data collection. This is how they gather data from their customers. It also includes water and natural gas data, not just electricity usage.

In addition, Green Button uses Personally-Identifiable Information. Despite such, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s a secure platform. Therefore, data remains safe.

Green Button Data also include utility billing information. It simplifies energy reporting by providing relevant details in a single format. Below are some of the details that it can include:

• Payments
• Tariff or other charges
• Administrative adjustments.