Within the scope of this contract, an entry point for data analysis to increase energy efficiency for SMEs is to be provided and tested. For this purpose, a prototypical test environment infrastructure for data collection and data communication will be developed and tested in cooperation with selected companies of the target group SMEs. The benefit of this infrastructure is to be offered by testing an approach to data sharing while at the same time applying a uniform system for energy key figures (EnPI) in the form of blueprints and customizable system descriptions.
In concrete terms, this means creating a platform for the collection of data from connected refrigeration systems and providing them with a web-based platform with benchmarking and analysis functions. In addition, authorized EnMS software providers (EnMS = Energy Management System) will be enabled to use the shared data to provide aggregated information in the form of benchmarks to evaluate their customers' energy efficiency potentials.
The present tender specification aims to realize a StagingBed, which, in contrast to a test environment, uses real data from concrete systems. This data is to be transferred to a data warehouse in a structured and defined form via an application programming interface (API). The structured data is then analyzed and visualized via web applications or apps and partially aggregated.
The service description describes the general features of the desired platform as software functions. The associated hardware and the specific architecture required to achieve these desired characteristics shall be proposed and implemented by the contractor. In particular, hosting is to be regarded and offered as a separate service. All development and test phases can be carried out by the provider "on site" or locally. However, delivery as a StagingBed must take place on a closed infrastructure (either private or hybrid cloud).
The platform is intended to enable controlled interaction of users with the data sharing infrastructure (represented within the dotted lines) and the intended benchmarking and analysis functions. The individual modules and their corresponding data streams are described in more detail in the next sections. This interaction is unidirectional when it takes place through the graphical analysis interfaces (user interface) (dashed gray arrow in Figure 1 of the RFP). However, it occurs as bidirectional communication at program level (in-put/output), which are shown in Figure 1 of the service description as arrows with solid lines.