This article summarizes how to manage your Buildings and Spaces on the Kaiterra Web App Dashboard
Buildings and Spaces is how we build the Data Model for your building(s).
A Data Model is one way of structuring data -- and, in terms of Kaiterra, we are looking at Building Data Models, which allow us to structure the air quality data of your building in meaningful ways.
In other words: we are looking to understand "where" your devices are installed, on "what floors", and in what "types of spaces" so we can take the data and put more contextual meaning behind it.
For example: If you are seeing high Particulate Matter readings between 12pm - 1pm, but the readings are coming from "Kitchen" spaces, then having the context that it is during the lunch hour + in a Kitchen area (where cooking/combustion/etc. can take place) helps us understand if this is an air quality issue that needs investigation -- or a behavioral scenario that we can consider adjusting habits around (ie. increasing ventilation during lunch hours/opening windows can help circulate particulates away from the area).
To properly set up the Building Data Model, you must make sure that the Building, Floors, and Spaces are all defined for each device.
Starting with the Building, providing a name and location for the building helps us geo-locate where your devices are. This can be helpful for timezones, but, more importantly, external/outdoor Air Quality can also be factored in (ie. wildfires in neighboring areas can impact PM levels).
Operating Hours are also important when considering the air quality of your building: the quality of your air is most important when your building is occupied -- but some reports (such as Space vs Time) can also help you identify potential areas of "over-optimizing" or "over-ventilating" your building.
Identifying the Floors in which your devices are located can help isolate issues throughout your building: "Why is floor 3 behaving much worse than any other floor?" or "Our top floor is 5 degrees warmer than any other floor... why is that?"
Spaces can be the most important data to define, as they give you the most context about the everyday conditions that space might experience.
While some areas (such as conference rooms, huddle rooms, and phone rooms) might be susceptible to the same general conditions -- which can lead to interesting insights when they behave differently from one another -- Specialty Rooms -- such as Kitchens, Event Spaces, Cafes, etc. -- can help justify (or nullify) specific behaviors in your air quality.
