Patent ID: 8369994

Claim:
An apparatus for evaluating efficiency of an Energy Management System that includes one or more Energy Management features, the Energy Management System installed in a facility and operatively coupled to a network for controlling over the network one or more HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) units used for conditioning of air supplied to a plurality of conditioned spaces within the facility, the apparatus comprising: A) a display screen generated by a display mechanism, the display screen displaying physical space layout information relating to physical layout of the conditioned spaces within the facility; B) a selection mechanism, associated with the display screen, enabling a selection and assignment of the conditioned spaces into at least a first and a second group of spaces, the selection and assignment aided by the displaying of the physical space layout information; C) a control mechanism, in response to the selection and assignment made through the selection mechanism, controlling application of at least one of the Energy Management features differently between 1) conditioning of air supplied to spaces in the first group of spaces, and 2) conditioning of air supplied to spaces in the second group of spaces; D) a measurement mechanism providing first group comparative energy usage data indicative of an amount of energy or cost of energy used by the one or more HVAC units for providing conditioned air to one or more conditioned spaces in the first group of spaces, and second group comparative energy usage data indicative of an amount of energy or cost of energy used by one or more HVAC units for providing conditioned air to one or more conditioned spaces in the second group of spaces; E) a data collection mechanism operatively coupled to the measurement mechanism and collecting the first group and the second group comparative energy usage data during a measurement time period, wherein the first group comparative energy usage data and the second group comparative energy usage data are collected over the same measurement time period; and, F) a reporting mechanism operatively coupled to the data collection mechanism and generating a comparative energy usage report, the comparative energy usage report based upon both the first group and the second group comparative energy usage data collected with the application of at least one of the Energy Management features being applied differently for spaces in the first group of spaces than for spaces in the second group of spaces.