Panoptix APIs: Helping to Create Better Building Efficiency Applications

Buildings account for almost 40% of the total energy use in the US; the Panoptix solution is all about increasing options for delivering better building efficiency.  The Panoptix platform is open and we offer APIs so our partners can offer their efficiency applications that take advantage of Panoptix data.

Interview with Jim Schwartz, director of strategic marketing for Johnson Controls, which focuses on emerging technologies and cloud based software deployment models. With extensive experience in high-tech marketing, product management and operations, Jim has held senior leadership positions with Microsoft, Cisco and several start-ups. 

Tell us more about Panoptix
Johnson Controls offers the Panoptix® Building Efficiency Platform to deliver lower energy and operating costs while maintaining occupant confort.  The Panoptix solution provides tools to review building and enterprise performance, pinpoint equipment that’s wasting energy, assess the effectiveness of retrofit projects, monitor and report on carbon emissions and much more–through applications developed by Johnson Controls and our partners.

What API(s) does Panoptix offer today?
The Panoptix API set let’s our partners access a wide range of building data collected by utility meters and building automation systems.  The data may be specific to an equipment type like an Air Handling Unit, or may be more general like overall energy use trends.  In all cases, our partners can access valuable data to deliver actionable insight to our joint customers.

The Panoptix API set is based on HTTPS requests and conforms to the design principles of REST; all requests are either HTTP GET or HTTP POST and return JSON responses. Partners can use any programming language to access the API, as long as the programming language can make HTTPS requests and parse JSON responses.

When did Panoptix realized that it needed an API?
In the envisioning stage of product development it was clear that traditional approaches to delivering building efficiency lacked a range of options for facility managers and owners, so they had to pick and choose among a range of point products. Johnson Controls realized that an open platform is necessary to meet our customer’s needs. By providing APIs to our partners so they can use Panoptix data in their products, we are able to quickly and efficiently meet customers’ needs.

What recommendations and tips would you give to a company planning to launch an API?
Simple and easily accessible APIs are the key to ensuring developers actually use them, and of course a developer community is important so that people can interact and learn from each other–and people in your organization.

Why and how are you using 3scale API Management Platform today?
3Scale helped us get our APIs in front of developers quickly and help us focus on our core business rather than spending time managing API transactions. We use 3Scale for developer and application on-boarding, access control & rate limits and the analytics and traffic monitoring.

What benefits have you seen/are you expecting from your API program?
With Panoptix Platform Services we have been able to rapidly expand our ecosystem of partner and ultimately better meet our customer’s needs for an end-to-end building efficiency.

What is your vision for your API?
Johnson Controls collects a broad range of building data and the range is expanding; by listening to customer and partner feedback we are rolling out additional APIs on a regular basis.

Johnson Controls is the global leader in building efficiency. WIth equipment, controls, software and workplace solutions, Johnson Controls creates healthy, productive environments, reduces energy consumption, reduces carbon emissions and promotes sustainability.