Panoptix APIs: Helping to Create Better Building Efficiency Applications
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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.
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