Explaining Green Button (policy) versus Green Button (data standard for energy usage data)

[nsinai]

I'm not sure where to do this, or if this should be made explicit on Greenbuttondata.org, but it seems from numerous conversations with folks new to Green Button that the following is NOT clear to everyone:

GREEN BUTTON is often shorthand for the public policy idea that electric customers of all sizes (residential, commercial, government) ought to have access to their own energy usage (and price, if possible) info from their electric utility -- in a standard, digital format.

GREEN BUTTON is also a formal data standard (in XML) for accessing and/or sharing energy usage information. The first version of the standard is a utility customer downloading a file of their own energy usage data from their account on a utility customer portal (i.e. Green Button Download My Data). The next (and more automated) version is a utility customer transmitting energy usage data from their own utility to a third party of their choosing (i.e. Green Button Connect My Data).

FURTHERMORE, the Green Button data standard can be implemented in non-utility contexts (imagine an enterprise that has its own sensors or meters). MOREOVER, the standard is flexible and extensible -- maybe too much so -- and could be used for natural gas, water, etc.

Should this complexity be explained anywhere?

[MartyBurns]

I agree with you Nick. We need to bring back the equivalent of what we had in About and How To pages I think but with the more modern look and feel. / marty

From: Nick Sinai [mailto:notifications@github.com] Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 3:58 PM To: green-button/green-button.github.io Subject: [green-button.github.io] Explaining Green Button (policy) versus Green Button (data standard for energy usage data) (#52)

I'm not sure where to do this, or if this should be made explicit on Greenbuttondata.org, but it seems from numerous conversations with folks new to Green Button that the following is NOT clear to everyone:

GREEN BUTTON is often shorthand for the public policy idea that electric customers of all sizes (residential, commercial, government) ought to have access to their own energy usage (and price, if possible) info from their electric utility -- in a standard, digital format.

GREEN BUTTON is also a formal data standard (in XML) for accessing and/or sharing energy usage information. The first version of the standard is a utility customer downloading a file of their own energy usage data from their account on a utility customer portal (i.e. Green Button Download My Data). The next (and more automated) version is a utility customer transmitting energy usage data from their own utility to a third party of their choosing (i.e. Green Button Connect My Data).

FURTHERMORE, the Green Button data standard can be implemented in non-utility contexts (imagine an enterprise that has its own sensors or meters). MOREOVER, the standard is flexible and extensible -- maybe too much so -- and could be used for natural gas, water, etc.

Should this complexity be explained anywhere?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/green-button/green-button.github.io/issues/52.

[nsinai]

What's the latest thinking on this?

[jateeter]

I have been using the phrases "Green Button initiative" and "Green Button Standard" to differentiate the two higher level concepts. Once described, it seems to be clear at a cursory level. In the initiative context, I try always to mention electricity, gas, water, air (and often internet) as resources that can fall within the initiative, though we have started with electricity.

re: DMD and CMD - I am trying to downplay the DMD "first step" in the initiative wherever possible and focus the conversation on the potentials of CMD - that seems to be a difficult shift for some.

re: the web-site - a clear differentiation between the initiative and the standard might be needed. Right now, these two contexts are intermixed. The Library is the simple example.

My suggestion -- split things up clearly at the top level (splash page) points of departure so that after that first click, it is clear that you have chosen initiative or standard as the presentation POV. - always allow the POV to shift (i.e. always be one click away ...)

[nsinai]

For others that might be interested, here is a public post about the differences:

https://medium.com/@ShorensteinCtr/the-green-button-energy-data-movement-grows-up-ea6dd1f5494b

It is likely too Obama Administration and US centric, but here is the text for reference:

1. The policy idea that customers deserve access to their own energy data. Your rate-payer (and sometimes tax-payer) dollars pay for smart meters and smart grid technologies — why shouldn’t you be able to view, download, and transmit your own energy data to whoever you want? The Obama administration has made this a clear policy principle in U.S. smart grid policy, building off the ideas in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. So have state regulatory commissions and local governments. This concept is part of the larger Obama administration focus on data accessibility and portability through its My Data Initiatives.
2. An informal but collaborative public private partnership between federal government, state regulators, utilities, and the innovation community to make data available for customers — in a way that is both secure and private, while still useful for customers and the apps and services they trust. Recognizing that privacy is an important issue, the federal government convened industry, state regulators, and privacy advocates to develop a voluntary privacy code of conduct that President Obama recently highlighted.
3. An actual data standard for making the data standard and machine-readable, either as a downloaded XML file or through an API. Green Button is an industry-developed standard, created in an open and consensus-based process.