OptoMizer™ is multi-user, network-ready auditing software for the design, data collection, analysis and energy reporting of lighting retrofit project audit data. It supports an unlimited number of system users and audits due to its relational database design. Sites operating separate copies of the OptoMizer™ system can selectively ‘pass’ audits or configuration data between systems allowing for a completely paper-less operation.

OptoMizer™ incorporates all of the lighting technology needed to create reports that range from parts lists, to detailed energy studies, to complete proposal packages. OptoMizer™ utilizes industry standard software (Microsoft Access) to ensure ease of use and provide for a long lifetime of service.

The parts facilities within OptoMizer™ enables the lighting designer to track individual lighting component parts and pricing for use in the creation of luminaire designs.

The following is a listing of the fields available for tracking information about each type of lighting part:

The Budget Expiration Date for each part is used to remind the user that the cost of the part may be out of date.

There are two types of schedules that can be created in the Optomizer™ System. The first are called daily schedules and the second are called operating schedules.

Daily schedules are made up of a specific number of ON hours within a 24 day (hour 0 to hour 23).

Operating schedules are made up of three daily schedules grouped together. The three daily schedules would be classified as Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday.

An operating schedule would then be assigned to an audit space as either an ‘Existing Schedule’ or a ‘Design Schedule.’

Assigning an operating schedule to an audit space then allows the system to calculate accurate energy usage and savings utilizing the existing and design wattage’s in conjunction with the existing and design operating schedules.

Schedules are an automated feature within the OptoMizer system where the unique schedule id, description, and annual hour calculations are automatically created as the user builds the schedule.

The existing luminaire design facility allows for the recording of existing fixture information in conjunction with a design luminaire and budget definition. Existing fixture information is tracked for the purpose of recording the installation characteristics as well as the existing wattage.

This information is used to design the replacement fixture and generate a budget for the complete retrofit of the fixture.

The existing luminaire design facility incorporates the existing fixture, design or retrofit fixture, and a budget for the retrofit into a single linked record that can then be assigned directly to an audit space.

The design luminaire facility allows for the detailed creation of fixtures utilizing design component descriptions in addition to the actual design components (parts). This facility allows the designer to manually create detailed fixtures while the system automatically creates a condensed, verbose description of the fixture and a related budget cost.

OptoMizer supports an unlimited number of wattages that can be entered for each existing or design fixture code record. This gives the user the ability to enter in wattages such as Manufacturer, ANSI, or utility company wattages that can then be selected at fixture design time.

Within an audit, each existing and design fixture record utilized can then support up to two wattage values assigned at a time. The two selected wattage values are then available for selection at report time. For example, a user could run a energy savings report on a project audit utilizing the standard ANSI wattage values, then run the exact same report again using the projects utility company wattage.

The audit screen is the primary data collection screen where the lighting auditor enters data on a space-by-space basis. The auditing process can move quickly as most of the necessary data to complete each space audit has already been designed or pre-configured in anticipation of the audit at hand (i.e. existing luminaire and design luminaire configurations, operating schedules, area usage types, etc.).

Detailed information about each audit space is captured and recorded within the OptoMizer software as the physical audit takes place:

Space Identifier

Space Name

Existing and Design Area Usage Types

Existing and Design Operating Schedules

Zone, Building and Floor where the space is located

Ceiling Height and Type

General, Task & Day Foot Candle readings

Existing and Design Lighting Controls

Installation Difficulty rating

General Space Notes

Installation Notes

Existing Luminaires, (with design lumiaires and budget costs linked) and quantities, present in the space.

During the space-by-space audit, the auditor has the ability to create components on the fly directly from the audit entry screen (security permitting). This includes creating Existing and Design Luminaires, and Operating and Daily Schedules.

In addition, several tools are provided to the auditor within the audit screen to perform verifications and time saving features against the audit:

Options are provided to the auditor within the audit screen to perform special functions such as:

The OptoMizer™ database system can be configured to support a ‘network’ of OptoMizer™ systems that can pass audits and configuration information between themselves. There are two modes of operation that an OptoMizer™ system can be configured for: Master or Slave.

In a typical master / slave setup, one copy of OptoMizer™ would be designated as the ‘Master’ system within the organization. This ‘master’ system would be the copy that is continually updated with the latest lighting component parts and pricing. Other OptoMizer system’s within the organization would be designated as ‘Slave’ systems. These ‘Slave’ systems would receive parts and pricing updates from the ‘Master’ system, whereby keeping all of the OptoMizer systems within the company synchronized.

Many variations of this multiple system configuration are conceivable in order to protect pricing structures that may differ from one office to another.

The OptoMizer™ database has full importing and exporting capabilities. These capabilities allow for configuration tables, full projects, or individual audits to be “passed” between OptoMizer™ databases. This “passing” allows for full electronic communication and synchronization between systems.

The importing and exporting capabilities also allow for the electronic archiving of audits. Audits can be exported into a single file and then stored on disk for future reference.

There are three types of import / export files that can be generated by the system:

Configuration Tables: The ‘Configuration Tables’ export file contains all records in the Lamps, Ballasts, Sockets, Reflector Kits, Hardware, Misc. Hardware, Lens, Occupancy Controls, Fixtures, Fixture Wattages, and Design ID Components tables. It also includes all Design Luminaire and Budget Cost templates, Cost Description Templates, Daily and Operating schedules.

Use of this export would be for synchronizing all configuration tables within the target ‘Slave’ OptoMizer™ database with the ‘Master’ OptoMizer™ database. This export contains no project or audit related data.

Complete Project: The ‘Complete Project’ export file includes all data related to the selected project for BOTH the Model and Construction audits (if applicable). This export also includes all information included in the ‘Configuration Tables’ export type as described previously.

When a ‘Complete Project’ export file is imported into an OptoMizer™ database, the import procedure will remove any project from the system bearing the same project number as the one being imported. After which, a full configuration tables update will occur, then the entire project will be imported into the system.

Specific Project Audit: The ‘Specific Project Audit’ export file includes all data related to the selected project for ONLY the audit type selected. This export also includes all information included in the ‘Configuration Tables’ export type as described previously.

Unlike the ‘Complete Project’ import, the ‘Specific Project Audit’ import only removes the audit from the system bearing the same project number as the one being imported. It will leave the other audit intact for the project.

The OptoMizer system contains pre-defined database reports that cover the majority of the reporting needs for an audit proposal. These reports are extremely detail oriented and provide data calculations to satisfy most customer and utility company requirements.

The majority of the OptoMizer reports are interactive in that the user has many parameters and methods of output to select from. Most of the reports included in the system can be printed, previewed, turned into an Excel spreadsheet, or output to a delimited text file.

Energy reports have the option of being run against different wattage types at the report run time. This allows the user to easily run reports and examine the outcome utilizing ANSI wattage, or any other configured wattage type.