INTERSYSTEMS CACHÉ CASE STUDY

Breakthrough Application Leverages the HighPerformance and Small Footprint of InterSystemsCaché to Help Communities Save Energy

The efficient management of energy andwater resources is one of the key challengesfacing society today. With water resourcesalready under pressure and demand for

energy in Australiaprojected to increase by50 per cent by 2020,Queensland-basedEcoVision™ providesintegrated resourcemanagement solutions toreduce costs to theconsumer and theenvironment.

The EcoVision system features aninnovative touchscreen interface for the homewhich helps raise consumer awarenessaround resource consumption and empowersbuilding occupants to reduce theirenvironmental footprint. By graphicallydisplaying energy and water usage andautomatically turning connected devices onand off, EcoVision helps home owners save on

electricity, gas and water bills in times ofincreasing energy prices and limited wateravailability.

Feedback provided by EcoVision empowersand encourages users to set their own targetsand then adjust their consumption habitsaccording to their lifestyle choices. Benefits ofany energy-saving initiatives – such aschanging light fittings or appliances – can beverified instantaneously.

Founded in 2005 by Gold Coast engineersRick Maddox and Steve Miller, EcoVisionstrives to deliver products that are relevanttoday, but also flexible enough to be able to bemodified for various future interfacingsystems and evolving market needs.

In 2006, the company won its first majorcontract with Landmatters, the developers ofThe Ecovillage at Currumbin, to provide real-time energy and water monitoring systems in144 new homes. Residents of the Ecovillagenow interact with EcoVision on a day-to-daybasis to check their total energy and water

“The Caché database isexceptionally powerful and able tohandle very large volumes of data

rapidly and reliably.”

– Steve Miller Co-founder, EcoVision

� Small footprint

� Real-time processingof massive amountsof data

� Open interfaces usingsecure Web Services

EcoVision

consumption, and monitor progress againsttheir targets. Some residents havedemonstrated the feasibility of being netenergy exporters to the grid.

EcoVision was acquired in August 2008 byPacific Environment Limited, a companylisted on the Australian Stock Exchange. Sincethen, it has secured a number of contracts tosupply both residential and commercialsystems.

The company chose the InterSystems Cachédatabase and rapid development environmentbecause of its advanced technologies thataggregate large volumes of data, fastprocessing speed, easy connectivity, smallfootprint and robust operation.

EcoVision makes extensive use of Caché’sability to support both object and SQLdatabase access. Objects are accessed nativelyfor real-time pattern recognition and SQLaccess is used to display data or connect toremote data sources via Web services.

“The architecture of the Caché storagemechanisms and the ability to access thesame data directly as an object or via SQLmade this application viable,” said Miller.“EcoVision uses Web services to communicatebetween different modules and under thatthere is usually a SQL viewer or querysupporting the service. Caché’s SQLcapabilities allowed us to modularise thecomponents so we could decide to migratethe user interface to .NET instead of Flash, forexample, without having to rebuild the rest ofthe application.”

Caché’s small footprint was essential inkeeping the cost of the EcoVision touchscreenunits as low as possible. Its legendaryrobustness was equally important inminimising support costs.

“Essentially we have taken industrialstrength technology and put it in the home,”said Miller. “The only time we have ever hadto make a support call is when there has beensome corruption due to power failure and,even then, they were hardware corruptionsnot software.”

Capturing Consumption Data for WholeCommunities

Caché’s ability to rapidly process largevolumes of information and perform real-timeanalytics allows EcoVision to connect to andmanage a virtually unlimited number ofmeters, sensors and controllers in the home.Individual EcoVision systems can also beinterlinked through broadband networks toaggregate detailed consumption data forwhole communities.

“Through our innovative and highly flexiblearchitecture EcoVision can contribute tosmart grid initiatives which aim to increasesupply and demand side cooperation,” saidMiller.

Caché’s object database capabilities meanthat EcoVision can perform real-time patternrecognition on the very large sets ofaggregated data generated by a virtual or areal community.

“The Caché database is exceptionallypowerful and able to handle very largevolumes of data rapidly and reliably,” saidMiller. “We are aggregating data fromthousands of homes and from multiplesources within each home. Object databaseaccess is fundamental to being able to processthe massive numbers of data points generatedin real time.”

The company’s demand side managementcapability is currently being trialled in theSouth Australia Government's Lochiel Parkproject where residents can subscribe to keeptheir peak electricity consumption below oneof three self-selectable limits in return forrebates off their household electricity bills.

Once they have subscribed, EcoVisiontracks peak demand trends and sheds non-essential loads such as pool pumps, airconditioners, dishwashers and washingmachines in a priority determined by thehouseholder in order to keep consumptionbelow the selected limit. The system does notaffect essential loads such as lighting andgeneral power.

InterSystems Australia

Pty Limited

Level 12, 383 Kent Street

Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

Tel: +61 2 9380 7111

Fax: +61 2 9380 7121

InterSystems.com

InterSystems Caché is a registered trademark of InterSystems Corporation. Other product names are trademarks of their respective vendors. © copyright 2010 InterSystems Corporation. All rights reserved

By facilitating demand side cooperation inthe future, EcoVision aims to help minimisedemand spikes and allow energy suppliers tomeet increasing power demand withrenewable energy sources rather thanbuilding new fossil-fuel burning powerstations.

“In Queensland you have massivepopulation growth and it is difficult tosupport these new communities without newpower sources,” said Miller. “EcoVision is abreakthrough application that works verywell with new renewable sources like windfarms by accommodating their naturalvariance. If the provision of service is notcoordinated with demand management,however, then the ability to meet newdemand with renewables cannot be met.”