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Need help in this area? See Methodology FAQ or contact [email protected].

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Overview

When your organization occupies only part of a building — for example, three floors of a ten-story office tower — your utility bills may reflect the entire building’s consumption rather than just your portion. The occupancy adjustment feature lets you specify what percentage of a site’s usage belongs to you, and Nectar automatically adjusts usage values so your analytics, exports, and cost attribution reflect only your share.

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How it works

Occupancy adjustment involves two settings working together:
  1. Occupancy percent — A number between 0 and 100 on the site, representing the percentage of the building you occupy.
  2. Application mode — Controls how and when that percentage is applied to your usage data.
When occupancy is applied, every usage record on the site is multiplied by the occupancy percentage. For example, if a bill shows 10,000 kWh and your occupancy is 60%, the adjusted usage becomes 6,000 kWh.
Occupancy adjustment applies to the raw usage extracted from your bills. The adjusted value flows through to all downstream calculations — analytics, calendarization, exports, and cost attribution.

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Adjustment modes

The occupancy adjustment mode on a site determines which usage records are adjusted:

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Choosing the right mode

  • Most common: If all your bills at a site reflect the full building, use All data and set your percentage once.
  • Mixed sources: If some connections deliver tenant-specific data (like a sub-meter on your floor) while others deliver whole-building data (like a master meter), use Per connection and enable the adjustment only on the whole-building connections.
  • Informational only: If you track occupancy for reporting purposes but don’t want it to change your usage values, use Disabled.

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Setting occupancy on a site

  1. Navigate to Settings > Sites and select the site.
  2. In the Basic info section, enter the Occupancy % (0–100).
  3. Choose the Application mode:
    • Do not apply (Disabled)
    • Apply to all data (All)
    • Apply per connection setting (Per connection)
  4. Click Save.
When you change the adjustment mode or the occupancy percentage, Nectar automatically recalculates all affected usage records in the background.

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Connection-level setting

Each connection has a Multiply by occupancy checkbox in its advanced configuration. This setting is only consulted when the site’s adjustment mode is set to Per connection:
  • If the site mode is All data, every usage record is adjusted regardless of this checkbox.
  • If the site mode is Disabled, no usage records are adjusted regardless of this checkbox.
  • If the site mode is Per connection, only usage records from connections where this checkbox is enabled are adjusted.

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Setting up per-connection occupancy

  1. Navigate to a connection’s detail view.
  2. Open Advanced configuration.
  3. Enable Multiply by occupancy.
  4. Ensure the associated site has an occupancy percentage set and its mode is Per connection.

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Where adjusted values appear

Once occupancy is applied, the adjusted usage values appear across the platform:
Exports include both columns — the raw bill usage and the adjusted usage — so you can always reconcile against the original document.

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Bulk import

When importing sites via CSV, you can include both occupancy fields:

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When recalculation happens

Nectar automatically recalculates affected usage records when any of the following changes: Recalculation runs in the background. For most sites it completes in seconds; sites with thousands of bills may take a few minutes. You’ll see a notification when a reassignment triggers recalculation.

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Frequently asked questions

No adjustment is applied — 100% of the building’s usage is already yours. The system only applies the multiplier when occupancy is between 0 and 100 (exclusive).
Not currently. Occupancy is set at the site level and applies uniformly to all meters at that site. If you have meters that represent different portions, consider splitting them across separate sites.
Yes. When you change the percentage or the adjustment mode, Nectar recalculates all affected usage records. This happens in the background and may take a few minutes for sites with many bills.
If the new site has a different occupancy configuration, Nectar automatically recalculates the meter’s usage records to reflect the new site’s settings. You don’t need to take any extra steps — a notification confirms that recalculation is in progress.
If the new connection has different occupancy settings (for example, moving from a connection without Multiply by occupancy to one that has it enabled), usage records are automatically recalculated.
If usage values changed without you editing them directly, it’s likely because an occupancy recalculation was triggered. This happens automatically when you (or a team member) change the occupancy percentage, switch the adjustment mode, toggle Multiply by occupancy on a connection, or reassign a meter to a site or connection with different occupancy settings.
For most sites, recalculation completes within seconds. Sites with a large number of historical bills (thousands) may take a few minutes. The recalculation runs in the background — you can continue using the platform while it processes.
Yes. Set the adjustment mode to Disabled. The percentage is saved on the site for reference (useful for reporting or future activation) but does not modify any usage values.
Occupancy is applied first — it adjusts the raw usage on each bill. Calendarization then prorates the adjusted values across calendar months. The order ensures consistent results regardless of billing period lengths.
Yes. The usage data table and bill detail views always show the original bill values. Exports include both the original and adjusted values in separate columns.
See also: Glossary — Site, Sites overview, Calendarization