Industrial IoT & Energy Monitoring Glossary

Definitions of the industrial IoT, SCADA, building automation, and energy management terms that come up when discussing SEnergy IoT. If a term you were looking for is missing, email info@senergy.net — we add new entries regularly.

BACnet

An ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135 building automation and control networking protocol. Comes in several flavors: BACnet IP, BACnet MSTP (over RS-485), and BACnet SC. Primarily used in HVAC and building controls. SEnergy IoT supports BACnet IP and BACnet MSTP natively.

BMS (Building Management System)

A software platform that monitors and controls a building's mechanical and electrical equipment — HVAC, lighting, fire, security, elevators. Common examples: Siemens Desigo, Honeywell EBI, Johnson Controls Metasys, Schneider EcoStruxure Building. SEnergy IoT integrates with BMS platforms via BACnet or Modbus.

CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System)

Software that manages work orders, preventive maintenance, and asset records. Examples: Maximo, ServiceNow, Freshservice. SEnergy IoT generates tickets into CMMS platforms via webhook when rule-based thresholds are breached.

DCU (Data Concentrator Unit)

The edge device SEnergy IoT places on-site to collect data from meters and sensors, perform protocol conversion, buffer during network outages, and securely forward to the SEnergy cloud. The DCU abstracts protocol diversity away from the cloud layer.

Digital twin

A live software model of a physical asset — plant, substation, HVAC plant room, factory floor — with real-time sensor telemetry overlaid. SEnergy IoT provides 2D and 3D digital twins driven by the historian and live stream.

DNP3 (Distributed Network Protocol)

A communication protocol used widely in utility SCADA, especially electrical substations and water utilities. SEnergy IoT supports DNP3 serial and DNP3 TCP for utility and load-dispatch telemetry.

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)

A software platform that integrates the main business processes of an enterprise — finance, HR, procurement, manufacturing, supply chain. Examples: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics. SEnergy IoT integrates with ERP for cost allocation, specific-energy accounting, and work-order synchronization.

GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Substation Event)

A fast peer-to-peer messaging service defined in IEC 61850 for substation protection and automation. SEnergy IoT ingests GOOSE for high-speed substation telemetry.

Historian

A time-series database optimized for high-volume industrial sensor data, with compression, retention policies, and fast time-range queries. SEnergy IoT ships an integrated historian so customers don't need to procure one separately.

HMI (Human-Machine Interface)

The graphical screen operators use to monitor and control a plant or process. Traditional SCADA has engineered HMI screens; SEnergy IoT replaces the HMI with browser dashboards.

IEC 61850

The international standard for communication networks and systems in electrical substations. Includes MMS for client-server and GOOSE for peer-to-peer. SEnergy IoT supports IEC 61850 MMS and GOOSE for substation automation and utility SCADA.

IoT (Internet of Things)

The network of physical devices embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity that collect and exchange data. Industrial IoT (IIoT) is the application of IoT to manufacturing, utilities, and heavy industry — SEnergy IoT's domain.

ISO 50001

The international standard for energy management systems. Requires an energy policy, baseline, performance indicators (SEnPIs), action plans, and periodic review. SEnergy IoT provides the measurement, baselining, and reporting infrastructure that satisfies ISO 50001 requirements.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

The US Green Building Council's green-building certification scheme. Points are awarded for sustainable site selection, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials, indoor environmental quality, and innovation. SEnergy IoT provides measurement and verification evidence for up to 10 points.

Measurement and Verification (M&V)

The process of planning, measuring, computing, and reporting savings from energy-efficiency projects at a specific site. The reference framework is the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP). SEnergy IoT automates M&V reporting.

MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification)

The client-server protocol defined in ISO 9506 and used in IEC 61850 for substation automation. SEnergy IoT supports MMS alongside GOOSE for complete IEC 61850 compliance.

Modbus

The de facto industrial protocol since 1979. Modbus RTU runs over serial (RS-232, RS-485); Modbus TCP runs over Ethernet. SEnergy IoT supports both and provides protocol conversion at the DCU for legacy serial loops.

MQTT

A lightweight publish-subscribe messaging protocol commonly used in IoT. SEnergy IoT supports MQTT for cloud-friendly data ingestion from constrained devices.

OPC-UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture)

A platform-independent service-oriented architecture for industrial automation. OPC-UA is the modern successor to OPC Classic and is widely used to bridge SCADA, PLCs, and MES. SEnergy IoT supports OPC-UA for integration with Wonderware, Siemens WinCC, Rockwell FactoryTalk, and other SCADA.

PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)

A ruggedized industrial computer that executes control logic for machines and processes. Common vendors: Siemens, Rockwell, Mitsubishi, Schneider, Omron. SEnergy IoT reads from PLCs over Modbus, OPC-UA, or vendor-specific drivers.

PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness)

The standard efficiency metric for data centers: total facility energy divided by IT equipment energy. A PUE of 1.0 is theoretical perfection; typical modern data centers run 1.2 to 1.5. SEnergy IoT ships a PUE dashboard out of the box for data-center customers.

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

A category of software that gathers and analyzes real-time data from industrial processes to monitor and control equipment. Traditional SCADA is on-premise and HMI-centric. SEnergy IoT delivers cloud-native SCADA with browser dashboards.

SEnPI (Specific Energy Performance Indicator)

A ratio-based indicator defined in ISO 50001: energy consumed per unit of output (kWh per tonne, kWh per m², kWh per occupant-day). SEnergy IoT computes SEnPIs automatically from meter and production data.

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)

A protocol for monitoring network devices, servers, UPSs, and PDUs. SEnergy IoT supports SNMP v1, v2c, and v3 for IT infrastructure monitoring alongside operational technology data.

TLS (Transport Layer Security)

The cryptographic protocol used to secure network communication. SEnergy IoT uses TLS 1.2+ for all edge-to-cloud traffic, with per-DCU client certificates for mutual authentication.