Microservice-based Architecture of a Software as a Service (SaaS) Building Energy Management Platform

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present a three layered micro service based approach to designing a Software as a Service (SaaS) based building energy management system (BEMS). The ”Core layer” is comprised of micro services performing core functionalities of the system, the ”API layer” serves as a gateway between the core system and front-end services. Finally the ”Service layer” provides the SaaS functionalities and applications experienced by the end-user. This paper presents a micro service based energy management system that can be effectively used by an end user to monitor and control electrical equipment and can be integrated into a large power system network. The proposed architecture has been used to develop a cloud based web interface and an iOS/android application of a building energy management system which is presented as a case study demonstrating performance and development improvements for a BEMS system developed using the micro service approach.