It is often useful to bulk import data into Maalka when you have established a new Client or a new portfolio and wish to populate it with many buildings, each with possibly many resource accounts. Maalka supports this through the Import Data action.
NOTE: Always insure you have a current Maalka Site import template and Maalka Account Import Template.
You can retrieve a current version of the Import Templates from (you must be logged in to Maalka access these links):
These .xlsx files allow very flexible import of various configurations of data into Maalka. You MUST insure all require fields are properly filled with valid information and that all associations off accounts to sites, and account data to accounts, will be properly related.
1. Start with a clean Site Import Template (click to download) and use Excel to fill out the required and any optional fields for the sites you wish to import
2. Go to the Maalka Dashboard of the Client you want to import the sites into.
3. Import the .xlsx file into Maalka using the Import Data item in the Maalka Black Navigation bar Gear dropdown.
5. Select file type Maalka Site Template
6. Upon successful completion, you will receive a notification at the top of your screen. You will also see your imported sites and data in the Analytics tab in Maalka.
1. Start with a clean Account Import Template (click to download) and use Excel to fill out the required and any optional fields for the accounts you wish to import
2. Go to the Maalka Dashboard of the Client into which you wish to import the accounts. NOTE: all sites that are to have accounts associated during import process must already be defined within the Maalka Client.
3. Import the .xlsx file into Maalka using the Import Data item in the Maalka Black Navigation bar Gear dropdown.
4. Select file type Maalka Account Template
6. Upon successful completion, you will receive a notification at the top of your screen. You will also see your imported sites and data in the Analytics tab in Maalka.
The fastest and most straightforward way to retrieve your data from Portfolio Manager is to download your entire portfolio directly from the MyPortfolio tab. If you are looking to export specific data, or if your file exceeds 50,000 rows, you will need to select the custom download option.
1. Go to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager at https://portfoliomanager.energystar.gov/pm/home and log in. Here you will see a screen with menu items and any buildings in your portfolio.
2. Click "Download your entire portfolio to Excel" to export all data associated with your portfolio.
3. Navigate to the Maalka Dashboard and go into your Client to upload your export.
4. Import the file into Maalka using the Import Data item of the Black Navigation bar Gear dropdown.
5. Select file type ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® Export
6. Click Select File and choose your .xlsx file export.
7. Upon successful completion, you will receive a notification at the top of your screen. You will also see your imported sites and data in the Analytics tab in Maalka.
Weather-normalized data comes into Maalka through the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Reports, and it may be necessary to generate these reports on top of your Portfolio Manager exports. These reports are created through the reporting tab of the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager online portal. To generate a Performance Targets report, run the following three reports
1. Go to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Reports. Login and you should find the three reports listed under My Reports and Templates.
2. There are a few extra steps to get your files ready for download. First, for each of the reports, select "Edit this Template" in the "I want to..." dropdown.
3. Next you will need to identify which properties you want to include in the report. You can update other information if you wish, but you cannot generate your report unless you select one or more properties.
4. Select the properties you want to include in your report, or select all by clicking the checkbox in the table header. Click Apply Selection to save your property selections (you may need to scroll down the modal to use this button).
5. Click Save Template.
6. Now, choose Generate Report in the "I want to..." dropdown. This will prepare your report for download.
7. After a few minutes, your report will be ready and a green Generated icon will appear on the file row. Now you can download the report, so choose Download Current Report in Excel in the "I want to..." dropdown.
8. Your report will download to your computer or device. Remember, you will need to repeat these steps for each of the reports linked at the top of this section.
9. Navigate back to your Client in Maalka, and click on the Import Data item in the Black Navigation bar Gear dropdown.
10. In the File Type dropdown, upload as an ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Report.
11. Click Select File and choose one of your generated reports from the ENERGY STAR Porfolio Manager Reports section.
12. Look for a notification that your file was uploaded correctly, and then repeat steps 1 - 3 for each of your three report files.
Note: Imports of ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® Reports into Maalka are generally undertaken to initiate a Maalka Performance Target or Benchmark Compliance Program. For a guide specific to importing data for use in the Performance Targets Program, go here.
It is possible, and often useful to use the import process to update, correct, or extend client data that already exists in Maalka. It is possible (and encouraged) that multiple imports allow this to happen. You may import the same file multiple times if you wish. The only consideration is related to data changes that may have been made through the Maalka application by individual users.
If, for example a user has modified the name of a site after that site was last imported, a second import of the original Maalka Site Template will revert that change back to its original value. Maalka keeps that change made by the user, but the arrow-of-time is moved forward to the name associated with the second import. In reality, the site will contain three names, the first imported one, the one the user changed, and the second imported one. In most situations, it is the most recent value of the name that is desired, but it is always possible to move back over that history and see what modifications have occurred over time.
So in general, you should not be wary of multiple imports of the same data. It will increase the overall size of the storage space required, but this not a concern for small or medium sized clients. Larger clients may want to only import changed information to avoid this. For example, when you have new monthly data for a collection of accounts, you may not want to re-import the previous data for those accounts to limit the storage required of your Maalka application.
Importing data is always a task that, when it works, is straightforward. If it works, it works easily and cleanly. BUT there are always opportunities for typing errors when information is entered into the Maalka Site or Account Templates.
The FIRST thing to do when you are informed of an error during the import process it to identify the error by looking at the Maalka Files tab. Here you will see a listing of all files that have successfully been imported into Maaka. You may also, by clicking on the Show Failed button, review errors that have occurred during the import process for any given file. To review the errors, look at the Audit Log of the file and click on the Import Log to see the error(s) that caused the failure. Once the problem causing the error has been corrected, you may re-import the file.
