Brief Overall Description of the Dataset: WegoWise collects “utility data” from people and helps them figure out where they can save money. The system even compares people’s buildings to “similar buildings” to help them make better decisions. Therefore, WegoWise collects data on “energy” and “water” usage in various buildings across the country.
As the website says: “If you are dedicated to improving the efficiency of buildings, we can help. Our software provides timely, insightful, and actionable information to help you manage energy and water use.”
Link: https://www.wegowise.com/tour
Date Inventory Completed: 6/2/2015
Screening
- Is the data collected opinion-based?
- Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
- Is there data available for 2013?
- For Housing: Is the data collected at the property or housing unit level?
- Can we access the data by August 15th?
Purpose
What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?
WegoWise is a company that provides statistics and graphs to users about the “utility usage” in their buildings.
Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?
WegoWise collects “utility data” from people to help them figure out energy and water usage issues in their buildings (which will ultimately help them save money). The system even "compares" people’s buildings to “similar buildings” to help them make better decisions.
Who else uses the data?
People who pay for the service, which include homeowners and landlords
Who do they sell the data to?
They do not ‘sell’ the data to anyone. Users give WegoWise access to their utility bills. The service does "compare" people’s buildings to “similar buildings,” but WegoWise is not giving users other people’s data. (My guess would be that WegoWise either erases all personal information from comparison buildings or creates some kind of ‘average’ to represent the comparison building.)
Method
What is the data collection method?
WegoWise brings in data from “utility companies across North America.”
What is the type of data collected?
Administrative data
If designed, who created the questions?
Not designed
What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? (
Administrative records (utility forms)
Description
What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?
Utility/Water Data
What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?
Unknown because we were not able to get the data set.
Timeliness
Is data collected and available periodically?
Since they collect utility/water data, it would be collected on a monthly basis (and it seems from the website that it goes up very quickly as well).
How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided?
Unknown (since we don’t have the data set)
Selectivity
What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents (consider inclusion/exclusion criteria)?
Users of WegoWise in the United States
Accessibility
How is the data accessed?
Unknown
Is it open data?
No
Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?
Since the data is comprised of people’s personal utility/water information, there will definitely be privacy restrictions.
Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment? (e.g., $500 for every 5 years of data; Not listed)
Unknown
Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? NO
Explanation:
Unfortunately, WegoWise did not get back to me about providing data to SDAL, so we cannot assume that we will be able to get the data by August 15th. Furthermore, since the data comprises of people’s individual utility bills (and since it is information people have directly given to the site), it would be difficult to obtain in the first place. However, it may be a source worth putting in the back of our minds.