How do common area meters work and how is their consumption tracked?

Common area meters measure consumption in shared spaces — lobbies, hallways, parking garages, stairwells, elevator systems, and other spaces no tenant rents exclusively. These meters have a specific assignment type and are tracked separately from tenant and building meters.

Setting up a common area meter

When creating or editing a meter, set the assignment_type to "common_area". This tells the system the meter measures shared-space consumption. Go to Buildings → select building → Meters tab → add or edit a meter → set Assignment Type to "Common Area".

How common area consumption is tracked

The system queries all meters with assignment_type = "common_area" separately. In the Building Energy Overview, common area usage appears as its own metric (CommonAreaUsage) alongside tenant consumption. This gives you a clear picture of how much energy the shared spaces consume.

Two approaches to handling common area costs

Explicit common area meters — you have physical meters measuring shared spaces. Their consumption is tracked precisely. This is the most accurate approach.
Implied from building total — your main building meter measures everything, and tenant sub-meters measure each local. The difference (building total minus sum of tenant readings) is the implied common area consumption.

How common area costs reach tenants

Common area costs are distributed to tenants via the cost allocation system. The building's common_area field (in m²) defines the shared space. When generating invoices, the system:

Calculates common_area_percentage = building.common_area ÷ building.total_area
Splits the invoice into direct and common area buckets
Distributes the common area bucket to tenants based on their area share
The vacancy_cost_share_pct setting controls how much of vacant-space common costs tenants pay

Where to check: Buildings → select building → Meters tab (filter by "Common Area"). Cost Allocation → building metrics show common area statistics.