Sankey diagrams for navigation and selection of connected entities and flows

Abstract

A monitoring system (1) for monitoring and / or tracking flows (10) of at least one quantity at nodes (95) of an infrastructural system (90), said monitoring system (1) comprising a processor (71), a memory (72) connected to said processor (71), an interface (73), a selection component (74), a visualization tool (75), and a display device (76); wherein the interface (73) is configured for receiving data representing said flows (10); wherein the visualization tool (75) is configured for causing the processor (71) to process said data for displaying on the display device (76) in a main pane (3) a sankey diagram (30) representing the flows (10) of the quantity of the infrastructural system (90); wherein the selection component (74) is configured for receiving a selection of one or more items (31) of the sankey diagram (30) via the main pane (3), wherein an item (31) represents one of the nodes (95) or a connection between two or more nodes (95) of the infrastructural system (90); wherein the visualization tool (75) is configured for causing the processor (71) to process said data for displaying on the display device (76) in a detail pane (5) additional information (50) related to the one or more selected items (31) based on said data.

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Sankey Diagrams for Navigation and Selection of Connected Entities and Flows

[0003] The instant disclosure generally relates to the technical field of monitoring and tracking flows of a quantity related to an infrastructure.

[0004] To visualize flows of energy or material, structures / filters are used to visualize the structure of items of interest and to allow for individual selections. Based on the selection the user gets shown a diagram with the selected items (e.g. with a bar or line chart) . This limits the user to grasp flows within one single widget.

[0005] Improved solutions use sankey diagrams to visualize flows providing separate (tree) filters to select items of interest. Here, sankey diagrams are static and used for visualization purposes only.

[0006] US 11,592,851 B2 discloses an approach including so-called "treemaps" that visualize information related to a building.

[0007] Other typical solutions would drill-down from one diagram on a page to another page to show more details. Here the user does not have the overview on relevant parts of the structure and neither the energy flow between them, only a view on detailed information.

[0008] The building and manufacturing sector and other sectors relating to infrastructure bears enormous (C02) emission reduction potential. However, suitable tools for analysis and visualization are required to monitor and track material or energy flows on different levels which allow to derive measures for optimizing production plants and buildings' energy efficiency. By tracking and monitoring material and energy flows across different levels, items of high consumption or gaps in consumption as well as losses can be detected easily. A typical example is analyzing the energy flows of a building, from the total consumption of the building measured with main meters (e.g., grid connection point) , to the consumption of individual floors, to the consumption of individual devices (e.g., charging infrastructure) measured with sub-meters.

[0009] To support this workflow end to end, two problems need to be solved :

[0010] Visualization of the related network / node structure and the corresponding material or energy flows (sankey diagrams are often used for this) ;

[0011] Option to select the identified items of interest to analyze them in detail (e.g., in an additional widget to dive into one or multiple flows' characteristics over time - e.g., time series analysis) .

[0012] It is an object of the present disclosure to improve monitoring and / or tracking flows of a quantity of an infrastructural system. This object is achieved by the solutions presented in the independent claims.

[0013] According to an aspect, a monitoring system for monitoring and / or tracking flows of a quantity at nodes of an infrastructural system is disclosed. The monitoring system comprises a processor, a memory connected to said processor, an interface, a selection component, a visualization tool, and a display device. The interface is configured for receiving data representing said flows. The visualization tool is configured for causing the processor to process said data for displaying on the display device in a main pane a sankey diagram representing the flows of the quantity of the infrastructural system. The selection component is configured for receiving a selection of one or more items of the sankey diagram via the main pane, wherein an item represents one of the nodes or a connection between two or more nodes of the infrastructural system. The visualization tool is configured for causing the processor to process said data for displaying on the display device in one or more detail pane additional information related to the one or more selected items based on said data .

[0014] According to a further aspect , a method for monitoring and / or tracking flows of a quantity at nodes of an infrastructural system is disclosed . According to the method, data representing said flows is received . The data is processed for displaying in a main pane a sankey diagram representing the flows of the quantity of the infrastructural system . One or more items of the sankey diagram are selected via the main pane , wherein an item represents one of the nodes or a connection between two or more nodes of the infrastructural system . Based on said data, additional information related to the one or more selected items is generated and displayed in a detail pane .

[0015] According to a further aspect , a data processing system is disclosed . The data processing system comprises means for carrying out the steps of said method .

[0016] According to a further aspect , a computer program product is disclosed . The computer program product comprises instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of said method .

[0017] More speci fic embodiments are presented in an exemplary manner in the independent claims , in the figures , and in the description .

[0018] According to an embodiment , the additional information related to the selected item is related to a flow in said item . This allows to directly present information related to a flow as a basis for monitoring or controlling the infrastructural system . For example , the selected item can be a node , and the additional information is related to one , several or more flows flowing to , within or out of said node . According to an embodiment , the additional information related to the selected item comprises information about events related to said item . This provides in addition or alternatively information that allows to deduce or interpret the state of the infrastructural system or a part of the infrastructural system . For example , this allows to ef ficiently collect information relating to alerts or exceptions and control the infrastructural system in order to reduce hazards related to the events .

[0019] According to an embodiment , the main pane and the detailed pane are connected such that the selection of one or more item automatically causes the detail pane to display the additional information related to the one or more selected items . This provides for ef ficient monitoring of the flows and / or events related to flows .

[0020] According to an embodiment , the flows of more than one quantity are monitored and / or tracked at the nodes of the infrastructural system . The interface is configured for receiving data representing said flows of the more than one quantities . The visuali zation tool is configured for causing the processor to process said data for displaying on the display device in a main pane sankey diagrams representing the flows of the quantities of the infrastructural system . The selection component is configured for receiving a selection of one or more items of at least one of the sankey diagrams via the main pane . The visuali zation tool is configured for causing the processor to process said data for displaying on the display device in one or more detail panes additional information related to the one or more selected items for the selected one or more quantities based on the received data .

[0021] According to an embodiment , the method further comprises the method step of narrowing down the data shown in the sankey diagram by means of one or more filters . For example , a filter can be configured for allowing to select a time-period on the basis on which the sankey diagram in the main pane and / or additional information in the detail pane is evaluated and displayed . As another example , in addition or alternatively, a filter can be configured for allowing to select one or more items of interest , about which additional information is to be displayed in the detail pane or some other pane . As another example , in addition or alternatively, a filter can be configured for allowing to select one or more quantities of interest about which additional information in the detailed pane or some other pane is evaluated and displayed .

[0022] According to an embodiment , the infrastructural system comprises one or more buildings , and the data is generated by a building automation system .

[0023] According to an embodiment , the data is generated automatically, for example by means of a sensor system, for example by sensors of a building automation system . Alternatively, or additionally, the data can also be generated or ingested manually .

[0024] According to an embodiment , the at least one quantity comprises one or more physical quantities . For example , the at least one quantity can comprise an energy, such a electrical energy and / or heat . In many cases , a quantity can be positive or negative . For example , regarding heat , the quantity can be positive for providing heat to a building or to an industrial process , while the cooling of a building or providing cooling performance to an industrial process can be described as a negative flow of heat . In a similar manner, the consumption or production of electrical energy by a prosumer ( e . g . a building that consumes electrical energy but also produces and feeds electrical energy to the grid by means of photovol- taics ) can be described as a positive or negative flow of electrical energy or current . Further examples for flows of physical quantities comprise flows of water, natural gas , fuel , and emissions , such as C02 . These flows can be described as flows of mass or flows of volumes . According to an embodiment , the at least one quantity comprises a quantity related to a physical quantity . For example , a cost related to the consumption of energy, heat , cooling performance , natural gas , fuel , water, or costs related to emissions such as C02 .

[0025] According to an embodiment , the nodes of the infrastructural systems are hierarchically structured and the sankey diagram reflects said hierarchical structure . For example , the nodes of the infrastructure can be distributed over several levels , and the nodes in the sankey diagram are accordingly hierarchically distributed over several levels . An example of levels are the floors of a building, but of course even a building can be logically structured into other levels as well , e . g . from direction north to south or by assigning each room into classes of room si zes . The term " level" is therefore to be understood in a logical sense such that there are levels assigned to nodes , and accordingly levels assigned to items in the sankey diagram .

[0026] According to a further embodiment said hierarchy or parts of said hierarchy can be reflected in the visuali zation of the additional information in the detail pane .

[0027] According to an embodiment , the selection component is configured to choose said item from two or more non-adj acent levels of the sankey diagram . This allows for an ef ficient monitoring and / or tracking of the flow, since the relevant data can be directly accessed .

[0028] According to an embodiment , the monitoring system is part of a cloud-based ecosystem for building automation, the ecosystem providing interfaces for energy prosumers for buildings .

[0029] According to an embodiment , the monitoring system is integrated in a cloud-based ecosystem for building automation, the ecosystem providing interfaces for energy prosumers for buildings . According to an embodiment , the monitoring system is part of a cloud-based ecosystem for building management , the ecosystem providing interfaces to facility management , or operations management , or building automation or prosumer management devices or applications for buildings .

[0030] According to further embodiments , the interface is configured for receiving the data representing said flows in real time , e . g . from a sensor system . Alternatively, or in addition, the monitoring system comprises a data storage , and the interface is configured for receiving said data representing said flows . This allows for monitoring and tracking the flows over a longer period of time , and without the need of the data representing said flows in real time .

[0031] Various features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the disclosed non-limiting embodiments . The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows :

[0032] FIG . 1 schematically depicts a block diagram of an overall infrastructural system including a building, a building automation system, and a monitoring system according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0033] FIG . 2 schematically depicts a display device visuali zing a in a main pane a sankey diagram with a main meter selected to be visuali zed in a detail pane according to the embodiment of Fig . 1 ;

[0034] FIG . 3 schematically depicts the display device of the embodiments of Figs . 1 and 2 visuali zing in the detail pane a line chart including additional information related to an item that was selected in the main pane ;

[0035] FIG . 4 schematically depicts the display device of the embodiments of Figs . 1 to 3 visuali zing in the detail pane the ad- ditional information related to the item selected in the main pane with a bar chart and a table;

[0036] FIG. 5 schematically depicts the display device of the embodiments of Figs. 1 to 4 wherein the additional information related to the selected item comprises information about events related to said item;

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of method for monitoring and / or tracking flows of quantity according to an embodiment of the invention .

[0038] Fig. 1 shows an overall infrastructural system including an infrastructural system 90, a building automation system 94, and a monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment of the invention .

[0039] The infrastructural system 90 comprises a building 90. In the infrastructural system flows of energy, such as heat, and electricity occur. Also flows of material, such as natural gas, water or CO2 emissions can occur.

[0040] The monitoring system 1 is configured for monitoring and / or tracking flows 10 of at least one physical quantity at nodes 95 on different levels or hierarchies 40 of an infrastructural system 90. A node can for example be the building itself, floors of the building, rooms. A node can also be a metering device, located in a room, floor or other entity of the building 90, or other infrastructure equipment, such as a gas boiler, a heat pump or the like. The monitoring system 1 comprises a processor 71, a memory 72 connected to said processor 71, an interface 73, a selection component 74, a visualization tool 75, and a display device 76. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the building 90 comprises three levels or floors 40, and rooms 95 numbered accordingly in a format "#f loor . #room", thus rooms 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2. The building automation system 94 comprises several subsystems 62- 66 , such as control systems for electricity 62 , heating- ventilation 63 , air conditioning (HVAC ) 64 , water, natural gas 65 , and / or C02 emissions 66 . These control systems are connected to actuators and metering devices in the building in order to receive data related to the operation of the building . The data is generated by said actuators and metering devices or generally, by the building automation system . The building automation system 94 further comprises a data storage 61 , e . g . a data warehouse or data base , which is configured for storing said data related to the operation of the infrastructural system 90 . The data storage can locally together with other parts of the building automation system or be in the cloud .

[0041] The interface 73 of the monitoring system 1 is configured for receiving automatically generated or manually ingested data for the case that someone uploads csv data to the system data representing said flows 10 . The data can be directly received from sensors of the sensor system of the building automation system 94 or be retrieved from the data storage 61 . The visuali zation tool 75 is configured for causing the processor 71 to process said data for displaying on the display device 76 in a main pane 3 a sankey diagram 30 representing the flows 10 of the quantity on di f ferent levels of the infrastructural system 90 .

[0042] Figs 2 to 5 show several views of the display device 76 with a main pane and a detail pane with several sankey diagrams 30 in the main pane 3 . The sankey diagrams represent flows 10 of a physical quantity in a hierarchically structured manner . In the embodiment of Figs 2 to 5 several sankey diagrams are displayed in an overlapping manner . A first sankey diagram is displayed in solid lines representing flows of electricity . Two other sankey diagrams are overlayed in the main pane 3 with di f ferent dashed lines , representing for example flows of heat and flows of gas . Of course , many other sankey diagrams could be overlayed . The overlaying can also be done by using di f ferent colors for each sankey diagram . In the following the embodiment will be described with a focus on sankey diagram in solid lines , thus , the sankey diagram displaying consumption of electrical energy .

[0043] The sankey diagrams 30 reflect the hierarchical structure of the subsystems 62- 66 of the building automation system 94 and / or of the building 90 or other infrastructural system .

[0044] In this embodiment , the hierarchically structured manner comprises a floor structure of the building 90 . Other hierarchical structures can be chosen in other embodiments .

[0045] The selection component 74 is configured for receiving a selection of one or more items 31 of the sankey diagram 30 via the main pane 3 , wherein an item 31 represents one of the nodes 95 or a connection between two or more nodes 95 of the infrastructural system 90 . The visuali zation tool 75 is configured for causing the processor 71 to process said data for displaying in the detail pane 5 additional information 50 related to the one or more selected items 31 based on said data . In other words , the additional information is related to the flows 10 or events of the one or more selected items . Also , the additional information visuali zed in the detail pane can be presented in a hierarchical structure .

[0046] Fig . 2 an example of the main and detail pane for flows of electrical energy in the building and one main meter is selected in the sankey diagram to be visuali zed in the detail pane with a line chart 51 . Further additional or redundant information can also be displayed in text form, which is also shown in the detail pane 5 of Fig . 2 . The invention aggregates a large amount of information the sankey diagram in the main pane providing an optimi zed overview over the building 90 . A user can directly click on an item in the main pane 3 , and the monitoring system 1 automatically displays additional information regarding said item in the detail pane 5 . Fig . 3 shows an example of the main pane 3 and detail pane 5 for building energy flows and four submeters / rooms selected in the sankey diagram 30 to be visuali zed in the detail pane 5 with a line chart 53 . For example , when an operator has selected floor 1 in the main pane 3 , in the detail pane 5 , consumption data related to floor 1 is displayed in the detail pane 5 . In this manner, relevant information can directly be visuali zed in the detail pane 5 for all rooms of floor 1 or any other item without a need of trial an error to find information of interest . This does not only allow do directly present information related to one physical quantity, but due to the overlaying of several sankey diagrams 30 for di f ferent physical quantities to directly visuali ze any more detailed information related to any of those physical quantities .

[0047] Again, also in this view of the detail pane , additional information can be displayed redundantly or additionally in text or any other suitable form .

[0048] Fig . 4 shows an example of the main pane 3 and detail pane 5 for building energy flows and four submeters / rooms selected in the sankey diagram 30 to be visuali zed in the detail pane 5 bar chart 54 and table . In this manner, relevant information can directly be visuali zed in the detail pane 5 for all rooms of floor 1 or any other item without a need of trial an error to find information of interest . This does not only allow do directly present information related to one physical quantity, but due to the overlaying of several sankey diagrams 30 for di f ferent physical quantities to directly visuali ze any more detailed information related to any of those physical quantities . Again, also in this view of the detail pane , additional information can be displayed redundantly or additionally in text or any other suitable form .

[0049] Fig . 5 shows an example of the main pane 3 and detail pane 5 for building energy flows and one main meter selected in the Sankey to be visuali zed in the detail pane with a list 55 of events detected . According to an embodiment , the information 50 related to the selected item 31 is related to a flow 10 in said item 31 . In addition, the additional information 50 related to the selected item 31 comprises information about events related to said item 31 . The main pane 3 and the detailed pane 5 are connected such that a selection of one or more item 31 automatically causes the detail pane 5 to display the additional information 50 related to the one or more selected items 31 . The data shown in the sankey diagram 30 can be narrowed down by means of a filter allowing to select a time-period 33 on the basis on which the sankey diagram 30 in the main pane 3 and / or the additional information 50 in the detailed pane can be evaluated and displayed .

[0050] According to further embodiments , the infrastructural system 90 can be instead of a building an entire campus , a building portfolio or an industrial system, e . g . an industrial plant .

[0051] According to an embodiment , the selection component 74 is configured for receiving said selection of an item 31 of the sankey diagram 30 via the main pane 3 , wherein selection component is configured to choose said item from two or more non-adj acent levels of the sankey diagram .

[0052] According to an embodiment , the monitoring system 1 is part of a cloud-based ecosystem for building automation, the ecosystem providing interfaces for energy prosumers for buildings .

[0053] According to an embodiment , the monitoring system 1 is integrated in a cloud-based ecosystem for building automation, the ecosystem providing interfaces for energy prosumers for buildings .

[0054] According to an embodiment , the monitoring system 1 is part of a cloud-based ecosystem for building management , the ecosystem providing interfaces to facility management , or opera- tions management, or building automation or prosumer management devices or applications for buildings.

[0055] According to further embodiments, a solution is provided that comprises a main pane 3 and a detail pane 5 as visualized in Fig. 2. In our examples the main pane is named "Flow". The main pane 3 is intended to navigate through a bigger amount of data. Tree and list controls can be used to navigate but they do not provide an overview of major flows. The detail pane 5 is used to show details of the selected item 31 in the main pane 3. The main pane 3 is located on the left and the detail pane 5 on the right side. In Arabic countries this may be vice-versa. The sankey diagram in the main pane 3 shows as in existing solutions the nodes 95 and corresponding flows 10 of interest. According to some embodiments, the flows 10 visualize a building's energy consumption for different consumption groups (e.g., heating, cooling, electricity) from building to floor to room level. Filters may be used to narrow down the data shown in the sankey diagram such as the building or time period of interest.

[0056] According to an embodiment, the main pane 3 and the detail pane 5 are connected. Clicking on one or multiple nodes or flows in a sankey diagram acts as a selection for what should be shown in the detail pane on the right to conduct detailed analysis. In an embodiment, a user might choose a specific main meter on building level with comparable high energy consumption in a sankey diagram 30 and then dive into detail analysis in the detail pane 5.

[0057] The content of the detail pane 5 may vary and can be adapted for the specific needs. It can either be predefined by an offering app or configured by a user with additional filters in the detail pane. The following examples provide non conclusive options:

[0058] Different types of charts for analysis such as Line charts (see example Figs 2 and 3) , Bar charts (see example Fig. 4) . Further examples of additional information can be in the form of Pie charts, Tables, Lists, Events / Alarms / Notifications (see example Fig. 5) . Yet further examples of additional information can be in the form of plans / maps, photos, and / or documents .

[0059] According to further embodiments, sankey diagrams are used for navigation and selection purposes, which go beyond the existing sole purpose of visualizing flows. For example, an embodiment can build on existing UX and UI solutions of element design system libraries and guidelines which are implemented with the SiMPL (Siemens Mobile and Web Platform) technology stack.

[0060] According to further embodiments, advantages and benefits can comprise the following:

[0061] Increased efficiency and usability for analyzing complex flow networks by not needing an additional tree chart for selecting the node I want to analyze in detail.

[0062] Improved user / analysis journey by not getting distracted by switching between tree structures and additional diagrams as in current solutions available.

[0063] Cost and time savings might result from identifying items of interest and problems more easily (e.g., identifying malfunction in technical equipment, or wrongly configured control strategies) .

[0064] Decreased probability of errors because nodes and data to be investigated are visualized in an intuitive way that clearly depicts the relevant connections and flows. Efficiency can be increased an cost can be saved. Using independent of existing solutions needed sankey diagrams for filtering and navigation purposes may save effort for implementation - no additional tree structures and filters need to be developed.

[0065] High flexibility of using the same UI solution for a large variety of different applications (energy flow, material flows, manufacturing processes etc.) . According to a further embodiment, the monitoring system 1 is configured for allowing to navigate or select items in the sankey diagrams 30 to see their details, e.g., direct to another window, by clicking on nodes or flows in the sankey diagram.

[0066] According to further embodiments, the flows of a quantity can comprise material flows in manufacturing, traffic flows (e.g., in buildings, campuses or passenger cars) , transportation flows, and / or logistic flows.

[0067] Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method 80 for monitoring and / or tracking flows 10 of at least one quantity at nodes 95 on different levels 40 of an infrastructural system 90. For example least one quantity comprises one or more physical quantities and / or one or more quantities related to a physical quantity. The method comprises a method step 87 of generating data representing said flows. The data is automatically and continuously generated by sensors of a building automation system. Alternatively, or additionally, the data can also be generated manually. Method step 87 of generating the data can include incrementally storing said data in a data warehouse or the like, such that over time a large amount of date is collected and can be accessed.

[0068] In a method step 81 the data is received by a monitoring system upon request. Alternatively, or additionally, the data can also be received by the monitoring system in real time.

[0069] In method step 82, the data is processed for being displayed in a main pane of a sankey diagram 30. The sankey diagram represents the flows of the at least one quantity on different levels of the infrastructural system 90. In other words, data originating from different sensors of a sensor system of the building or other infrastructural system are processed in order to visualize information in one single sankey diagram in the main pane. In method step 83 , one or more items of the sankey diagram 30 are selected via the main pane 3 , wherein an item represents one of the nodes 95 or a connection between two or more nodes 95 of the infrastructural system 90 .

[0070] In method step 84 , additional information 50 related to the one or more selected items 31 is generated and displayed in a detail pane 5 . The additional information is preferably related to the flows and generated out of the received data . Alternatively, or additionally, the additional information can be related to events in said entity .

[0071] In method step 85 , data shown in the sankey diagram 30 is narrowed down the by means of a filter . Said filter allows for example to select a time-period 33 on the basis on which the sankey diagram 30 in the main pane 3 is evaluated and displayed . Alternatively, or additionally, the filter allows to select the time period on the basis on which the additional information 50 in the detailed pane is evaluated and displayed .

[0072] It should be understood that the foregoing relates only to certain embodiments of the invention and that numerous changes may be made therein without departing the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims . It should also be understood that the invention is not restricted to the illustrated embodiments and that various modi fications can be made within the scope of the following claims .

Claims

Patent claims1. A monitoring system (1) for monitoring and / or tracking flows (10) of at least one quantity at nodes (95) of an infrastructural system (90) , said monitoring system (1) comprising a processor (71) , a memory (72) connected to said processor (71) , an interface (73) , a selection component(74) , a visualization tool (75) , and a display device (76) ; wherein the interface (73) is configured for receiving data representing said flows (10) ; wherein the visualization tool (75) is configured for causing the processor (71) to process said data for displaying on the display device (76) in a main pane (3) a sankey diagram (30) representing the flows (10) of the quantity of the infrastructural system (90) ; wherein the selection component (74) is configured for receiving a selection of one or more items (31) of the sankey diagram (30) via the main pane (3) , wherein an item (31) represents one of the nodes (95) or a connection between two or more nodes (95) of the infrastructural system (90) ; wherein the visualization tool (75) is configured for causing the processor (71) to process said data for displaying on the display device (76) in a detail pane (5) additional information (50) related to the one or more selected items (31) based on said data.

2. The monitoring system (1) of claim 1, wherein the additional information (50) related to the selected item (31) is related to a flow (10) in said item (31) .

3. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the additional information (50) related to the selected item (31) comprises information about events related to said item (31) .

4. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the main pane (3) and the detailed pane (5) are connected such that a selection of one or more item (31)automatically causes the detail pane (5) to display the additional information (50) related to the one or more selected items ( 31 ) .

5. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the selection component (74) is configured for narrowing down the data shown in the sankey diagram (30) by means of a filter allowing to select a time-period (33) on the basis on which the sankey diagram (30) in the main pane (3) .

6. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the infrastructural system (90) is a building, a campus, a building portfolio, and / or an industrial system.

7. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the data is generated by a automation system (94) .The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims , wherein the quantity is a physical quantity.

9. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the quantity comprises an energy, e.g. electrical energy and / or heat.

10. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the quantity comprises a mass and / or a volume of a fluid.

11. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the quantity comprises costs for a consumed a consumed physical quantity.

12. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the selection component (74) is configured for receiving said selection of an item (31) of the sankeydiagram (30) via the main pane (3) , wherein selection component is configured to choose said item from two or more nonadj acent levels of the sankey diagram.

13. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring system is part of a cloudbased ecosystem for building automation, the ecosystem providing interfaces for energy prosumers for buildings.

14. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring system is integrated in a cloud-based ecosystem for building automation, the ecosystem providing interfaces for energy prosumers for buildings.

15. The monitoring system (1) of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring system is part of a cloudbased ecosystem for building management, the ecosystem providing interfaces to facility management, or operations management, or building automation or prosumer management devices or applications for buildings.

16. A method for monitoring and / or tracking flows (10) of a quantity at nodes (95) of an infrastructural system (90) ; said method comprising the steps of: a) Receiving (81) data representing said flows (10) ; b) Processing (82) said data for displaying in a main pane (3) a sankey diagram (30) representing the flows (10) of the quantity of the infrastructural system (90) ; c) Selecting (83) one or more items (31) of the sankey diagram (30) via the main pane (3) , wherein an item represents one of the nodes (95) or a connection between two or more nodes (95) of the infrastructural system (90) ; d) Generating (84) and displaying in a detail pane (5) additional information (50) related to the one or more selected items (31) based on said data.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the item is a node (95) , and the additional information (50) related to the selected item (31) is related to a flow (10) in said item (31) .

18. The method of any one of claims 16 or 17, wherein the additional information (50) related to the selected item (31) comprises information about events related to said item (31) .

19. The method of any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the main pane (3) and the detailed pane (5) are connected such that a selection of one or more item (31) automatically causes the detail pane (5) to display the additional information (50) related to the one or more selected items (31) .

20. The method of any one of claims 16 to 19, comprising the method (85) step of narrowing down the data shown in the san- key diagram (30) by means of a filter allowing to select a time-period (33) on the basis on which the sankey diagram (30) in the main pane (3) and / or the additional information (50) in the detailed pane is evaluated and displayed.

21. The method of any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein the infrastructural system (90) is a building, a campus, a building portfolio, and / or an industrial system.

22. The method of any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein the data is generated by a automation system (94) .

23. The method of any one of claims 16 to 22, wherein the quantity is a physical quantity.

24. The method of any one of claims 16 to 23, wherein the quantity comprises an energy, e.g. electrical energy and / or heat .

25. The method of any one of claims 16 to 24, wherein the quantity comprises a mass and / or a volume of a fluid.26 . The method of any one of claims 16 to 25 , wherein the quantity comprises costs for a consumed a consumed physical quantity . 27 . A data processing system comprising means for carrying out the steps of the method of any one of the claims 16 to 26 .28 . A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of the method of any one of the claims 16 to 26 .

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