Here you can find resources and documentation for the Inspection Sync tool.

For technical documentation and examples, see https://api-docs.ekotrope.com/docs/inspection-sync

Inspection Sync is an add-on feature to the core Ekotrope RATER app. It enables users to update pre-existing energy models by syncing their inspection app with Ekotrope RATER.  This allows for a streamlined and seamless field inspection and field data entry process that eliminates the bottleneck of duplicate data entry. A user with Inspection Sync can update all energy models with field inspection data in just a few seconds. 

Inspection Sync is a data-upload feature. The data must be formatted as an Inspection Sync JSON file which you can learn about below. To use Inspection Sync, your inspection app or project management tool must have the ability to export inspection data to the specific Inspection Sync JSON format. Once your inspection app exports this data you can upload it to Ekotrope. Inspection Sync will find the correct energy model(s), copy the current master design, and input the new data into a new master design. 

Raters that use Inspection Sync commonly follow this workflow:

• Create a template energy model in Ekotrope for the home
• Link Ekotrope to their project management tool
• Pull template energy model data into PM tool
• Push template energy model to inspection app so rater has worse case values in the field
• Records data in inspection app
• PM or inspection app exports all inspection data for day to Inspection Sync JSON
• 1 staff member uploads all data to Ekotrope using Inspection Sync in less than 30 seconds 

Key Features:

• Mechanical Systems - changing mechanical systems can be a chore, especially finding the correct system in your library. Using Inspection Sync your Field Rater just has to record the model numbers for the equipment they see in the field. When Inspection Sync is given these model numbers it will search in your library for mechanical equipment that have the same model numbers. It will search for these in the Model #, Name, and Description fields.
• Building Orientation - your template energy model is usually modeled to the worst-case orientation. But what orientation is the front of the house facing? To find out you have to look at your windows, determine which window is on the front of the house, and then look up that window's orientation. Your field inspector will record the orientation of the front of the house for RESNET QA and to tell your office Raters how to rotate the address-specific home. Inspection Sync improves this workflow by introducing the new 'Building Orientation' field on the General Info tab. With that field pre-filled, anytime you rotate the building or use the Find Worst Orientation, it will be updated. Using Inspection Sync, you can specify the actual address-specific building orientation and Inspection Sync will update this field and rotate all windows accordingly.
• Envelope Components - Inspection Sync supports updating all energy performance information about slab, floor, wall, and ceiling components. It does this two ways. First, you can specify any portion of the wall you want to update. For example, you may model all walls with Grade III insulation quality but your field inspector verifies that it is Grade I for a specific wall. Using Inspection Sync, you can update just that wall's insulation grade. Inspection Sync will copy and update just that field, keeping everything else the same (even verified status). This new component will not be added to your library so it will not clutter your workspace. You can do the same for cavity and continuous insulation values. Second, you can specify the full cavity and continuous insulation values. When this is done, Inspection Sync will copy the existing wall component and update the copy to have the provided specification. Full documentation is available below.
• All features that are supported by Inspection Sync are outlined in the reference documents below.

If you are interested in using Inspection Sync, reach out to sales@ekotrope.com. We also have a number of blog articles written about implementing this feature on the Ekotrope Blog (https://www.ekotrope.com/blog). 

Example JSON Files

Examples of Inspection Sync JSON files can be found in this article, and in our technical documentation.

JSON Reference

Reference information for all supported fields in our JSON spec can be found in our technical documentation.

Other Documentation Articles

• Mechanical Equipment Model Number Matching

Information on how the Inspection Sync tool matches mechanical equipment model numbers can be found in this article.

• Envelope Assembly Imports

Information on how the Inspection Sync tool imports envelope assembly data ("aboveGradeWalls", "foundationWalls", "framedFloors" and "ceilingsAndRoofs") and its special cases can be found in this article.