Key Concepts

These are the core building blocks of Novant. Understanding how they relate to each other will help you get the most out of the platform.

Organizations

An organization is the top-level account in Novant. It owns your projects, manages your team, and handles billing. You can belong to more than one organization. See Organizations for details.

Projects

Each building or site is set up as a project. A project contains your nodes, sources, and all the data they collect. It’s the starting point for connecting a building to the platform. See Projects for details.

Nodes

A node is the edge component — hardware or virtual — that sits on the building network and communicates with local devices. It handles device discovery, data collection, and sends data to Novant over a secure outbound connection. See Nodes for setup.

Sources

A source represents a device or system your node connects to, such as a BACnet controller or a Modbus meter. Each source is configured with a source map that defines which points to collect. See Configuring Sources for details.

Points

A point is a single data value read from a source — for example, a zone temperature, a fan status, or a meter reading. Points are defined in source maps and are the smallest unit of data in Novant.

Zones

Zones are logical groupings used to organize areas by function, comfort criteria, or operational purpose. A zone can span multiple spaces — for example, a VAV zone that covers several rooms.

Spaces

Spaces represent the physical locations within a building, such as floors, rooms, or areas.

Assets

Assets are the pieces of equipment in a building that you want to track, such as AHUs, VAVs, chillers, or meters.

Next Steps

Ready to connect your first building? Head to Creating a Project to get started.