Integration Overview

SDX provides a free, open API that allows third-party software platforms to read and write real estate sustainability data on behalf of building owners. Whether you build an energy management system, ESG reporting tool, property management platform, or investor analytics product, you can integrate with SDX at no cost.

Why integrate with SDX

For your users (building owners)

• Free benchmarking across six international standards from a single data submission
• Compliance reporting for 16+ regulatory and voluntary frameworks
• Data Dividend revenue from licensed content sales
• Free licensed content for their own internal use

For your platform

• Richer data — Access benchmark scores, data quality grades, and compliance status to enhance your product
• Reduced churn — Owners whose data flows to SDX through your platform receive tangible benefits (free benchmarking, Data Dividend)
• No cost — Zero API fees, no partnership tiers, no revenue share. See Integrator Pricing

Integration patterns

SDX supports two primary integration patterns:

1. Write data on behalf of owners

Your platform submits utility meter readings, property details, and building characteristics to SDX. This is the most common pattern for energy management and ESG platforms.

Flow:

1. Owner authorises your platform to write data to their SDX account
2. Your platform pushes data via the API
3. SDX benchmarks the data and generates scores
4. Owner sees results on their SDX dashboard (and optionally in your platform via read access)

See Writing Data for implementation details.

2. Read data on behalf of owners

Your platform retrieves benchmark scores, data quality grades, and compliance reports from SDX to display in your own UI.

Flow:

1. Owner authorises your platform to read data from their SDX account
2. Your platform fetches data via the API
3. Your platform displays SDX data alongside your own features

See Reading Data for implementation details.

Most integrators implement both patterns: write data in, read scores out.

3. Utility data via Green Button Connect My Data

SDX connects directly to utilities using the NAESB ESPI standard and OAuth 2.0 authorization. Currently live or ready:

Users authorize on the utility's own website — credentials never touch SDX. SDX pulls interval data (15-min/hourly), billing summaries, and costs automatically. Any Green Button-compliant utility can be added with configuration only.

4. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager sync

SDX has a live integration with EPA's official Web Services API. Users share properties with SDX from within Portfolio Manager, and SDX automatically syncs:

• ENERGY STAR 1–100 scores
• Meter definitions and consumption data
• Property metadata and building characteristics

This data flows through the shared platform and is available to any authorized ecosystem partner.

Technical requirements

• Authentication — API keys for server-to-server, OAuth2 for user-facing apps. See Authentication.
• Data format — JSON over HTTPS. See API Overview.
• Owner consent — Owners must explicitly authorise your platform before you can read or write their data.
• Rate limits — 1,000 requests/minute per API key. See Rate Limits.

Getting started

1. Sign up for a developer account — free
2. Follow the 5-minute quickstart
3. Test in the sandbox environment
4. Go to production

Next steps

• 5-minute quickstart
• Reading data
• Writing data
• Sandbox environment
• Code examples