At this time of year, the weather is changing—temperatures are dropping, days are shorter, and there are fewer bikini clad people sunbathing at the pool. Right now in California (in the heat of budget season), we always get into deep discussions around heating the pool year round. Heating a normal, apartment community pool in the…
Month: October 2013
The “hidden” roadblocks to energy efficiency
Are there other roadblocks to energy efficiency? We have addressed in previous postings the roadblocks that inhibit greater investment in energy efficiency technologies and practices in the Multifamily industry. In addition to these common and well-known barriers (e.g., split incentives, whole building information, initial investment costs and ROI, privacy etc.), there is a class of…
Benchmarking Disclosures – What action is needed now by Multifamily Owners?
Understanding the different ordinances – it can be a jungle out there! There is no National Legislation that requires consistent compliance. Cities and States are driving this issue independently. So the answer is: it depends on where the property is located. Varying from jurisdiction to jurisdiction is the size of the building (in square feet) that…
Another roadblock to Energy Management in Multifamily – The availability of “Whole Building” utility data
Benchmarking the energy performance of a property—that is, measuring it and comparing it to similar properties—requires utility data on energy consumption and load over at least 24 contiguous months . Owners and operators of multifamily properties must have access to this utility data for the whole building in order to benchmark it accurately. However, whole-building energy data is…
Does the Owner Resident Split-Incentive issue in Multifamily cause a roadblock to Energy Management?
In order for a property to be truly energy efficient, the interests of both the owner and residents must be aligned in favor of sustainability. Unfortunately, traditional lease arrangements often do the opposite, and skew the interests of both parties. For instance, if a lease includes fixed utility costs, the resident has no financial incentive…