DeKalb County GA, Division of Watershed Management has been undercharging customers for water and sewer. Some owner/managers have received large bills, including back charges. If you have properties in served by this utility, watch your utility bills closely for back charges or long periods of estimations. The links below provide some history and a recent…
Category: Finance/Savings
Getting Started
Perhaps a tired issue, but still is a tough one: “How to begin” the conservation efforts. The task of harnessing all of our properties utilities – measuring, reducing, continuing the process, is daunting. What are my criteria? Well, I want anything that will make an impact immediately and over the long haul, save money, have…
Tying Sustainability and Efficiency Into Daily Operations
As industry professionals responsible for managing utility programs and ancillary services departments, we all tend to think about “big picture” and “high level” items. However, it is important to consider what our sites are doing on a daily operational level to support and reinforce some of the larger sustainability and cost savings initiatives that we…
Challenges in Older Buildings – water usage
One of the biggest challenges that I face is the water usage at my properties. My company’s business plan is to purchase older garden-style construction in the Mid-Atlantic region. This poses very different scenarios from companies that are developing new assets. A development company is able to install water saving equipment using the latest technology….
Submetering: A Proven Conservation Measure
If your property currently includes water and sewer in the rent or uses a flat-fee billing, one of the best conservations measures available is to implement either a RUBS or submeter billing program. Studies and experience has shown that residents will conserve water when presented with an individual bill. You can expect savings of 15-30%…
Benchmarking Water Bills – Are water saving retro fits worth the cash out lay when residents pay the bill?
Benchmarking your average water bills to other communities in your zip code area is an excellent way to determine your competitiveness. Resident retention can be directly tied to many metrics at a community and the price of water per month is definitely at the top of the list in many markets. Quantifying a retrofit program…
Wow! Check out West Village
Although I indicated that I would discuss the characteristics of my Icon buildings this entry, I am going to switch gears and talk about an existing project that I just had the great fortune to tour last week. West Village, in Davis California, is the largest NZE Multifamily project in the Nation. It has over…
Presenting our Two Sites for the Conversion to Net Zero
I am pleased to introduce my two buildings for our “Conversion to Net Zero” experience: Icon at Park and Icon at Doyle in Emeryville California. I chose these two sites for a few key reasons: These sites represent two different construction types: Icon at Doyle is 3-story construction with 27 townhome-style dwellings and an underground…
What’s All the Gas About?
As we are all aware, utilities continue to be a challenge from the purchasing of commodities in deregulated states to budgeting. Since gas prices have continued to fall, many of us are investigating future pricing as a way to ensure our low pricing into the future. It is very important through 2016 to compare your…
Training Opportunities with ENERGY STAR® for Sept 2015
Upcoming Training Opportunities with ENERGY STAR® It’s back to school time and we’ve got some great courses ready for you! Click on the titles below to go directly to the webinar description. To register for upcoming trainings, click the links below or visit esbuildings.webex.com. If you won’t be able to attend, you can still view…