Category: Uncategorized

I think that for most of us, travel is part of the normal annual course of business.  We travel to our communities, to comparable communities in the area, to our construction sites, to conventions, educational seminars, etc.  We do this because sometimes the experiences that we can get at these places make us better at…

As of April 1, 2015, the Governor Brown has called for a Mandatory 25% reduction in water use in Urban Areas.  The new water restrictions (and the penalties that will follow) are going to impact Multifamily communities.  Where we, as an industry, will see the greatest impact is in our irrigation practices and landscape appearance….

Spring has sprung and now is a perfect time to start nurturing your ENERGY STAR education! Join EPA to learn about a variety of topics, including financing energy efficiency upgrades, and ENERGY STAR success stories in the multifamily housing sector.   To register for upcoming trainings, click the links below or visit esbuildings.webex.com. If you…

The phrase “climate change” appears to have less baggage and more acceptance. Here is an interesting article from Scientific American: “On Friday, a new Yale-Associated Press-NORC poll on environmental attitudes reported that just 56 percent of Americans believe global warming is happening. This seems a bit low to me given our UT Energy Poll data…

Warning!  California Drought Alert for 2015 As of April 1, 2015 the Governor of California has mandated a 25% reduction of water consumption in all urban areas and given the ability to Water providers and Cities to fine you if you do not comply.  Additionally, irrigation of landscape is restricted.  You will only be given…

The article below points out how the utilities are fighting the solar industry by increasing their demand charges to compensate for customers generating their own power from solar. As some states and utilities define the rules of the game other states will follow suit. It also mentions how the regulations being in a state of…

Relatively recently, Sierra Club published an article in their magazine titled “A Cleaner South” that highlights some of the challenges and opportunities that the southern region of the USA has regarding meeting new EPA mandates to generate cleaner energy.  Many UMA members live in or do business in the South.  After you read the article,…

In case you missed it, a few months ago Multi Housing News published an article on benchmarking that featured Chris Dorando, who is a member of UMA and on staff with NWP. The article starts: “Most operational tasks at multifamily communities strive to maximize efficiency in order to increase the bottom line. The web-based revolution…

Ok, I know most of you are tired of hearing what is going on in California, but I am going to talk about California and EV charging in Multifamily. Recently legislation has been passed   (AB 2565) which states that if a resident wants to install an EV Charge station, at their cost on YOUR property,…

  The US Dept of Energy will present a webinar on January 21, 2015 from 3:00PM to 4:30PM Eastern Time. “This free webinar will focus on the effective use of central heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) and control systems to reduce the energy use in hot water distribution.” Elizabeth Weitzel from Alliance for Residential Building Innovation…