The Obama administration is now considering stream-lining the approval process for export license applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. The change is due to the Russian invasion and takeover of Crimea. The President hopes that exports of American natural gas to Europe and Asia will reduce their economic dependence on Russia. However, once US…
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Are You Flushing Money Down the Drain?
An average renter uses 100 gallons of water a day. If that renter has a toilet with a leaking flapper, they could be using 300-500 gallons a day and not even know it. With the average cost of water and sewer charges approaching a penny a gallon nationally, that’s a lot of money flushed down the drain. …
Is Multifamily Energy Management Finally Going Mainstream with Nest at the Center?
New advancements around thermostats, wireless, Bluetooth lighting, apartment automation appliances and more are energizing the energy management market. The big news is that Nest Labs announced a developer program for integration with other manufacturers’ products—through Nest’s cloud—and its first partner is Control4, so users of that energy management control systems can see the temperature on a…
The Largest Solar Plant in World Opens
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, a $2.2 billion solar complex, has come on-line in the sunny Mohave desert. The project, owned by NRG Energy, Inc., Google Inc., and Brightsource Energy, and constructed by Bechtel Corp. , uses solar-thermal technology, which means that 350,000 large mirrors concentrate sunlight on boiler towers to create electricity. The cost to…
What’s Up Whistle Pig? (The Weather Stylings of Groundhogs and Action You Can Take)
I was super excited that Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck (our nations more formidable marmot meteorologists) concurred that we would have six more weeks of winter. This means that our residents will continue to be frustrated by their heating costs. Even in Sunny California with our heat wave, residents have seen their bills go up and…
Wherever You Go, There You Are
“The wealth was nearer to you than you realized.” Hindu parable A man from India told a story of a rich man with many jewels and a lot of money in his pockets who is taking a long journey. As he begins his journey a thief begins to follow him, and the thief has set…
Going Green is still tentative
Below is a link to an article about the tentative nature of “going green” in the multi-family industry. There are glimmers of evidence that this approach is financially beneficial, but no firm concensus. What I didn’t realize until halfway through the article was that this piece was written over 3 years ago! Not much has…
Energy Star Appliance Ratings need Updating
This article from the USA Today points out that new energy efficiency ratings for appliances from Energy Star are long overdue. The companion article pointed out that “of the major appliances currently for sale at Sears.com, 84% of fridges, 92% of clothes washers, and 97% of dishwashers are Energy Star–certified. Every single front-loading clothes washer sold…
Are you offering Free Water?
All apartment managers need to watch this video. This is a cautionary tale of why you need a water billing program for your residents at every one of your properties. It’s a little over the top (please excuse some of the language), but that’s what makes it funny and drives the point home. We all know that nothing is…
Waste – the rising enemy of utility expense control
America is a disposable society According to a Fortune Magazine article in November 2013, American cities are scrambling to deal with the mounting piles of garbage. Alarming statistics support this statement: In 2011, we generated 250 million tons of garbage, nearly double the amount of 1970. The number of landfills over the same period dropped…