Posts by: JOUM
With increasing frequency, the term net zero is entering conversations around the design and operation of the built environment. This is an important goal, but what if what we are designing and calling net zero will not be net zero for decades?
The impact of the built environment is well documented and accounts […]
Nationally, apartment starts in 2019 were 116 percent of the 2018 level. Analysts expect a 1 percent increase in new apartment projects in 2020, followed by a 4 percent increase in 2021. Even with continued rent growth in many areas, as well as 22 percent of young adults (ages 25 to 34) delaying […]
Website EVAdoption reports that in 2018, plug-in electrical vehicles (EVs) made up about 2 percent of total light vehicle sales nationally. In California, it was nearly 8 percent. Indeed, the 153,000 plug-in electric vehicles sold in California represent almost half of national electric vehicle sales. New York, Florida, Washington and Texas all saw […]
Hope so. City and state mandate deadlines are approaching, some sooner than others.
Last year’s introduction of AB 802 mandated benchmarking for the entire state of California on residential buildings over 50,000 sq. ft. Until this year, the Golden State only required municipalities (cities and counties) to track and record energy performance on […]
Utilities are among property managers’ top operating expenses, according to the NAA’s most recent Survey of Operating Income and Expenses. Rising utility costs and unforeseen rate hikes coupled with increased utility billing regulations, as well as renter expectations of online payment options, have created a conundrum for multifamily owners who realize they must come […]
Landlords abandon markets. Developers stop building rentals. Apartment inventory drops. Resident mobility grinds to a halt. History, analysts and economists say that rent control will only worsen already bad housing shortages in those places with the greatest need for housing. Apartment owners don’t want it. Associations warn of its perils. In 1999, Forbes weighed […]
The industry has generated, analyzed and applied massive amounts of data to build successful apartment operations across the country. Data is used to calculate asking rents, track utility rates, find leaks, and just about everything else. The next horizon in this brave, new digital age: weaving all functions together to create a beautifully simple […]
You’re on top of things. You know that utility expenses are one of the largest costs in running your multifamily property, with prices that seem to spike at random. You’ve dealt with the challenge by implementing RUBS to allocate utility costs to your residents who, after all, control consumption. You’ve got your expenses under […]
Submeter maintenance means potentially avoiding unnecessary expenses and regulatory headaches.
In Massachusetts, landlords must “retain an affirmative obligation” to maintain submeters and any other water conservation devices. They must also respond in a timely manner if a resident complains about an overcharge, and the resident shall have “all rights and remedies provided under law […]
A casual observer would assume that vendors and contractors sell energy projects to multifamily building owners. In reality, the energy managers and other internal champions connected to those buildings wind up doing most of the selling.
They’re the ones who lobby to gain consensus among their peers in property management, facilities and engineering, persuade […]
