In April of this year, I had the honor of hosting NWP’s fourth Energy Summit. In the following pages, we have captured just a few highlights shared by this amazing gathering of water and energy professionals. Case studies have been included from three multifamily operators in addition to information on government programs beneficial to helping […]

Many of the nation’s heavy-hitters were in attendance at the Energy Summit held in Washington, D.C. Representatives from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Energy Information Agency (EIA), and Department of Energy (DOE) delivered forecasts on energy supply, regulations and the future of utilities for tomorrow’s renters.

Apartment owners and managers also led discussions and […]

“It’s always a pleasure to be in a smallgroup environment,” said Michael Zatz chief of the market sectors group for EPA. “I’ve enjoyed the presentations, but more importantly, the networking and discussions. I’ve learned a lot from the people at this event. This will definitely help the ENERGY STAR program.”

Zatz was in attendance at […]

When Greystar recently teamed with NWP for a    landmark case study on the fiscal performance of the properties under my review which using utility expense management programs, the results created quite a stir. Outperforming the market by 43 percent is definitely something to write home about.

The study titled, “Reducing Utility Costs in the […]

The catch is that we owners and managers are not the primary consumers of the water we dispense at our properties, but our residents. The majority of an apartment community’s total water consumption is the combined consumption of the residents in their individual units.

Typically, management receives a bill for the water consumption of the […]

I am a sleuth, spending much of my time uncovering water and energy pigs at my  properties. As such, the best advice I can give to apartment managers is this: a simple year-over-year review of utility expense is not enough. Compare properties against one another to truly understand performance.

Mine is a tale of three […]

There are a number of reasons to build green apartments including it may be mandatory, it can save money and it strengthens our National Security. My favorite green play is Prometheus’ 203-unit property, called Madera, in downtown Mountain View, California, where the air is crisp, the residents are Google, and the rents are strong. Madera […]

“There’s great opportunity for owners and managers of multifamily properties,” says Maria Vargas, director of the Better Buildings Challenge at the recent Energy Summit in D.C. “Part of the reason we wanted to meet is to discuss what we’re trying to do at the Department of Energy and the Better Buildings Challenge, and how, together, […]

The world is quickly evolving into the Internet of Things (IoT) as mobile devices proliferate into daily living. It’s impact has yet to be felt within water submetering—yet, it isn’t far off. Trends show that automation is here to stay with new markets in home and building automation becoming multimillion dollar industries.

Most automated metering […]