The ROI on building efficiency activities is a reduction in operating expenses, increased building productivity, and growing property values. Capturing ROI is easier with energy management tools that make utility usage tracking transparent and accessible for all stakeholders.
“Commercial buildings are incredibly inefficient, resulting in massive amounts of wasted energy, resources, and expenditures. In fact, the average commercial building wastes about 30 percent of the energy used to run it. And since operations of commercial buildings account for 19 percent of the energy and 36 percent of the electricity used in the U.S. annually, and cost more than $190 billion in energy every year, improving building efficiency can go a long way in curbing energy consumption and costs.”
Capturing ROI
Conserving energy is an opportunity when it comes to achieving ROI. A submetering system can identify problems when equipment malfunctions are causing increased consumption and energy inefficiency. With revenue-grade meters in place, conservation behaviors are encouraged through tenant billing. Operating expense reductions result when you easily see the consumption data and make changes required to reduce utility usage.
Investing in building efficiency can increase property value because lowered service costs reduce overall operating expenses for the asset. Additionally, the growing demand for greener buildings often results in higher rents. The author of the quote cites a study in Los Angeles reflecting both an increase in LEED building rents as well as increased valuations: “Energy Efficient Buildings Hub found that green buildings can increase rents by six percent and sales prices by 15 percent”.
In the case of utility consumption, leading multi-tenant real estate developers utilize a managed meter service as it is an efficient turn-key submetering solution. It solves the problem of ‘how and what’ from project conception to completion, including the implementation of energy management software facilitating direct utility billing and tenant engagement thus driving conservation.
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