Articles

• How Much Money Is Your Multifamily Complex Losing?  Owner loses nearly $200,000. Find out why and how you can avoid this situation (PDF). Learn about the effects of under- and over-billing and how you can prevent these common billing problems by conducting a utility billing audit.

• A Small Group Of Tenants May Be Doubling Your Multifamily Utility Costs. Find out what you can do about it (PDF). Learn about the cost impact high users have on utility expenses and how owners can use submetering and RUBS billing to protect themselves.

• Multifamily Owners: Including Utilities May Be Killing Your Profits. Learn how to protect your NOI (PDF). There are inherent problems with including utilities in the rental fee. Owners and property managers, however, can implement a utility billing program and transition to tenant-paid utilities.

• Is the Gas Bill Too High at Your Multifamily Property? Heat metering may be the answer (PDF). This article describes how to meter central hydronic heating systems, furnaces, and domestic hot water heaters.

• Selecting an Effective Utility Billing Provider for Multifamily Properties (PDF). This article includes information and questions to help you conduct a thorough evaluation of third party utility billing services companies.

• Sensible Submetering: Apartment providers find both financial and conservation benefits from charging utilities to residents (PDF). Units Magazine, May 2010 Issue, National Apartment Association.

• Cocktail Parties and Utility Consumption Data (PDF).  Adapting new technologies to multifamily utility consumption data.

Reports

• The Multifamily Owner's Complete Guide to Resident Utility Billing Program (PDF). Learn how owners and property managers can increase revenues without increasing rents.

• Submetering, RUBS, and Water Conservation (PDF). To better understand how different billing methods affect water consumption patterns and costs, this report examines detailed water and wastewater billing information for 32 properties across three states.

• Options to reduce Energy Consumption by Encouraging Sub-Metering and Individual Billing in Multi-Residential Rental Dwellings (PDF).  This report discusses the pros and cons of electric submetering in Ontario, Canada and offers some valuable insights.

• Affordable Green Guidelines from the Affordable Housing Design Advisor. These guidelines help you include green building practices in your housing designs.  The sections on Water Conservation and Management and Energy Efficiency are informative.

• HUD - Retrofitting Apartment Buildings To Conserve Water:  A Guide for Managers, Engineers, and Contractors (PDF).  This  guidebook is intended to assist property owners and their agents (managers, engineers, contractors, maintenance staff ) in reducing water use in apartment buildings.  Although the primary benefit of conserving water will be a reduction in the costs of operating the building, secondary benefits may include higher property values, energy savings, and improved relations with residents.  (53 pages - 650kb).

• Green Multifamily Preservation Initiatives by State. The National Housing Trust has identified state housing finance agencies that incorporate incentives for "green building" in their low income housing tax credit Qualified Allocation Plan.