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Whether you are a building owner or tenant, adopting tenant metering, or utility submetering, makes more sense than ever when it comes to cost savings and sustainability.
Tenant metering allows you to see how much energy is consumed based on actual data at a granular level and the cost of that energy. Typically, technology such as meters and software, allow you to generate bills for each tenant.
What Are the Benefits for You?
- Tenant metering enables actionable insights into daily, weekly or seasonal operational and maintenance issues, equipment performance or behavior of occupants. Having this information allows you to easily identify opportunities for savings.
- Tenant metering also enables building owners to manage their electricity budget more efficiently and reduce exposure to rate increases and uncontrolled consumption. Reducing operating expenses improves buildings’ net operating income (NOI) and value.
- For tenants, tenant metering data can provide important feedback on energy consumption to promote behavioral change that leads to energy conservation.
These benefits apply to both new and existing buildings. Key market segments where tenant metering is especially relevant are office buildings, retail, federal government facilities, multi-tenant buildings, airports and mixed use buildings. Combining software with decision-support tools with tenant metering can further help change your building’s consumption profile and achieve financial payback.
Figure 1: Win- Win using Tenant Metering
Market Drivers Point to Growing Adoption
The demand for tenant metering is growing quickly. In fact, the market is projected to double in size by 2020 to $1.6 billion, according to a report from Pike Research. That growth is fueled by market drivers such as:
- High Performance Buildings with lower energy usage and the means to track energy usage by tenant are more desirable, easier to lease and have higher market value, according to a report from the Continental Automated Building Association.
- Green building certification such as LEED for New Construction (NC) or existing buildings (EB) which is being increasingly adopted. Advanced energy metering provides up to two LEED points for metering all energy sources used in the tenant space, and any individual energy end uses that represent 10% or more of the total annual consumption of the tenant space.
- Local Mandates have put tremendous pressure on commercial property owners to develop strategies to comply, while managing costs and maintaining profitability. For example, cities such as Seattle, Austin, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and states like Washington and California have passed tough energy efficiency regulations for non residential and residential buildings.
Expected Payback for Building Owners
GSA’s Office of High Performance Green Buildings study observed up to 45% bottom-line energy cost savings with use of tenant metering and associated building tune up, load management and ongoing commissioning. That study looks at the cumulative benefits of tenant metering and associated actions, including building tune-up, load management and ongoing commissioning.
And when tenants pay for what they consume using tenant metering, they can lower energy costs by 21% according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy. This report looks at just the benefits realized from the metering, bill allocation and client behavior change
In both cases, tenant metering is the key to energy management- and cost savings. It is the vital tool that makes owners and tenants aware of usage and cost. That data in turn provides actionable insights to make decisions that deliver significant energy cost savings and guide operations and energy investment decisions
Learn more about Schneider Electric’s tenant metering solutions.
