Many commercial Property Managers allocate utility costs based on the square footage rented by the tenant. In a property where all the tenants have similar utility loads, this may seem like a equitable approach. However, this poses a few problems:
- What is the incentive for the tenant to conserve, since their bill will always be a percentage of all users, including efficient and high users?
- What if the tenants have different consumption patterns?
- How can the Property Manager control common area expenses such as the ever increasing air-conditioning load as more lights, computers and appliances put out more heat?
Stratacon can help owners and managers overcome these issues by putting a meter on each of the utilities in the unit. Depending on what is available to the tenant, these meters can measure the unit’s exact consumption of electricity, heating/cooling, water and gas. With exact consumption figures, Stratacon can prepare monthly bills for each unit. With or without the involvement of the Property Manager, Stratacon can administer this billing and collection process.
By metering the utility directly, tenants and Property Managers gain:
- Information about the property’s consumption habits down to the hour
- The ability to see an immediate, measurable impact when energy efficiency projects are implemented
- Tenants gain control of their utility costs
If you are a Property Manager, call Stratacon, and we’ll show you how we can administer and automate your utility cost allocation process.
