3 Ways to Conserve Energy & Build Value

     

Energy conservation is about more than just being eco-friendly. Adding water and electricity saving items in units and around a multifamily property leads to immediate and ongoing savings that can make a big difference in property profitability.

Conversations about energy conservation often lead with the up-front cost, which minimizes the potential savings involved. Cost is important—the bottom line will always be the bottom line—but the initial cost is not the only metric to consider when budgeting for energy conservation. Both owners and residents would love to lower their monthly utility bills, and there are many energy-saving items multifamily communities can use to realize that goal.

Manufacturers have done a great job developing energy-conserving products that also deliver savings to property owners. This is especially true in multifamily, because energy savings is multiplied by numbers of units and residents.

Check this out!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), replacing old, inefficient faucets and aerators with WaterSense^® certified models can save the average family about 700 gallons of water per year*. And not just water… Add in the fact that a lot of that water is heated, and now we’re adding the electricity cost, as well as additional wear on water heater components.

When we multiply that 700-gallon savings across every unit in a property, we see that:

Looking at the hard numbers multiplied across an entire property, it’s easy to see how a savings of several hundred gallons becomes more than 100 thousand gallons very quickly. And that’s just the water savings. The cost of heating that water is also saved, which compounds the savings!

That’s a real-world example of how updating only two plumbing fixtures delivers a direct and immediate savings to one family—and compounded savings for multifamily properties.

Cost Saving Conservation

These money- and energy-saving plumbing opportunities include Watersense^® certified faucets and aerators from Niagara Conservation^®. These products represent decades of experience producing and delivering high-efficiency, energy-saving plumbing and lighting products to the multifamily industry—innovations proven to provide immediate, compounded energy, water, and cost savings for multifamily communities.

Examples of WaterSense certified faucets and aerators include:

*epa.gov/watersense

Save Even More Water

Another way to save thousands of gallons of water every year is by updating leaky or wasteful toilets. According to the EPA, toilets are “by far the main source of water use” in an average home. Toilets account for up to 30 percent of average residential indoor water consumption. Some families may save up to 60 percent, which would mean thousands of gallons of water saved per unit, per year.

Even using a more conservative estimate of average water savings, check out how much water a multifamily community can save per year:

Examples of high efficiency water saving toilets include:  

Bonus Savings

Another way for multifamily communities to save energy and money is by updating exterior lighting to bright, long-lasting LED lighting.

Outdoor lighting is vital to the security and curb appeal of a property, and residents appreciate the feeling of safety these lights provide. Traditional exterior security lights use a lot of energy, and this energy comes at an increasing cost for the property.

LED exterior and security lights deliver better illumination and, because they last longer and use less energy, cost much less to operate. Examples of cost-saving exterior lighting include:

All of these energy saving plumbing and lighting fixtures will help multifamily residents and owners reduce their energy usage, as well as the associated costs, as they improve their environmental footprint.

For more energy-saving features residents will love, reach out to your Chadwell Supply representative.