Energy Management for Smarter Apartments

Smart apartment solutions, a mix of hub hardware, connected devices, and both resident-facing and property manager software interfaces, have become the new frontier for the smart home. Once confined to single family homes, smart home technology has been modified to work in multi-unit environments and now offers benefits to both the resident and to the property.

Apartment dwellers today have added technology as a key requirement when they seek new accommodations, and as a result, properties are responding by adding high speed WiFi, smart home, EV charging, and more to their list of amenities. Properties adopting these technologies are justifying the expense in part on the higher rents they can charge and how fast they can lease up a new building, but also with an eye on reducing turnover by keeping residents happy. Higher rents and higher occupancy, coupled with a solid technological infrastructure, can have a direct impact on the value of the property, enabling developers to sell their properties at a premium.

Owners and operators of these properties can also benefit by enhancing net operating income, typically by making the property run more efficiently with less staff and by reducing the risk of catastrophic expenses like a water leak. To enable this benefit, smart apartment solutions are typically integrated with the property management solutions (PMS) used to run the property, and include a dashboard interface that enables keyless access for the staff anywhere on the property, vacant unit management for reducing energy costs paid by the property, and visibility into the status of connected systems throughout the property, which include leak detection systems. In recent years, smarter package delivery and parking solutions have been added to increase the value to both the resident and property.

A new frontier for smart apartments

Smart home energy management systems (SHEMS) offer a unique new value for both residents and properties that has the potential to redefine the smart apartment market. SHEMS systems provide insights into energy consumption in a living environment, providing context on where, when, and how much energy is consumed and how much that energy costs. They enable automation of connected systems, like appliances, HVAC, and lighting, to reduce energy consumption without sacrificing comfort. SHEMS systems also enable participation in demand response programs offered by utilities, which enable the user to earn rebates by helping offset energy demand at peak times.

Apartments equipped with a SHEMS system offer residents a way to reduce their energy bill and personally contribute in the fight against climate change, an attractive proposition for younger residents in particular. Sapphire Connected Communities, a smart apartment application powered by SmartThings Pro Solutions, is the first to offer this unique capability to residents. When deployed along with Samsung appliances and Samsung HVAC systems, which report their energy consumption into the system, residents can automate these systems and more to save energy and earn rebates by participating in demand response programs.

Properties can reap the benefits of energy management as well, by automating spaces where they pay the energy bill. Common areas like a lounge, fitness center, media room, or pool can all be automated to conserve energy when not in use. For common areas not open 24 hrs, a simple schedule based automation could lower power consumption after closing hours and prepare the space for guests right before opening. Spaces that are lightly used or open 24/7 would benefit from occupancy detection, switching on lights when a resident enters.

A new tool for sustainability

As local and state entities set ambitious climate goals, they must also enforce new ordinances designed to ensure local companies contribute to meeting those goals. To comply, multifamily owners and operators are increasingly forming ESG (environment, sustainability, governance) teams to drive sustainability initiatives. It’s not only good corporate citizenship, but a matter of profit as well. Large fees can be imposed on properties that do not comply.

ESG teams are setting ambitious goals to reduce the carbon footprint of their real estate portfolio. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designates 3 classifications of emissions, Scope 1, 2, and 3, which must be accounted for to properly comply.

Scope 1 emissions come from the direct burning of fuel, creating greenhouse gas emissions. A gas-fired boiler used to heat a building and which is controlled by the property would be in scope 1. Any fuel burning vehicles used by the property would also fall into this classification. If these heating sources are used to heat parts of the property not leased out to residents, one way to lower scope 1 emissions would be to automate HVAC in the common areas heated by this system.

Scope 2 emissions come from the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) that are produced by generating electricity for the property. The primary way an energy management system can lower these emissions is through automation of common areas, and also of vacant units, which fall under the responsibility of the property as well. One other way to lower Scope 2 emissions is to install rooftop solar, which offsets electricity needed from the grid.

On-site EV charging, the capacity for which is becoming an increasing focus for multifamily, should also be tracked. EV charging of property vehicles reduces scope 1 emissions, and when powered by clean energy like rooftop solar, can reduce scope 2 as well. Offering sufficient charging capacity for residents can have an even bigger impact, by reducing scope 3 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions involve GHGs generated upstream and downstream from the company, not in the production of the goods or service itself. For multifamily, the primary emissions come from electricity used in leased units by the residents, which are not controlled by the property. By providing a SHEMS system for residents to use, properties can significantly impact scope 3 emissions, which is often considered the toughest class of emissions to tackle.

Increasing visibility and improving reporting

Although smart apartment solutions don’t currently offer energy management in their property interfaces yet, the potential benefit is great. The same dashboard interface that a smart apartment solution uses for visibility and control of smart devices could easily be extended to include aggregated energy data. This would enable thoughtful analysis of how energy is used and where it can be curbed. It could further serve as a means of collecting key pieces of data crucial to proper ESG reporting, such as rooftop solar production, EV charger consumption, and living unit and common area data. The data collected could serve multiple functions beyond reporting, including comparing different properties across the portfolio to each other and for testing new energy reducing automations that could become the standard procedure for all properties. Understanding which buildings perform better can aid in the design of new properties, helping meet future goals.

A global return on investment

Multifamily properties that adopt energy management in their communities can improve their return on investment by providing the technology that residents will pay more for, and by reducing their own energy costs. This return is further compounded by the additional value to ESG teams who can reduce the risk of fees and potentially cash in on rebates from utility programs. But, this ROI is more than simply financial in nature. Sustainability is crucial to maintaining a healthy planet, something that provides a substantial return for all of us.