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 Tip #70: Show You Care by Elizabeth Madrigal Implementing good green management practices will not only reduce utility expenses, but it is a meaningful way to show your residents you care about their health.
For example, there are plenty of competitively-priced high-performance, low and non-VOC paints available. Why not use them? If you discover some of your sub-contractors already use these green products, make sure you let your residents know! Green management not only increases retention, it improves quality of life for residents and staff. Elizabeth Madrigal is the Business Editor at GreenLandlady.com. She is a member of the Cascadia Regional Green Building Council, holds a Certified Residential Green Appraiser designation and is a frequent speaker on sustainability and green management within multifamily communities. See last week’s Landlord Quick Tip. Do you have a quick tip to share with other landlords? If so, please email our editor at kim@joinaaoa.org American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your rental housing investment, including rental forms, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org. Innovative Tamper Proof Thermostat Limits Temperature Settings to Prevent Energy Waste by David Lowe Property owners around the nation are all too familiar with the skyrocketing utility costs from wasted heating and cooling usage in their properties. Today, ControlTemp Thermostats is introducing a new lower-priced tamper proof thermostat designed to help property managers unleash technology to reduce property utility costs. The intelligently designed CT100 thermostat is a simple, effective way to reduce utility costs in leased office space, retail space, apartments, and vacation homes where the property owner not the tenant pays the utility bills. The seven day programmable tamper proof thermostat has a built in maximum heat limit of 72 degrees and a minimum air conditioning temperature of 75 degrees. These settings still allow the tenant to be comfortable by being able to make small temperature adjustments however the maximum and minimum settings prevent excessive energy waste commonly found in the rental market today. Landlords and property managers come to us looking for solutions to drive down their utility costs. Unfortunately, most tenants think because utilities are included in their monthly rent that it is okay to turn up the heat while leaving the windows open or run the air conditioning continuously. Not only does it cost property owners hundreds or thousands more per month in wasted utility costs, it also causes excessive carbon emissions and excessive wear and tear on their HVAC system. The key with the CT100 thermostat is that the temperature limits for heating and cooling are hard coded into the unit and can’t be changed or tampered with by the tenants. The CT100 also has a seven day programmable schedule. The schedule is preset to the EnergyStar guidelines to automatically adjust the thermostat temperature setting throughout the day and on weekends. The schedule feature can drive significant savings by ensuring that the temperature is adjusted when the space is unoccupied. An analysis developed using tools by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that landlords and property managers can reduce their heating and cooling costs as much as 32 percent by using the CT100 programmable tamper proof thermostats compared to a non-programmable thermostat. The thermostats can also help property managers qualify their properties as “Green.” The reduced energy consumption from installing a CT100 thermostat can lead to reducing a property’s Carbon Footprint by as much as 2,000lbs per year. In addition, due to the seven day programming capability, the CT100 may qualify for energy rebates as high as $100 per unit from many local utilities and government agencies. The ControlTemp CT100 programmable tamper proof thermostat is available immediately and is priced at only $69.99. For additional information, visit the company’s website at www.ControlTempThermostats.com. See our feature, New Regs: Tenants Win, Landlords Pay. American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your commercial housing investment, including real estate forms, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.
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 Last month, we reported on a city’s new ‘green’ plan that had landlords seeing red. Boulder, Colorado’s “SmartRegs” program placed the burden on landlords to lower their tenants’ energy usage. See New Regs: Tenants Win, Landlords Pay.
The plan requires landlords to upgrade rental properties before a rental license can be renewed.
Opponents sited concern that the program wouldn’t work because ultimately tenants control their own energy usage.
But now, the Emerald City is offering to put its money where its mouth is by launching a pilot program to give free energy upgrades to rental property owners.
Once the upgrades are in place, the city is in a better position to monitor the success of the SmartRegs program.
At no cost to the property owner, buildings or units will be analyzed for energy efficiency and upgrades will be completed to meet proposed energy efficiency code requirements. So, if you own a rental property in Boulder, here’s your opportunity to go green without paying the high price. But hurry! Applications must be in by January 15. A complete program application, including building criteria and program conditions, can be found at www.bouldercolorado.gov/pds/smartregs/application. Applications can be submitted:
For more information about the SmartRegs project, visit www.bouldercolorado.gov/smartregs. See our feature, Making Every Dollar Count: Money Saving Tip for Landlords.
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa.
To subscribe to our blog, click here. “SmartRegs” Provide Windfall for Tenants at Landlords’ Expense
While homeowners await the promised Stimulus subsidies and tax breaks for energy upgrades, it is landlords who have become the target of regulations across the country designed to lower tenants’ energy waste.
Only, in this case, there are no subsidies or tax breaks on the horizon.
 The frosty college town of Boulder, Colorado is up to its Birkenstocks in controversy over a new proposal that makes energy use the landlord’s affair. Dubbed “SmartRegs”, the new proposal requires landlords to upgrade to a pre-set level of energy efficiency, or participate in phased-in upgrades based on a point system, in order to renew a rental license in the city.
Boulder’s case is unique because nearly 60% of all city housing is rentals.
This proposal is similar in spirit to a plan we reported last year to hold landlords accountable for tenant utility bills when the tenant does not pay. Philadelphia allowed for its utility provider to file liens against the rental property, rather than go after the delinquent tenant. See Landlord Liable for Tenants’ Utilities.
Many cities around the country are focusing on landlords because rental property owners have no real incentive to pressure tenants to cut their utilities bills. Landlords have little control over tenants who choose to sleep But these other model programs offer some incentives to the landlords to participate in the upgrades by way of discounts or rebates.
Boulder has yet to add that in.
The city argues that going ‘green’ will attract tenants. Clearly, tenants will benefit from property upgrades via lower bills, and the city moves closer to meeting its lofty greenhouse emissions standards. But still, it’s the landlords who pay directly for these ancillary benefits.
While there are some options for incentives, existing programs tend to favor the indigent homeowner, or renters themselves who fall within low income guidelines. One option is to lower rent payments in exchange for the tenant’s entitlements. Otherwise, landlords are saying “show me the money” before they throw their support behind this new program.
A spokesperson for a local rental housing association has pointed to the concern that while the program will cost an average of $1,000 per landlord, there’s no real way to gauge how much has to happen in order to see any discernible reduction in energy bills or greenhouse emissions.
Also, landlords in need of upgrades may have a limited number of city-approved contractors to choose from, which can drive up costs, and drag out the rental license renewal process.
See our feature, Making Every Dollar Count: Money Saving Tip for Landlords.
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa.
To subscribe to our blog, click here. Tip #26: Recycle Your Electricity
Every time you start up an appliance that runs on a motor, electricity is drawn into your home. Your meter spins, tracking usage, and your bill is calculated on that amount. But not all of the electricity that is metered is However, there is a cost-effective way to start saving money immediately, every time a motor in your rental (or your home) fires up. The technology is called the “Power-Save” and it’s available from FreeEasyGreen.com. Power-Save is a little gray box that mounts neatly beside your electrical panel, increases the effective use of your electricity, and lowers your usage.
The Power-Save reduces the amount of power drawn from the utility by storing in its capacitors otherwise lost electricity caused by the inductive motors in your home – things like air conditioning units, refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers, pool pumps, vacuum cleaners, furnace blower motors, and fans. Power-Save units are available for both commercial and residential use. They can be installed easily as long as you have a circuit breaker panel with breaker switches and not the old screw-in type fuses. The unit will work on any single-phase electric application for homes. The Power-Save unit also serves as a surge protector for many common home electronics. FreeEasyGreen.com guarantees the unit will reduce your electric bill. There is a “no questions asked” 60-day money back guarantee. Residential units are just $299, and independent studies, including one conducted by CBS News, have shown the unit can pay for itself in 6-18 months depending on usage. For more information, see FreeEasyGreen.com. See last week’s Landlord Quick Tip.
Do you have a quick tip to share with other landlords? Please email our editor at kim@joinaaoa.org.
American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including real estate forms, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.
Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org. To subscribe to our blog, click here. by David Lowe
Most tenants as with many homeowners don’t pay attention to the amount of energy they are using.  Tenants who are not responsible for paying the utility bills are traditionally least aware of their energy abuses because there is no feedback mechanism, i.e. a utility bill, to keep them honest.Education can play a large part in changing tenant behavior. I believe if a tenant was given some simple energy saving ideas they would use them: For instance, the placement of furniture can have a large impact on air flow in the home thus impacting how hot or cold it feels. Tenants should be told to be sure to avoid placing furniture in front of or on top of registers or return vents. Give your tenants a tour of the appliances in the unit. Point out how to adjust the settings for energy efficiency. Explain how to use the programmable thermostat, how to lower the water temperature.
Another large energy waster is lighting. Many tenants are in the habit of keeping the lights on most of the day and night — even when they are not home. Encourage the use of timers and other energy saving devices.
In vacation homes and short-term rentals, including student housing, the easiest way to control costs is through the use of a tamper proof thermostat. Limiting how high or low a guest can set the temperature will have a large impact on saving energy usage in a vacation home. It is also important to monitor the energy use on the property. You can start by assessing the current energy use of your building(s) to establish a reference using EPA’s national energy performance rating system, a free online tool that provides many types of facilities with a score on a simple 1-to-100 scale, 1 being the least efficient and 100 being the most)
Also Microsoft just launched a new website site “Hohm” to help homeowners baseline and track their energy usage. As a long term strategy that involved capital investment, consider variable speed technology to better control fans and pumps. David Lowe is a property manager and co-founder of ControlTemp Thermostats, providing tamper-proof programmable thermostats. Check out ControlTempThermostats.com for more information.
See our related feature, Tenants Always Liable for Utilities Right? Think Again!
See our Green Forum for more energy savings tips. American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa. To subscribe to our blog, click here.
Rent it Right by Janet Portman, Inman News
When I asked the leasing agent about what that meant, she could only point to the recycling bins and the use of high-efficient outdoor lighting. This seemed pretty paltry to me. Are there standards that an owner must meet before being able to claim “green” status for a building? –Max M. A: In the past it was onsite laundry facilities, then cable TV access, then Wi-Fi. Now, it seems that “green” is the newest amenity that apartment owners hope will set them apart from the competition. But unlike those earlier upgrades (either there was a laundry room or there wasn’t), being “green,” or energy efficient, isn’t so easy to measure in a residential building. Commercial buildings and single-family homes can be measured against the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, but no green building standard existed for apartment communities until January 2009, when the National Green Building Standard was approved by the American National Standards Institute. The first question to ask that leasing agent is whether this complex was built using methods, materials and designs that approximate the new standards. If the complex was designed and built using green approaches and materials, the next question is whether the property is run with “greenness” in mind. You’ve been shown two green practices — recycling and efficient lighting — but these are only the tip of the environmentally conscious iceberg. To be truly green, this property should practice overall energy- and water-saving techniques, use cleaning compounds low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and have low-emission equipment, among other things. To encourage individual tenants to conserve, utilities should be individually metered. Finally, a successful green building depends on the behavior of the individual tenants. Those who refuse to recycle or who use phosphate-rich compounds or inordinate amounts of water will sabotage management’s efforts to go green. This is where things can get tricky. To require green practices among tenants, landlords need to write “green compliance” clauses into their leases. If they are to mean anything, these clauses must be enforceable, putting tenants who don’t comply at risk of termination and eviction. But how does a landlord monitor the brand of soap or amount of water tenants use without violating their rights to privacy? Hopefully, the promise of a green environment (and the premium that many tenants will pay for such a living situation) will attract only those who are eager to conform to the program, making enforcement all but unnecessary.
See Janet Portman’s feature How to Negotiate a Lease Buyout. American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa. To subscribe to our blog, click here.
5 tips to lower heating bills in the coming months
by David Lowe Farmer’s Almanac is predicting below average temperatures for 75 percent of the country.  Here are five things owners and landlords can do to get ready and reduce their utility bills — and they are easier to do now when it is still warm than wait until winter. Caulk and seal all windows and doors. Ensure their is no outside air leaking into the house. Also, add insulation to your attic and crawl spaces. Change your air filters. Service your furnace or boiler now. Not when the first cold hits and the HVAC companies are the busiest. Also, many utility customers don’t realize that they have an annual service plan that includes a free annual tune up. Check with your utility company first.
Install a programmable thermostat. One of the easiest ways to save by setting back the temperature at times when the home is unoccupied. ControlTemp thermostats can run on a schedule to automatically adjust the temperature through the day and tenants are prevented from disabling the schedule.
Check www.energystar.gov for a list of rebates in your area for energy saving products. Some utilities and municipalities are offering great rebates such as in Charlottesville, VA the town will reimburse you up to $100 toward the purchase of a programmable thermostat.
David Lowe is a property manager and co-founder of ControlTemp Thermostats, providing tamper-proof programmable thermostats. Check out ControlTempThermostats.com for more information.
See our Green Forum for more energy savings tips. American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa. To subscribe to our blog, click here.
With heating and cooling bills climbing, take steps to rein in the costs from your rental property, and well as your own home. Vacation home owner David Lowe got fed up with the problems caused by renters randomly setting the thermostats at extremes. So he decided to do something about it. He created a tamper-proof thermostat. Dubbed the “ControlTemp Thermostat”, it is specially designed to prevent tenants or guests from cranking up the heat or air conditioning in your units or common areas that cause your utility bills to sky rocket. by Jeff Adie
With this list of 16 cheap, easy-to-install upgrades, you owe it to yourself, and your tenants, to find a few that will work to lower your costs. We are not talking major projects in this blog– just 16 low-cost improvements that you can easily accomplish that will help save our resources. So, no more excuses! (more…)   Add Super Saver to any membership for only $ 19.95! 
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An easy, no-cost way to start is with your landscaper, cleaning company, painters and handyman. Require them to perform their duties using non-toxic products, practices and materials.
with the windows open, or leave the lights on when the place is empty.
actually used. A lot of it is wasted. You’ve paid for it, but it never gets used in your home or business.
Q: I’ve been looking at a brand-new apartment complex that advertises itself as a “green community.”
Did you know you can save from 3% to 8% on your utility bill for every one degree of adjustment on your thermostat?
High heating, cooling, and water bills are not going away.
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