Darren Bagnall from Flat Living Insurance looks at energy efficiency and sustainability for residential properties.
The property industry has an important role to play as we all work towards Net Zero. The residential sector is a large contributor to the UK’s emissions, but utilising available technology can give property managers and leaseholders the insight they need to increase efficiency in residential blocks.
Here we’ll be discussing some of advantages afforded to us by Property Technology (Prop Tech) and how it can help push energy usage down.
Monitoring and Benchmarking Your Usage
If you don’t know what resources and how much energy is being used by your building and when, you can’t begin to manage your energy strategically.
Smart meters, sensors and intelligent software dashboards can track and analyse your building’s usage in real time. This includes water, electricity and gas consumption, as well as carbon output.
The data can then be used to tell you where energy is perhaps being wasted and how it can be optimised, by looking at the patterns and anomalies that is highlights for you. You can then adjust your energy management strategy to suit.
Once you have this information, you can also benchmark your building against similar ones and check what you are doing against best practise. Prop Tech is purely data-driven, so you’ll get genuine results for like-for-like comparisons.
To take things one step further, you can use Prop tech to become a part of online networks where you can compare and contrast, seek advice and collaborate with other building managers and leaseholders of a similar mindset. You can also join in the conversation with leading experts in the field.
Automation for Ultimate Efficiency
Automating your building’s energy systems (including lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning) is a sure-fire way to improve your energy efficiency. Prop Tech can play a key role in this. Intelligent use can optimise your usage based on occupancy, weather, time of day and resident preferences.
A good example would be using a combination of smart thermostats, lighting systems and window shades to create the perfect lighting level and temperature at a given time. This can massively improve your energy efficiency, as well as creating a more comfortable environment for all residents.
Getting Everyone On-Board
Prop tech doesn’t only have to be used to control energy usage. It can also be used to engage residents and encourage a team effort towards energy efficiency.
Prop Tech sounds fancy, but it can be as simple as providing a mobile app for residents to track their individual usage and keep them aware of the overall usage of the building against your targets. This keeps things engaging and transparent-you could even set up a reward system for great energy efficiency!
If budgets allow, you can use smart locks, voice assistants and wearable tech- for the sake of access but also for individual energy control. If residents feel in control of their own usage and are aware of the overall goals of the building, behaviour change should follow.
Summary
From smart locks to solar panels (yep, they’re Prop Tech too), there are so many solutions on the market now. Many are very affordable and their return on investment is often speedy.
It’s important to stay up to date with advancements, especially ones that can bring down energy usage and reduce emissions for the UK. That could be as simple as logging into a free webinar, a regular Google search, or booking yourself into a conference here and there.
Modern leaseholders are often eco-centric, and buildings that take sustainability and energy efficiency seriously will be very attractive. For the sake of the environment, and freeholder’s investments, energy efficiency should be taken seriously and remain at the top of the agenda for 2024 and beyond.
Flat Living Insurance arranges insurance for self-managed customers only, call us on 0333 577 2044 to get a quote for your block today.
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