Sustainable Property Management: How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Acting with environmental responsibility has always been essential, but it’s become a “hot topic” in the last few years. This article will examine the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

With a focus on environmental sustainability, it has become equally crucial for OMC directors to reduce their carbon footprint.

Why is it essential for OMC Directors?

It is not just OMC Directors that it’s essential; all businesses can benefit extensively from reducing their carbon footprint.

It is, however, essential for owner-management companies to be more conscious of their carbon footprint, as residential blocks consume massive amounts of energy. Residential units currently contribute 40% of the world’s carbon emissions, so reducing carbon emissions within real estate is paramount to property owners, landlords, investors, and owner-managed companies.

What is an energy audit?

An energy audit is a step every Owner Management Company should consider. The audit is to ascertain where and if energy-saving steps can be taken.

An energy audit is a three-step process carried out on buildings, which involves preparation, a site visit, and reporting.

An energy audit is important because it allows the OMCs to conduct a cost/benefit analysis on all of the report’s recommendations. Buildings with higher energy efficiency are more attractive to tenants, property owners, and investors.

Conducting an Energy Audit

Many third parties offer energy audits; the best practice is to speak to the property management company you deal with. If they don’t provide it themselves, they can direct you to their “preferred supplier”, possibly with a discount.

How much is a home energy audit?

Although some providers offer free energy audits, the average price per facility is around €300-500.

Are energy audits worth the money?

In our opinion, yes. Energy audits are worth doing as they assess how energy-efficient your home or building is, so you know where to make changes.

You can save 5–30% on your energy bills by implementing your auditor’s suggestions.

Implementing Sustainable Practices

If you are an OMC looking to make your building/block more sustainable, implementing SPs (Sustainable practices) is the first thing to consider.

The OMC’s primary focus will be to increase efficiency in the communal areas. Still, steps can also be taken with tenants if the owner is a landlord instead of occupying the unit themselves.

Although you can not force energy efficiency onto tenants, you can ensure that steps are taken before renting the property. You can also provide informational literature on the benefits and cost savings to tenants.

The easiest ways to reduce energy consumption are:

Switching to energy-efficient lighting and appliances

Switching all the communal areas to energy-efficient light bulbs in no way affects or reduces the quality of light; it will only reduce energy consumption and cost. By changing all your bulbs and appliances to their energy-efficient counterparts, you can save as much as 75% of your energy usage per bulb/appliance.

Consider renewable energy

There are now multiple options available for residential renewable energy. As an OMC, you might want to run a cost/benefit analysis for the following:

Rooftop Solar Panels
Solar Oven
Hydro Power
Solar Water Heating
Solar Air Conditioning
Tesla Powerwall.

Conserving water usage

Although one of the simplest, conserving water is still highly effective. Water accounts for 54% of a combined energy bill; this energy is spent heating the water. Preserving how much water we use reduces energy consumption.

Recycling and waste management

Recycling prevents/reduces the emissions of many greenhouse gases and water pollutants. It also saves energy, and using recovered material generates less solid waste. Recycling helps reduce the pollution caused by extracting and processing virgin materials.

How to get the message out to tenants?

Not all residential units are made up of owners; some of the occupants will be tenants. It’s, therefore, important that the owners are not the only ones reducing their carbon footprint. It would help if you offered some outreach to tenants to incentivise them to reduce their emissions.

Some of the ways OMCs have found effective are:

Educational Materials

You can quickly gain your tenant’s attention by creating a simple pamphlet or poster to be presented in a communal space. Although some tenants may or may not be interested in environmentally friendly practices, most will be interested in reducing their ever-increasing energy bills.

Green Meetings

Although more time-heavy, green meetings are a very effective way of informing tenants of the cost-saving benefits of becoming more energy efficient.

Free Lightbulbs

Everyone loves a gift! This is mainly a good idea for where the tenancy is a fixed price, including utilities. By providing the tenant with energy-efficient lightbulbs, the landlord responsible for paying energy costs can see a 5-30% reduction in their electricity bill.