How Submetering Benefits You
Submetering benefits property owners and managers, residents and the environment.
Property Owners and Managers
Thousands of real estate investors and property managers across the nation are achieving long-term, cost-saving results through utility submetering. Because Guardian can handle meter reading, billing, collection, and reporting, managers and owners also save time with one of our submetering solutions.
Some of the benefits to property owners include:
- Lower operating expenses
- Increased cash flow
- Increased property valuation
- Protection against unbudgeted utility expense and rate increases
Residents
For apartment residents, submetering provides a way to help lower their total housing costs. Residents also benefit from submetering because they are responsible for their own usage rather than for misuse by others.
The Environment
Industry studies continue to document the linkage between utility conservation and separate billing for utility usage. A study conducted by the National Multi-Housing Council and the National Apartment Association found an 18 to 39 percent reduction in water consumption in individually metered apartments compared to apartments that include water expenses in rent.
To underscore the conservation benefits of submetering, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a ruling in December 2003 that will now encourage individual billing of water usage in multi-unit properties. Prior to that date, a provision of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act directed property owners who billed their residents for water usage to meet the same testing and treatment requirements as public water systems. The requirement was sporadically enforced on a state-by-state basis and deterred many owners from submetering. In issuing its December 2003 rule change, the EPA concluded "…because a key objective of the Agency is to promote water efficiency and conservation, EPA has decided to change the policy for submetering." Learn more.