An ongoing series of research reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) details information from the hundreds of thousands of buildings who use ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager to track energy usage. The latest report focuses on renewable energy and trends in energy metering and efficiency tracking. Onsite renewable energy systems The report studies data from over 260,000 properties, determining that less than 1% (2,447 properties) are currently generating onsite renewable energy. However, even with this low total, the use of onsite renewables has increased ten-fold in the last decade. Among the most common property types who do generate renewable energy are retail stores, K-12 schools and offices. Schools and worship facilities account for the largest number as a percentage of their total properties, still only representing 2.4% each. By comparison, only half a percent of multifamily housing properties have implemented renewable systems. Where are these systems most commonly found? According to the study, California leads the way by a wide margin with nearly 1,000 properties. That number represents more than the next 10 highest states combined. Because the source energy conversion factor is lower for onsite renewable energy, these properties have higher ENERGY STAR scores by a significant margin compared to all properties (74 to 59). Data also shows that 55% of these buildings meet less than a quarter of their electrical consumption from onsite renewables. Metering challenges and considerations There are three primary types of meters that customers use, determined by local utility company standards and building electrical systems. The report dives into the types of meters, what information they do or do not provide and how this impacts energy benchmarking and efficiency goals. Net meters spin forward or backward showing net consumption of power, but do not tell you what was imported or exported. Bi-directional meters tell you how much energy was imported and how much renewable energy was exported. The least common, dual meters have two devices, one to measure import and another for export. The main billing issue, as described in the study, is that only reporting net consumption makes it challenging to benchmark energy performance. To assess this accurately, you need all energy use, regardless of source. Portfolio Manager accurately incorporates onsite renewables into efficiency calculations. Developers may be willing to retrofit older meters with newer versions in order to capture renewable energy generated onsite exported back to the grid and the amount of grid energy sent to the building. The report goes into further detail about renewable energy certificates, inaccurate billing and metering practices, and thoroughly explains the flow chart connecting energy, meter and property. While the total number of buildings reporting onsite renewable energy continues to grow, it still represents a fraction of total properties. Data will become more available to customers as more meters support accurate measurement of onsite renewable energy. Until then, it’s hard to paint a detailed picture of efficiency and even harder to invest in a mix of strategies to achieve great energy use...

Despite massive disruption to in-person learning protocols, demand for off-campus, purpose-built student housing remains strong, according to a webinar and a new bulletin from Yardi Matrix. “College students don’t want to live at home. And their parents seem quite amenable, if financial circumstances allow it, for them not to live at home,” said Jeff Adler, vice president of Yardi Matrix, during the webinar. “There’s been a tremendous amount of noise around the sector, but as it relates to the financial performance of off-campus student housing, it is largely unaffected.” The one key factor is that college or university the students are attending must be offering classes in some capacity, even if they are all online. Need for greater social distance between students in on-campus dormitories have been another helpful nudge. “As long as the school is open somehow, for the dedicated off-campus student housing inventory, (the education format) doesn’t matter,” Adler said. “The off-campus student housing industry has shown itself to be really resilient.” Development pipelines also remain strong, with only two planned projects nationwide falling off the radar in the last quarter. Enrollment trends have favored public universities rather than private schools, indicating that students may be looking for more affordable education alternatives given current economic uncertainty. And off-campus housing options provide a more continuous housing option than on-campus dorms, which are more likely to be subject to closures or status changes. Though college enrollment from international students is down due to travel restrictions, those spots in off-campus housing seem to thus far have been backfilled by American students. One caveat is that these are students whose parents’ economic fortunes have likely not been disrupted by the pandemic. And even if no vaccine is available in spring 2021 as expected, purpose-built student housing is expected to continue to do well. “Even if everything goes horribly wrong (with vaccine development), the fact that this year was as good as it was indicates that as long as the school is open in some fashion, it’s a non-event for the off-campus student housing sector,” Adler said. For the 200 colleges and universities the Matrix team analyzed, preleasing of purpose-built student housing was just 3 percent behind that of 2019. “While demand has been volatile on a university-by-university basis, the willingness and desire for people to congregate near their school will likely help the student housing sector steer through these uncertain times,” states the analysis. Preview new technology for student housing providers at the NMHC/InterFace Student Housing Conference, a virtual event taking place Oct. 19-22. Visit the virtual booth to see how RentCafe Student and Yardi Matrix Student will graduate your leasing and management...

The events of the past several months necessitated major shifts in the housing industry. The pandemic made it clear—if there had been any doubts—that the future of efficient, healthy social housing relies on integrated technology. When it comes to tenant files, bypassing physical touch points reduces exposure risk while increasing process efficacy. The latter benefit carries with social housing providers long after the pandemic has faded from conversation. Integrated leasing and property management technology expedites daily processes by digitizing, streamlining and automating tasks. One of the first steps towards greater efficiency begins with tenant portals. When resident portals integrate with back-end property management technology, the results are improved safety, maximized compliance and more accurate reporting. Ontario housing receive a mandatory tech makeover Leasing social housing units has always been an elaborate process: paper applications, manual reviews, in-person interviews, and seemingly endless data entry were a few trademarks of the process before online portals. Redundant and tedious tasks can cause staff burnout, costly errors and inconsistent tenant experiences. The pandemic forced social housing to evolve. Social housing management has been transformed by social distancing protocols and health guidelines. The transformation is changing office processes and the work environment. Months into the pandemic, an industry that has been accustomed to incremental change is adapting online leasing tools at a rapid pace. Technology, such as online tenant portals, comes with a host of benefits for social housing providers and tenants. 5 Benefits of a tenant portal for housing providers Tenant portals are tools of empowerment. Staff members benefit from online portals in five major ways: Save staff time with online and automated services. Online portals make data management easier for staff. Tenants enter their own data which is seamlessly integrated with back-end software. This reduces data entry for staff, minimizes errors and eliminates redundancy. Simplify resident management with user portals. Staff experience significantly fewer phone calls and in-person meetings when they can conduct rent geared to income (RGI) reviews and resident management tasks online. There is also less downtime between correspondences: no waiting on snail mail or returning calls. Improve financial management. Accurate reporting is crucial to long-term success. Online portals facilitate faster reporting. Housing providers can leverage software that supports provincial, municipal, board and internal reporting requirements. Staff can also create custom reports from any web-enabled device. Housing providers can also generate more complete rent collection and rent geared to income (RGI) reviews with user-submitted data. Increase data accuracy and accessibility. Physical documents are stored on premises and not accessible in remote work environments. Online portals facilitate telecommuting by storing resident information in a secure database that staff can access in the leasing office or their remote work locations. Enjoy a simple, single sign-in. Managing multiple software products requires multiple credentials for staff. Staff must manually rekey and update renter profile information in multiple locations if errors are made or changes are necessary. With an integrated solution complete with portals, tenants manage their own personal information. When staff must intervene, there is a single sign in and greater consistency throughout the leasing and RGI review process. Through the gained efficiencies of user portals, staff members are empowered to shift their focus from tedious tasks to building relationships and offering stellar services. Top 3 benefits of a tenant portal for tenants Tenant portals also empower residents. Users can safely and easily complete tasks with three added benefits: Offer convenience and flexibility. Tenants can gain 24/7 access via web browsers to their customizable profiles. A simple, self-service data entry process allows them to update personal information, complete forms and review their status. With a website, tenants can interact with staff without the restrictions of leasing office hours. They can also communicate with staff and receive responses via SMS/text messaging that abide by CASL requirements. Increase accuracy for annual or interim reviews. Residents can log in at their convenience and update RGI information. They...

While energy efficiency is important every day of the year in any economy, 2020 is presenting unique challenges along with big opportunities for companies and individuals alike and now is a great time for everyone to take control of energy use and utility costs. Using energy efficiently is the simplest way to lower utility bills, improve air quality and reduce environmental impact as part of a larger concerted effort. Driven by the mission to save money, cut pollution and create jobs, Energy Efficiency Day on October 7, 2020, is a collaboration of dozens of energy efficiency advocacy groups around the U.S., including the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Advanced Energy Economy, Alliance to Save Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Regional Energy Efficiency Organizations and many others. As we come together for the fifth annual Energy Efficiency Day, the event website offers some great tips to deal with pandemic-related utility costs now and through the summer. A costly lockdown While working remotely and spending more time at home is helping to stop the spread of COVID-19, it’s not helping most people’s wallets. For areas in a home that need improvement to increase energy efficiency, workers usually need inside access. During a pandemic, that kind of exposure carries serious safety concerns. If you’re not ready to let utility pros into your home, what can you do? Consider a virtual energy audit. Check with your local utility companies to find out if they offer this convenience in your area. There are also some things you can do yourself to increase energy efficiency and stop the waste. Following are a few highlights and takeaways from the article Pandemic Hurts Efficiency Jobs But You Can Still Make Energy-Saving Upgrades. Seal the gaps Check around windows and doors as well as mail slots, electrical outlets and window-mounted AC units. Wherever you find a crack or gap, seal it with caulk or weather stripping. Replace filters Keeping your furnace and air conditioner filter clean will ensure they aren’t working harder than they need to — which saves you money, lowers emissions and extends the life of your equipment. Lighten up your bills Switch your bulbs to LEDs, which use up to 90% less energy to deliver the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs — and they last up to 25 times longer. Save water With a high efficiency showerhead, you can save more the 2,000 gallons of water per year, most of which is hot water, so you also get the savings on heating. While you’re at it, install an aerator in your kitchen sink — a pressure compensating model ensures plenty of flow power while it reduces water use. Want to learn more? Get the scoop on ways to save on your next energy bill for tips including ENERGY STAR® appliances and how you can take part in Energy Efficiency Day. For property managers and owners looking for ways to gain control over energy consumption and reduce costs, join a free webinar on energy solutions brought to you by Yardi, named an ENERGY STAR Partner of the...

“To effect change, there must be a stimulation of a magnitude that means companies cannot do anything but make bold decisions to survive. COVID-19 is that magnitude.” — Stuart Carlaw, chief research officer for technology analysis firm ABI Research Amsterdam-based consumer trend firms TrendWatching and Business of Purpose created COVID Innovations to track technology innovations arising from the pandemic. Here’s a summary of some of the projects listed on the site. Japanese start-up Donut Robotics has devised a smart mask called C-Mask. It can be worn over fabric-based masks and connects to an app via Bluetooth, enabling it to transcribe speech to text messages that are sent via the user’s smartphone. It can also translate from Japanese into eight other languages. After debuting C-Mask in Japan in September, Donut Robotics is eyeing the U.S., Europe and China as potential markets. Meanwhile, Detroit-based Redcliffe Medical is marketing its own mask design. LEAF is a transparent device composed of medical-grade silicone that promotes safety while keeping the wearer’s identity, lip movements and facial expressions visible. It’s the first FDA-registered mask with N99-standard air filtering abilities and includes an antifogging feature. Can ultraviolet light provide a line of defense against the coronavirus in warehouses, schools, restaurants, supermarkets, offices and other venues? MIT thinks so and created a robot designed to disinfect spaces by emitting UV light. It’s already been used successfully at the Greater Boston Food Bank. A 3D camera helps the device navigate around obstacles while a 2D device measures distances by illuminating targets with light. Another robot, StrikeForce, comes from XENEX Disinfection Systems in San Antonio, which claims its invention can destroy the novel coronavirus in 2 minutes. The company’s LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots (a trademarked name) uses a xenon lamp to generate bursts of high intensity ultraviolet light. Restaurants, car dealerships, hotels, office buildings and gyms are among the potential candidates for StrikeForce, which is available on a limited basis in Texas, according to COVID Innovations in June. India’s TechMax hopes to ease workers’ transition back to multi-story office environments with its Sparshless solution, which allows touchless elevator unit operations. Summoning the elevator is as simple as placing your hand near a reader. Once inside, just point your finger at a button from about a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch away. Many people have stayed true to their favorite eateries with pick-up and take-out orders. Is it possible to create a similarly contactless dine-in experience? Pasadena, Calif.-based FreshBytes is one tech firm that thinks so. In June, the online ordering system provider, which claims to be the only company that allows restaurants to update their dine-in menus directly from a mobile phone, announced a system that lets customers scan a QR device to view the menu, order and pay directly from a mobile device, with the guest order automatically printed in the kitchen. There’s no exchange of pens, paper or payment cards, and guest turnover is faster. Another California enterprise technology platform provider, Presto, says its free Contactless Dining Kit received orders from more than 5,000 restaurants in five continents within two weeks of its launch in late May. And in Europe, British engineering firm Arup designed modular “parklets,” outdoor seating areas made from hardwood and screened from each other by plants and acrylic glass that let restaurant patrons enjoy onsite dining while maintaining social distances. They’re part of a “Liverpool Without Walls” project designed to help that city’s restaurants reopen. The first parklet was opened in July. Microsoft responded to spiraling global unemployment with a skills initiative designed to bring digital skill learning opportunities to 25 million people by the end of the year. The software giant will leverage its LinkedIn and GitHub resources to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed for them, provide free access to learning content, and deliver low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools. Yardi responded to the pandemic with its own set of dedicated...

Though working from home is novel in many ways, it has its disadvantages: you may feel disconnected from your peers, out of the loop with leadership and frustrated that you don’t have access to all the tools you’d have at the office. Add those concerns on top of a challenging work-life balance and we’ve got a recipe for short tempers, cluttered minds and poor communication. Yet in the age of social distancing, strong communication skills reassert their essential value. If you find that your team is struggling to stay amicable, focused and encouraged, consider the three Cs: clear, concise and conscious communication.   Clear intention First, identify what you want to accomplish. Geoffrey James, a specialist in sales communications at Sales Source, emphasizes that all communication has intention. “Before you initiate any communication, ask yourself, ‘What am I trying to accomplish?’ Understanding and focusing on the ‘why’ allows you to avoid side issues and ratholes that might otherwise obscure the situation.” Clear communication also encourages us to be specific and detailed in the first point of contact. This can minimize confusion and time-consuming follow-ups. Avoid assumptions, state your objective and provide your contact with the necessary information or resources needed to fulfill the objective. Think you’re overdoing it on the details? If you’re introducing an unfamiliar topic or content, you’re probably not. A Stanford University study reveals that speakers grossly overestimate how much listeners understand. When you’re dealing with a new project or concept, it may be essential to overcommunicate. Concise language While it is important to give adequate details, it is equally important to be concise. There are no hard and fast rules for this delicate balance. The amount of detail needed will depend on your contact’s familiarity with the content. But there are steps that you can take to be efficient with your communication. In writing, it is especially important to avoid hyperbole, downplaying serious situations and sarcasm. Written communication doesn’t include tone of voice, facial expression and body language to give context to what you’re saying. Any figurative language increase the chances of miscommunication. Additionally, communication specialist Deep Patel recommends focusing on communication that will garner respect rather than laughs. “It can be tempting to communicate with others in a lighthearted way,” says Patel. “But remember that the most successful communicators are those who have earned respect rather than laughs.” Conscious approach There are entire schools of study around conscious communication. To simplify a few concepts, keep two basic points in mind: no one can read your mind, and everyone is fighting personal battles. No one knows what you need unless you clearly and concisely explain it to them. When possible, empower them with resources to fulfill the objective correctly the first time around. You also cannot read their minds, so avoid making assumptions about their intentions, intelligence or character. Secondly, everyone is trying to adjust to these turbulent times. Financial uncertainty, health concerns, social injustice, longing for absent loved ones and frustrations within the household are just a few issues that contribute to irregular or unfavorable behavior. Keep that in mind when communicating with others. Proceed with kindness, compassion, empathy and patience. Undoubtedly, even the best attempts at conscious communication can fail. It’s important to learn what went wrong and address it before relationships and work suffer. Take responsibility for your feelings and identify what exchange triggered the upset, advises The Chopra Center. When applicable, note what you did not receive from the exchange and then ask for what you want. “The key principle of conscious communication is making it as easy as possible for another person to meet your need by asking for the specific behavior that will fulfill it,” advises Chopra. “When people feel vulnerable, they commonly compensate by becoming demanding and threatening, believing that forcefulness will increase the likelihood of getting what they want. This approach often has the opposite effect. A...

Business software is a big category. One so big that there are almost too many options to realistically consider. Take marketing for example, which already has more than 8,000 solutions in nearly 50 distinct areas, the sheer scope of which is obvious from just a glance at the popular marketing technology landscape. Fortunately, when it comes to senior living, the picture isn’t nearly as staggering. Sure, you could choose one of the 7,000 marketing solutions for your community, and it may do the job. Or you could pick from a much smaller list of solutions that were designed specifically for senior living. Software developers have spent decades in the industry working directly with communities to build products customized to their unique housing and care needs. That said, the software market for senior living is growing in step with the industry as a whole. New innovations and features are routinely released, while entirely new products are entering the field. Digital leases, resident portals, online services, mobile charting — you get the idea. Things are changing. Your guide to senior living software This software transformation is likely a big reason why 83% of senior living providers feel that they’ve underinvested in technology. So what kinds of senior living software are available now? And what should you have? We’ve created a new ebook to tackle those questions for you. The Complete Senior Living Software Toolkit breaks down each software type you can find in a modern community, explaining how it helps and highlighting the important features. That way, you can easily flip through the ebook for tools you may not have, learn a bit about their advantages and decide for yourself if it’s something that would work for your staff and residents. Essential software for senior living providers In the ebook, we group the senior living software categories by level of value. There are options that take your community above and beyond but aren’t crucial to running things. And then there are the solutions that every senior living organization should consider adopting. Here’s a quick preview of the first chapter on the most important software for senior living. Property management & accounting – The core financial software that handles the back-office business tasks. Commonly includes a general ledger, resident billing and payment processing. Customer relationship management – Where your sales and marketing team work to grow the community. Key features are lead tracking, activity calendars and campaign management. Electronic health records – The efficient, modern-day answer to paper-based resident records for your caregivers. Look for health assessments, incident tracking and mobile charting. Be sure to check out the full ebook to learn more about the best software for senior living...