Utility submetering is a system that allows owners, property management companies, condominium associations, homeowners associations, or other multi-tenant properties to charge tenants for the use of individual measurable utilities. This approach uses individual water meters, gas meters, or power meters.
Submetering may also refer to the monitoring of the consumption of individual equipment inside the building, such as HVAC, indoor and outdoor lighting, refrigeration, kitchen utensils, and more. In addition to the "main load" meter used by utilities to determine overall building consumption, submetering utilizes individual "submeters" that allow building managers and facilities to have visibility into energy use and performance of their equipment, creating opportunities for energy and capital expenditure savings.
Video Utility submeter
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Usually a multi-occupancy occupancy has one master meter for the entire property or meters for each building and the property is responsible for the entire utility bill. Submetering allows property owners who provide utilities to their tenants the ability to take into account the use of each tenant in measurable terms. By simply charging every tenant for their part, submetering promotes conservation and offsets bill costs generated from the mother meter, maintenance and repair for well water systems, lagoons, or septic systems. Submetering is legally permitted in most states and municipalities, but owners should consult Utility Management Vendors for assistance with local and state compliance and regulations.
Common subscriber users are car home parks, community apartments, condominium communities, community townhouses, student housing communities, and commercial plazas. Typically, submetering utilities are placed in situations where the local utility can not or will not individually measure the intended utility. Municipal Utility companies are often reluctant to take measurements of individual spaces for several reasons. One reason is that renters tend to be more transient and more difficult to collect. By simply charging to their owners, they can place liens on real property if not paid (as opposed to tenants they may not know exist or who have little to lose if they move without paying). Utilities also generally prefer not to have water meters outside their leeway (ie, property boundaries), since leaks to the service line will be in front of the meter and may become less attentive to the property owner. Other reasons include difficulty in obtaining access to meters for reading, or electrical and plumbing systems unsuitable for submetering.
Prior to submetering, many landlords include utility fees in large rental or lease prices, or split utility use among tenants in some way like the same, with square footage through an allocation method often called RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing System) or some other means. Without a meter to measure individual use, there are fewer incentives to identify building inefficiencies, because renters or other landlords can pay all or part of the cost. Submeter creates awareness of water and energy conservation because landlords and tenants are equally aware of what they will pay for this inefficiency if not attended. Conservation also allows property owners to keep fair and fair rental costs for all units regardless of how much water or energy they consume.
On the other hand, submetering provides an opportunity for building owners to divert their electricity costs to tenants who do not own or control the thermal efficiency of the main energy structure, insulation, windows and equipment. Landlords may try to assume their fees for electricity services as "additional leases" make tenants subject to expulsion due to payment of utility bills, which would not be possible if they were direct customers of utilities. The Ontario Energy Council in August 2009 canceled all submetering of the landowners and allowed future submetering only after obtaining tenant permission, including the provision of a third party energy audit to tenants to enable them to assess the total cost of the rental plus electricity.
Some submetering products are connected with software that provides consumption data. This data gives users information to find leaks and high consumption areas. Users can apply this data to implement conservation or renovation projects to reduce usage & amp; cost, fulfill government mandate, or participate in green development programs such as LEED and green ball.
Maps Utility submeter
System design
Submetering systems typically include a "mother meter", owned by utilities that supply water, electricity, or gas, with overall usage being directly billed to the property owner. Owners or property managers then place their own personal yards in each tenant's space to determine the level of individual use and charge each tenant for his share. In some cases, the owner may add usage charges to the usual rent or lease charges. In other cases, a third party may read, collect, and possibly even collect for the service. Some of these companies also install and maintain meter and reading systems.
Panels or series of submeters are used to measure the use of resources from the same system for additional security, economy, reliability, and behavioral benefits. It provides important insights into the consumption of building system resources and equipment working in the same series. Submeters can measure the use of single panels, or multiple points in a panel system using single-point, multi-point, and branch submeters.
The latest trend in submetering is Automatic Meter Reading, or AMR. This technology is used to get from meter reading to billing by automated electronic means. This can be done with a handheld computer that collects data using a touch stick, walk or radio drive-by, a fixed network system in which the meter has a transmitter or transceiver that sends data to a central location, or transmits over Wi-Fi, cellular, or Internet connection.
Although not technically submetering, an alternative method of utility cost allocation called RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing Systems) is sometimes used to allocate fees to tenants when proper submetering is impractical or impossible due to pipe or cable constraints. This method divides utility costs by size, number of occupants, or some other cost ratio combination.
Submeter in the world
Submeter has many forms. For example, Central heating in apartment blocks in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland is sometimes submetered with liquid filled calibration bottles, known as heat cost allocations, attached to each of the heating radiators. Metering companies visit the apartment about once a year and read the liquid level and replace the vials. Some apartment owners have replaced bottles with electronic submeters that transmit temperature readings by radio to the main unit in each apartment. The parent unit in turn transmits the readings collected to utility companies, thereby saving labor costs and inconvenience to tenants and owners. The master unit displays a number representing the current total "heat value".
Submetering history and legislation
The concept of submetering was effectively "invented" around the 1920s, when many laws affecting submetering were written. However, submetering really did not take over the world of property management until the late 1980s, with increasing costs associated with utilities and people more conscious of environmental conservation.
Measurable utility
- Natural Gas
- Water (drinkable or non-drinkable)
- Hot water (for heating room or domestic service)
- Electricity
- HVAC (some companies offer this technology)
- Cable TV
- Steam
- Solar Power Generation
- Power Plants in Place
See also
- Automatic meter reading
- Distributed generation
- Feed-in Rates
- Flow measurements
- Net measurements
- Smart meter
References
External links
- NMHC Articles - Water Substandard: Rules Overview
- EPA Memorandum - Electric Pumping System
- EPA website - The section on submetering
- UMCA - Utility and Conservation Management Association (formerly Electrical Power & Utility Allocation - NSUAA)
- Utilimetrics - Nonprofit industry trade association for AMR and AMI
- WaterWatch Corporation - Successfully helps property owners control and reduce utility costs through submetering since 1997
- Universal meter service. - Submeter for the use of landlords and any suggestions required
- "Submetering Company" in Curlie (based on DMOZ)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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