Energy-Efficient Options
Survey Says:83 percent of respondents said energy-efficient features were important. Only “less crime” ranked higher in this top 10 listing.
With multifamily owners and managers increasingly billing back electric, water, and heat charges, energy-efficient systems are starting to matter more for renters. One message from this finding is that if you’ve gone to the trouble to use low-E glass, tight-building techniques, or any number of green alternatives, it makes sense to promote them in your marketing materials. Everyone’s paying more attention to utility costs, especially folks who rent in colder climates.
“Although I haven’t heard many actual renters state that energy efficiency was a big consideration, if it is inserted into the sales presentation in the right manner, it can assist with the overall process,” says Mark Fogelman, president of Fogelman Management Group in Memphis, Tenn.
Energy efficiency represents a phenomenon that has almost taken on a life for itself. Savvy building owners have learned to highlight that. “Residents are benefiting from the fact that energy efficiency is becoming code-driven,” says Camden’s Baker. “More and more states are requiring it via their new codes. Right now, companies are giving this more visibility and marketing it, but in the future, I think it will just be assumed that a building is energy-efficient. It’s a little like high-speed Internet. It used to be an amenity. Now people just assume it’s there or they walk away from the project.”
But Ahluwalia thinks the jury is still out on whether energy-efficient systems would be a deal breaker when it comes to renting one apartment over another. “In our studies we’ve found that people have a concern about energy efficiency, but they don’t take a place because it is energy-efficient.”