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Our building of 130 apartments/20 floors has energy costs as the single biggest recurrent expenditure for the building by a long way so we went down the path of reducing power costs. We use both gas and electricity but I will describe our electricity experience and the benefits and pitfalls (gas is more challenging but can reap rich rewards with a focus on detail). We changed all building lighting to LEDS and installed garage sensors and immediately got a major cost saving which will pay itself off in about 3 years or less, this is a no brainer financially. We then installed solar panels which also have delivered at a slightly lower rate of return than LEDs but still way better than expected and we use all the power during the day so no return to the grid and the electricity saved is mainly at peak prices. Pitfalls are the obvious one of choosing the supplier which can wait for another post and one which was expected but still challenging which is roof anchor points and their use which we thought we managed very carefully but still had issues to resolve when it came to using the anchor points by abseilers.
Overall, if your roof is appropriate and if our experience is a guide then LEDs and solar panels are a good thing for an apartment block to consider and do the numbers on.
The biggest challenge for electronic communication after locking it off is the effort of maintenance and editing, this is a major task not only in constant monitoring but keeping it up to date. It’s this that has made me hesitate in starting a communication forum for our building despite the desperate need for open and effective communication. I would love to get examples from other buildings where it works In a way which doesn’t destroy the life of the editor.
Are short stay tenants any different to long stay tenants when it comes to having to notify the body corporate of who they are and the penalties which can apply under the bylaws if information is not provided within 2 weeks. At present for short stay tenancies no information is supplied to the various body corporates and a series of $500 fines to the owner would I suspect slow down or stop the Airbnb rot.
Also have any body corporates gone down the user pays path and had separate rules for short stay tenants for use of facilities with the additional charges having to be met by the relevant owner?
Short stay tenants are a disaster for most buildings, they contribute nothing, decrease amenity and increase costs and the challenge will be to find a way of costing and then imposing the real costs on the users which will remove the current super profits from the various schemes or at the least reduce the imposition.
Our complex of 141 apartments is about to add solar to the roof which is flat. The return on investment is estimated at around 12% which is way better than what we get for the funds we have invested. We won’t need batteries as we will use all the power generated. Having conducted a full review of all power useage in our building we identified a number of inefficient practices and reduced power costs by about 30-40% with more to come so it’s worth doing if you haven’t already. If the solar installation is successful we will consider looking at more difficult parts of the building for solar installation eg outside walls with the only fly in the ointment being the issue of potential future shadowing from neighbouring developments ( a seperate but important topic in this era of rising power prices)
Where and how do I get a copy of the building management software