Green property managers have a lot of tasks to perform in addition to supervising sub-contractors, maintenance, pest management and move-ins and outs. It is difficult to find time to stay on top of technology that might make the job easier, so we thought we’d throw out a few ideas.
Tech education and training can make anyone using software more efficient at their job. Whether you have an integrated or custom operating platform, understanding it is critical. Even a small investment in training will pay off.
Sprinkler ’smart’ timers work automatically to turn irrigation water on and off based on local weather information received via satelite. It prevents overwatering and underwatering which obviously helps with stormwater management. There are a lot of different manufacturers, but the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation did a study on these smart controllers. It is worth reading before you make a decision.
Marketing is a constant challenge, but with the advent of geo-marketing in real time managers can locate prospects through their smart phones. If you are not doing it, be assured that your competition will soon be. In fact, the wise use of this technology makes email for these sub-groups totally passé. Multifamily Executive in reporting on this smart phone phenomenon wrote:
“Geo-location awareness—the science of marketing to consumers by matching up smart phone geographical location with user-identified browsing and purchasing preferences—opens up a virtual door to real-time customer interaction based on a locality.”
Although it feels a little like ‘Big Brother’, that may not always be bad. Managers can ask their IT person or leasing agent to read Multfamily Executive’s link which explains exactly how the technology will work.
Communication between management and residents is always time-consuming, but with a service called Resident C, a manager can blast out an emergency (or general) message from a computer or mobile smart phone. Anyone managing people knows this can literally be a lifesaver, not to mention reductions in negligence and liability potential.
Your Social Media Sites may not be something in which your residents fully participate once they move in, but many rental prospects check these sites while shopping, so maintain and monitor yours!
The iPad, Apple’s new darling, may also streamline the process your sales agents use to make presentations, check applicant’s information and lease your apartments. The potential applications and mobility of the iPad make it a perfect tool for a business in which prospects shop 365 days and nights a year. Some predict smart phone apps will revolutionalize apartment leasing, although that may take a while to filter down. These smart phone apps are already evident in the number of users who use them to check Walkscores, Google Maps and apartment rating services.
On-Line Rating Services can be wonderful lead generators… or not. A quick check for a local city on the site ApartmentGuide.com had several luxury units with recommendations ranging from 77 percent to 88 percent with one exception. One complex showed a horrible 22% recommendation rate!
A Google Alert can be placed by name, address, or any other identifier, simply by going into Google and searching for instructions on how to sign up. Essentially all you will need are the search terms you want to follow and how often you want to be notified.
If you really want to get fancy, here are a few high-tech innovations in the news and others we reported on:
Solimipeks, a Turkish company, has created a hybrid solar collector that uses water to cool the photovoltaic panels to increase their efficiency and then takes the hot water for building use. If you are not familiar with solar tech, it might interest you to know that when the air temperature is cooler the solar panels are actually more efficient. The manufacturer describes it this way in a pdf.:
“As well as increasing PV module performance, the PV-T hybrid collectors mean that less roof space is required for the same output of electricity and hot water, since only one system is needed as opposed to a solar thermal array and PV array side-by-side. Furthermore, Solimpeks reports that the hybrid PV-T system’s ROI is shorter than the PV systems, and because PV cell temperature is reduced, the lifetime of cells is lengthened.
If you have been told your roof is too small for solar, you might want to take a good look at this hybrid system. Its high efficiency reduces the amount of space you need for the panels because it increases their efficiency.
Fuel Cells are now being used in residential tower applications, as UTC Power installed the first in June. With grants and government assistance they can have as little as a five-year payback (ten without). This first 400kW application was installed at 360 State Street in New Haven, Connecticut and will generate all the electricity needed for the mixed-use developement’s 25 residential floors. It will also sell off-peak power generated back to the standard grid at retail rates, which should be a nice money-maker. If you are not familiar with the technology, a simplified explanation is that the fuel cells operate like a battery but the fuel they use is on the outside so there is no re-charging necessary. It is a virtually pollution free energy source as the natural gas used is never combusted.
Energy production on-site is the new black gold for multifamily, incidentally. A solar energy installation for common area energy production was completed last year at Princeton Properties in Lowell, Massachusetts, with an amazing payback after grants and incentives of under a year. If you have not checked out this possibility with your local utility company or looked at the DSIRE site (a searchable database by state for tax incentives, credits and rebates), do it today.
With the competiveness of the multifamily industry, using technology to make our buildings more sustainable and more profitable is just common sense.
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