Sub-Metering

subUtility Sub-metering

Definition:

Individual tenant billing by utilities (electricity, natural gas and water).

Benefits:

lowers monthly utility bill by encouraging conservation

removes utility costs from building common costs

has potential for combination with security measures

Limitations:

requires additional space for meters

increases per unit cost of energy

increases monthly meter charges

Building Use:

highrise office retail

lowrise office food service

highrise apartment institutional

lowrise apartment arena

Building Type:

New

Retrofit

Development Status:

Prototype

New Technology

Mature Technology

Description:

In most high-rise office and apartment buildings, utility use is monitored and billed for the entire building. Tenants are billed for the utility use as part of rent or as a proportion of the common costs. This billing procedure does not encourage tenants to be more efficient in their energy use since they are not be billed directly for their use.

Individual metering of each tenant space overcomes this problem. Individual metering removes utility costs from common building costs and eliminates the risk to the building owner of non-payment by the tenant. For the tenant, utility costs are charged on a more equitable basis; this may be very important in mixed use/function buildings.

Individual tenant billing for utilities is common in low-rise buildings such as townhouses, commercial and industrial strip malls, because each unit typically has separate mechanical systems and because meters can be easily located outside each unit. This is not the case in high-rise buildings, and thus bulk metering of natural gas, water and, to a lesser extent electricity, is the norm.

Two developments have increased the feasibility of utility sub-metering. First, in-suite gas-fired heating systems (such as combo systems and packaged terminal air conditioning, PTAC) are becoming increasingly...