As data becomes more readily available and at a more user-friendly level, we’re taking a moment to discuss how technology can improve how building managers operate and how residents experience operations.

There’s a saying that goes something like, “what gets measured, gets managed.” Today’s smart devices give us the power to measure, manage, and predict everything from energy consumption to electrical efficiency.

There are many free resources, like Energy Star, that help with benchmarking utilities data, including HVAC, lighting and more. With this wealth of data, building managers can better forecast the cost of managing a multi-family or multi-tenant property and answer questions about why properties are performing the way they are. For example, a building manager using smart technology to monitor energy consumption might be able to pinpoint which household device is zapping energy even while idle, like an LCD monitor that’s plugged in but not being used.

Technology can also help building owners and operators make decisions about whether to integrate solar panels for energy management, and as a result, can apply the practice of solar billing, by passing the cost of solar panels to residents, while reducing residents’ energy bills at the same time. With data and insights, property teams have the tools to implement a more energy efficient, data-driven building management strategy and pass that savings on to residents.

Now, data is much more readily available and in a much more user-friendly environment. Instead of journeying to a gas meter and remembering how to read it, or finding the electrical breaker and taking a reading, IoT sensors and smart devices can tell you how the AC is controlled or how many units have LED lighting, and deliver that data straight to your phone, tablet, or computer. We call this — democratizing data.

Using Data to Level Up Resident Experience

Our Alfred OS platform is built to help building managers make use of all the data that’s wrapped up in a building. Building managers are able to measure how efficiently the building’s infrastructure is running, and also turn intangibles like resident sentiment into a more trackable data metric.

In fully integrated Alfred buildings, we’ve seen that residents renew their leases at a rate of 59%. A key to that success for building managers is knowing how their building is running, and knowing what events or experiences they can host for residents to boost sentiment and loyalty.

Recurring resident events like bringing in local vendors to the building, or exclusive resident events like facials by the pool or cooking classes, can drastically increase resident sentiment. We’ve seen that these types of events have the power to boost resident NPS by 20–30 points in just 3 months.

The democratization of data offers them an incredible opportunity to raise the bar of resident experience and level up building operations. If you’d like to know how you can take advantage of Alfred OS to do just that, learn more about Alfred OS here.