Thanks in part to Nationwide Energy Partners, who service several mid-western and eastern US markets, college students from the University of Dayton have begun to study energy usage as it relates to multifamily buildings.

Dr. Kevin Hallinan’s “Building Energy Informatics” study is rooted in the professor’s knowledge of mechanical and aeronautical engineering and the initial class of 35 students partaking in the summer program comprises mainly mathematics, engineering, computer science and economics majors looking to analyze the current data being produced from real world partner, Nationwide Energy.

The hope is that through these studies, the students may discover untapped opportunities that can be leveraged to reduce both energy and water costs associated with multifamily dwelling.

According to Dr. Hallinan, his program is on the ground floor of collecting and trending the current energy data being harvested. From the analysis of this data, there are a lot of hopes of discovering new and innovative ideas that can help to lower the costs for both multifamily building owners and their tenants.

In addition to the cost factors, the study looks to provide some insights into supplies with the final goal of making green transitions easier to adopt.

With five years’ worth of anonymous data to study, covering the electrical and water usage of 220 apartment units in Ohio, the Dayton students are now looking to identify patterns in the individual units with hopes that they can identify differences among diverse unit types.

The program is currently studying whether shifting usage and other similar strategies can help to minimize energy costs, as well as whether or not the installation of commercial solar units can actually reduce multifamily buildings’ periods of peak demand.

Executives at Nationwide Energy are invested and believe that this type of collaborative research is going to be essential in optimizing our energy consumption as we move into the next few decades. Educating the general public about the positive economic impact of sustainability projects is a win-win for all of us.

At the end of the day, Dr. Kevin Hallinan’s “Building Energy Informatics” study’s success offers up incentives that benefit not only the utility company and the multifamily building owner, but also the tenants and, in the long run, the world.

The collection and analysis of this type of property data gives investors and managers the ability to recognize just how much of a potential return they can expect if they invest in particular upgrades and that reducing their own energy footprint and their tenants’ costs is simply just good business.

Have you begun to adapt any type of green initiatives in your multifamily projects? Do you see any unique value in one particular system or upgrade over another? If so, we would love to read your comments and conversations in the section below.