CHICAGO, IL - Ocius, a leading provider of convergent resident billing and utility expense management services for the apartment industry, announced today that the company has expanded its participation as an ENERGY STAR Partner. Through its Utilities Plus utility expense management services, Ocius helps clients improve the energy efficiency of their apartment communities, increase net income, and help conserve scarce resources for future generations.
Multifamily industry observers expect dozens of major cities to pass mandates in the coming eighteen months requiring multifamily property managers to participate in the EPA program and submit data. Chicago, San Francisco, and other major cities are moving towards requiring buildings with over 10,000 square feet to submit their property profiles into the EPA utility profile manager. New York City, Austin and Seattle already have requirements in place.
Ocius Utilities Plus provides seamless integration with EPA’s Portfolio Manager. This allows Ocius clients to automatically submit their full utility consumption data and to benchmark their communities’ performance against comparable properties. Portfolio Manager helps participants track energy and water consumption and identify opportunities to conserve resources and reduce property expenses. The tool enables establishing baseline levels of consumption and tracking the benefits of improvements made that lower energy usage and operating costs.
“The clients we have brought into the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager program last year are more than pleased with the results and the benefits in helping them conserve energy and reduce energy expenses,” said Keith Nelson, Chief Operating Officer at Ocius. “We are now opening the program to all of our clients so that every size client can share in the environmental benefits and savings.”
Ocius provides its services in coordination with Ecova, Inc. who has been an ENERGY STAR partner since 2005 and has been recognized by the EPA for eight consecutive years—twice as Partner of the Year and six times for Sustained Excellence. The 2012 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award recognized Ecova’s long-term commitment to energy efficiency and is reflective of the company’s burgeoning energy and sustainability management portfolio. More information about the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager program is available here.
Ocius was the first company to provide convergent billing solutions to the multifamily housing industry and continues to lead this rapidly growing segment. Ocius also provides integrated Transaction Processing, Utility Expense Management, Submetering, and Resident Portal solutions. Ocius serves approximately 100 clients including 15 of the NMHC Top 50 Apartment Managers, and processes more than $2 Billion in resident billing annually.
Source: Ocius / #Multifamily #Utilities