Energy Solutions Center - Washington, D.C.

Relms is once again headed to the Energy Solutions Center conference October 25-27 in Washington, D.C. The ESC website currently features an interview with Relms' President, Tom Halliday. Click here for the full interview.

Here are some highlights:

What misconceptions do you typically need to un-do when dealing with potential customers of your product?

When dealing with new construction the local gas supplier needs to understand that Relms is not trying to take away the customer base, but is attempting to help the utility gain load in areas that it will otherwise lose. When dealing with property owners we have to make it very clear that we are not the local utility company and that we are a service company bringing the best of all services to the end-user through the use of natural gas.

What can gas utilities do to promote the deployment and acceptance of your product?

Relms would like to have the utility companies introduce our staff members to developers, architectural firms and mechanical contractors that are building in their service territory. Further, we would like to work with the sales personnel at the utility company to educate the sales department on options where sub-metering can assist in getting natural gas into projects that may have gone total electric.

 

Tired of paying for your neighbor's natural gas?

Relms has been serving the multi-housing industry for over 30 years. We specialize in submetering all utilities and providing professional billing services for apartment complexes, condos, commercial and mixed-use developments.

Whether new construction or retrofit applications, Relms has a solution for communities looking to place responsibility of utilities into the hands of the end-user. Paying for actual usage instead of paying a flat rate is a huge benefit for conservative residents and those residents looking to save money. When the other residents start paying for what they use, they will start to conserve as well. This is a win for not only residents but for property owners who can recover money for utility costs.

If you are a property owner, please give us a call and we'll help you find solutions that are proven and that will help you manage your property better.

1-888-GoRelms 

www.gorelms.com 

Submetering In Vertical Subdivisions

Submetering in vertical subdivisions provides a value engineering opportunity for developers, builders, architects and engineers. Traditionally, gas meters are placed in meter banks on the exterior of a building with distribution lines running to each floor and branching off to each unit.

This overlay shows the distribution lines feeding each floor from the meter bank. Keep in mind this is only the vertical piping and is not including horizontal piping within the building.   

Let's say a building with ten floors has ten units per floor with each floor being ten feet tall. It would require 1,000 feet of vertical pipe just to reach the tenth floor. It would take an additional 4,500 feet of pipe to reach the other floors. Remember, this is the vertical piping only. That is a total of 5,500 feet of pipe !

If each ten foot section of pipe cost $20.00, the cost of vertical piping alone for this building would be $11,000.  

THE ALTERNATIVE
Submetering is a value engineering option that cuts building costs, saves space and also benefits from bulk rate discounts from gas companies. A master meter is the only meter that would be located on the exterior of the building and one trunk line running vertically would distribute gas to each floor.

This overlay shows one trunk line running vertically and distributing to each floor. Submeters are located in each apartment in a utility closet, usually with the water heater and furnace. Submeters are read remotely using automatic meter reading technology (AMR) so there is no need to enter the unit.

This building option uses considerably less piping and therefore cuts building costs. Using the same building dimensions as above, this option uses only 100 feet of pipe to reach all floors of the building. Granted the trunk line is bigger diameter, but the savings are still great. If each ten foot section of trunk line cost $60.00, the total cost of the trunk line would be $600.00. Compare that to the cost of running vertical lines for each apartment and you would save $10,400!

With submetering the savings in piping alone is incredible, but there are more savings involved. Labor costs are reduced and the building owner/residents benefit from bulk rate discounts. In Salt Lake City, the bulk rate discount is 18% after 45 decatherms of usage.

Please let us know if you have any questions about submetering in vertical subdivisions. There are many submetering applications and we specialize in submetering and billing all types of utilities.

1-877-906-2230