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Important Questions to Ask When Choosing a Submetering Company
Benefits of Submetering/Conservation
Gas Runtime Allocation
Metering Products
Installation Financing
Billing and Customer Services
Important Questions to Ask When Choosing a Submetering Company
 | Does the vendor use proprietary submetering products that tie you to their billing service?
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 | Guardian Water & Power submetering products are nonproprietary. This gives our clients maximum flexibility in vendor selection and control.
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| Does the vendor tie you to long-term billing contracts with large cancellation penalties and automatic renewal triggers?
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| At Guardian, our goal is to earn your business every day by producing results, not contracts.
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| Does the vendor's billing contract include add-on charges for initial account-setup? For move-ins and move-outs? For late payment notification letters?
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| Guardian monitoring and billing fees do not include hidden “activity†charges.
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| Does the vendor employ their own installation and service technicians or do they farm these functions out to subcontractors?
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| Many submetering companies do not employ their own technicians. At Guardian, we staff our own department of field estimators, installers and service technicians. We believe this helps us maintain a consistently high level of installation and service quality.
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| Does the vendor maintain their own testing and repair facilities?
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| Because we maintain our own testing and repair facilities, we can provide quick diagnosis and system repair services. Companies that do not maintain their own facilities, must rely on outside, less responsive, service providers.
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| Does the vendor provide low-cost run-time systems?
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| In many situations, a run-time systems can be a low cost alternative to more expensive gas submeters.
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| Can the vendor integrate run-time systems with RUBS allocation techniques?
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| At Guardian, we have developed techniques that combine run-time technology with RUBS allocation factors. This can help maximize utility cost recovery.
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| Does the vendor provide meter kits for owner installed systems?
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| Guardian radio frequency meter kits are pre-programmed and pre-wired for easy installation. We also provide on-site, toll-free 800 and Internet technical assistance for owner installed systems.
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| Does the vendor offer installation financing options?
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| Guardian financing plans allow property owners and managers to realize the immediate benefits of submetering without the initial capital investment.
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| Can the vendor interface their utility software with your property management software?
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| Our IT Department can quickly link your property management software with our system for efficient electronic communication.
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| Does the vendor provide monthly monitoring and billing options tailored to your desired level of management control?
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| At Guardian, we make every effort to match our clients' specific needs with our service offerings. To do this, our monthly service options begin with basic (Level One) meter reading and data transmission. We incrementally build on Level One to provide a total of five levels of monitoring and billing service.
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| Does the vendor provide online information and payment options?
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| Our online information services provide property managers with account maintenance functions including move-in's and move-out's, final billing and access to account history. Residents can view their account history files and current balance status. To maximize our collection recovery rate, we offer online payment options including e-check and e-credit card.
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| Does the vendor provide management training and resident education programs?
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| The Guardian Utility Submetering Reference Guide is our basic education and training document. Our account representatives use the guide online and on-site to provide a smooth transition to submetering.
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| Does the vendor have access to legal advisors with significant utility regulatory experience?
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| Our utility attorney brings over 20 years of regulatory experience to our submetering service. Guardian also maintains membership in the Utility Metering and Conservation Association. UMCA keeps us on top of regulatory issues across the country.
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Benefits of Submetering/Conservation
| What is submetering?
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| Submetering is the process of distributing utility costs to individual residents in multi-unit rental properties. Costs are distributed on the basis of actual usage as measured by a submeter that is installed in each rental unit.
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| What utilities can be submetered?
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| Multi-unit rental properties with a single master utility meter (water, gas or electric) can be individually equipped with submeters so that each resident's utility usage can be periodically measured and billed.
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| What types of properties can be submetered?
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| Guardian Water & Power provides submetering installation and billing services for apartments, condominiums, shopping centers, manufactured housing communities, offices and warehouses. Any multi-unit property that is master-metered can potentially benefit from utility submetering.
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| What is the difference between submetering and allocation?
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| Advances in metering technology have made it possible to economically convert master-metered rental property to individually submetered units. However, in some properties it is not possible to install submeters. In those properties, it may be possible to allocate utility usage to each resident based on factors such as the size of the apartment, number of occupants or number of bathrooms. A commonly used term in the industry to describe utility allocation is RUBS which stands for Ratio Utility Billing System.
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| What are the benefits of submetering and allocation?
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| Recent studies conducted by the National Multi-Housing Council and the National Apartment Association have documented the linkage between utility conservation and separate billing for utility usage. For example, these studies indicate that individually metered apartments experience an 18 to 39 percent reduction in water consumption compared with mastered-metered properties that include water expenses in rent.
Properties that use a RUBS allocation formula had a 6 to 27 percent reduction in water usage.
Utility submetering benefits the resident, the property owner and the environment: Residents benefit because submetering gives them more control over their total housing costs. Residents also benefit because they are directly responsible for their own usage, not misuse by others. By reducing utility expenses, property owners achieve higher operating margins and property values. Submetering and allocation also helps protect property owners from unbudgeted utility expenses. Because utility submetering and allocation results in significant reductions in utility usage, the environment benefits through water and energy resource conservation.
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| Are there laws that regulate utility billing in mult-unit properties?
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| Regulations vary not only at the state level but also by local jurisdictions. As a member of the National Submetering and Utility Allocation Association, we are kept up-to-date on legislative and regulatory issues that affect our industry. In addition, our utility attorney has over 20 years experience in public utility law and regulation.
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| Why don't local water utilities meter the water in apartments?
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| Most local water utilities are not interested in individually metering apartments and many other types of multi-unit rental property. First, there is a high capital cost for installation of utility read meters. Secondly, the local utility has no incentive to read, bill and collect from several hundred apartment residents when they can more easily and less expensively accomplish the same thing by billing only the property owner. Finally, there is a high labor cost associated with reading on-site meters.
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Gas Runtime Allocation
| What is a gas runtime system?
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| A gas runtime system measures the operating time of gas-fired furnaces, domestic water heaters, fireplaces and baseboard heating systems. By measuring runtime (and temperature for baseboard systems) we can allocate heating costs to each dwelling unit in the apartment community.
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| In what type of dwelling units does Guardian install gas runtime systems?
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| We install runtime systems in apartment communities with central heating systems or systems that are not individually piped for gas service. We also install these systems if local utility tariffs or government regulations restrict the use of individual gas submeters.
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| How does Guardian receive the runtime readings for my dwelling unit?
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| If your dwelling unit is equipped with a gas runtime system, an electronic monitoring device in your home transmits runtime/temperature measurements to a data collector located in your community's office or utility room. The measurements are then routed through an 800 telephone number to Guardian's billing office.
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| How is the heating bill calculated?
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| the monthly heating bill is based on the runtime (and temperature for baseboard heating) of the gas-fired appliances in your home. Runtime hours are combined with appliance BTU/Hour ratings and the local gas rates in your area to determine your heating costs.
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| What can I do to keep the gas heating costs as low as possible?
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Metering Products
| Can my property be submetered for water?
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| In general, if your property has an individual hot water tank in each unit, then chances are Guardian can install a water submeter that will capture 100 percent of usage. However, it is important to note that this is not always true. A Guardian technician or local Guardian representative can conduct an on-site audit to determine if your property can be submetered. Contact us directly or fill out our online quote form today to start the submetering process.
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| What about submetering gas or electricity?
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| Again, a Guardian technician or local representative can recommend a gas or electric submetering system that best fits your specific requirements. To get the process started, contact us directly or fill out our online quote form today.
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| In general, how does radio-frequency submetering technology work?
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| Individual meters installed in each rental unit are linked through a radio frequency system to an on-site data collector. The data collector transmits utility usage information to our home office billing location on a daily basis. Usage information is then processed through our utility billing software to produce individual monthly bills and related management reports. Billing and management information reports can be accessed 24 hours a day at our web site location.
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| What submetering technology does Guardian use?
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| Guardian Water & Power is proud to install and monitor a wide variety of submetering systems manufactured by leading companies including AMCO Metering Company, Inovonics Corporation, E-Mon Corporation, Hexagram, Inc. and Sensus Technologies.
As an AMCO Metering Company partner, we represent AMCO's complete line of water and gas submetering products. These products include the C700 InsideR™ water meter and G4 Gas Submeter. Transmitted data for these products is received and processed by the Inovonics Corporation TapWatch™ System.
E-Mon Corporation, a subsidiary of Hunt Oil Company, manufactures our line of electric submeters. Transmitted data for the E-Mon meter is also received and processed by the Inovonics Corporation TapWatch System.
Hexagram, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of submetering transmitters and data collectors. The Hexagram STAR® Pulse Adapter transmitter eliminates expensive gas meters and provides accurate, high-resolution run-time data for allocation billing.
Sensus SR II meters represent our product offering for conventionally read on site water submeters.
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| Does Guardian provide meters and accessories that you can install yourself?
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| Yes. We specialize in providing the individual real estate investor with pre-programmed, pre-wired radio frequency meter kits. The meters and electronics are designed for easy installation by your maintenance personnel or local contractor. We also have installation technicians available at our toll-free 800 number that can provide your installer with installation instructions and tips.*
To obtain additional information on our meter kits, please contact us directly, or fill out our online quote form. We will review the information and recommend a system that best fits your needs.
*We recommend that you consult your local ordinances regarding installation of submeters.
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Installation Financing
| Does Guardian offer installation financing options?
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| Yes, Guardian offers two meter installation financing options. Our Lease-to-Purchase option can be structured on a one to five year lease term with a $1.00 purchase option at the end of the term.
Like the Lease-to-Purchase Option, our Capital Cost Recovery Plan (CCRP) offers the advantage of no initial capital investment. Under the CCRP plan, the cost of the submetering system is recovered through our resident billing and collection service.
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Billing and Customer Services
| After the metering system has been installed, what steps does Guardian take to ensure a successful transition to monthly utility cost recovery?
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| Attention to detail is the single most important requirement in the implementation of a successful monthly billing program. Our account set-up representatives will coordinate the initial collection of all property data needed to establish individual account records and management documents.
A Guardian rate analyst will contact the local utility to obtain rate data and billing requirements so that we can develop a rate structure for your property. The rate analyst's primary goal is to be able to replicate the master utility charges through aggregation of the individual submetering charges. This confirms that we understand the local utility rate and also ensures that our billing practices comply with various state requirements. On an ongoing basis we monitor all rates in the jurisdictions in which we do business and adjust our billing rates accordingly.
New owners and managers receive our Utility Submetering Reference Guide that is our basic document for management training. Guardian training includes web site access procedures and online account management features. Resident education includes introductory letters that describe the linkage between submetering and resource conservation.
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| What billing options does Guardian offer?
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| We make every effort to tailor our billing services to the property owner or manager's specific requirements and desired level of management control. Our most basic level of billing service is to simply provide a monitoring service so that owners and managers can evaluate and manage utility costs on a unit-by-unit basis.
Some owners or managers prefer to include our calculated utility charges in monthly statements that they send to each resident. Our function at this level is to calculate utility charges and provide this information to the manager for inclusion in their monthly resident statements.
Our Read-Bill (RB) service takes the actual data collection and calculation information to the next level, which is mailing of individual utility bills. At this service level, we provide residents with a Guardian customer service representative who can answer specific questions regarding their utility bills. Under our RB plan, residents remit utility payments directly to the property along with rent payment.
Guardian's Read-Bill-Collect (RBC) plan incorporates all the features of the RB program but adds a collection function. Residents in our RBC program remit utility payments to us. We record and process these payments on a daily basis. All payments are reported daily at our secure web site location. On a monthly basis we submit payment of funds collected with an accompanying Resident Reconciliation Report.
We offer an intermediate level between RBC. RB+ includes all RB functions plus monthly balance Carry Forward.
To achieve the highest possible collection rate we offer residents several online payment options including e-check and e-credit card payments. Personalized past due letters are sent to all accounts that are more than 30 days in arrears. We also update our web site every 24 hours with an aged receivable report for each RBC property.
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| What additional online features does Guardian make available to residents and property managers?
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| Property managers can update resident account records for move-in's and move-out's, request final billings and view resident payment and history files. In addition to online payment options, residents can view their history files, check current balances and request account information records.
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| Does Guardian require billing contracts with cancellation penalties or long-term commitments?
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| No. Our goal with each new client is to establish a long-term relationship. And a fundamental of our business philosophy is that we must earn the trust and confidence of our clients each and every day. Therefore, our Billing Agreements have a 30-day cancellation provision.
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