Technical writing skills are essential for today’s facilities managers, who must produce a wide range of communications for a variety of readers. One day, you might be writing a CAPEX proposal for an executive, the next pinning a “how-to” memo for janitorial staff. So versatility and speed are prime requisites. Here are five technical writing tips that will improve the effectiveness and clarity of any written communication.
Tip 1: Fast-Track Your Audience Analysis
While some projects do require an in depth look at your audience, most FM technical writing can get by with evaluating a reader’s knowledge level of a subject. Use these three questions to fast-track your audience analysis and make your writing more targeted and concise.
What does my audience need to know?
This question delineates the key parts of your goal and states the desired outcome. The answer is usually one sentence, such as “To appropriately dispose of PPE” or “To understand the benefits of a third-floor remodel.” How well you answer this question determines your writing’s success or failure.
What do they already know?
Your audience’s attention and time is valuable, and you will lose both with superfluous information. Any steps, data or info your audience already brings to the writing should be jettisoned. Include information that’s “on the fence” within footnotes or at the end of your main document.
What do they not know?
Are there ideas or information you need to provide before your reader even begins the process of reading? Identify any assumptions you have about your audience’s experience, education and knowledge or else risk alienating them. For example, the goal of your writing may be “to explain the benefits of replacing the boiler system” but your assumption is that “every owner already knows the function of a boiler.” When in doubt, over-explain.
It’s obvious that the second and third questions are at cross purposes, and you must be vigilant in separating the “wheat from the chaff.” This is a good thing. The push and pull makes you an active writer, forcing you to constantly examine your information for relevance.
Tip 2: Use Active Voice
Writing in active voice is one of the most ubiquitous technical writing tips around, so it’s worth repeating. When you write in an active voice, you follow the standard sentence structure that puts the subject before the verb. This is opposed to passive voice. Here is an example of each:
Active Voice: “We ask that all tenants follow the recycling protocols for paper waste.”
Passive Voice: “We ask that recycling protocols for paper waste be followed by all tenants.”
In the above example, the subject (“tenants”) comes before the verb (“following”). In passive voice, the opposite occurs. So, what’s the big deal?
Well, active voice imbues your writing with confidence and presence; passive voice leaves it sounding flaccid and lifeless. Putting the subject after the verb also creates the sense that you’re trying to hide or downplay the actor of the action; it leaves a hint of insincerity and doubt in your tone. This is why committees and boards often deploy passive voice to mitigate responsibility for their decisions (“It was decided that…” rather than “The Board has decided that…”). Use an app like Grammarly and Hemingway App to identify and remove passive voice in your writing.
Tip 3: Add Graphics…Then Add More
One of the most effective writing tips isn’t about writing at all. Pictures really are worth a thousand words, and adding visual elements like tables, graphs, illustrations and photos improves your overall communication efforts. Graphic elements add dimension to your document’s layout and give a much needed break to monolithic walls of text. Much like a road-weary traveler, your reader needs the occasional “off-ramp” to rest and regroup—graphics are fit for purpose.
Some FMs find one barrier for using graphics: time commitment. While it does take some time investment to create graphics, today’s online apps significantly speed up the process. Bookmark these design tools in your browser and use them to churn out graphics for your next technical writing project or presentation :
Canva—Online design app for creating presentations, posters, and graphs for free.
Note: It’s certainly possible to use too many graphic elements, so be strategic. Like every word you write, each image in your layout should serve a function, whether explanatory or merely aesthetic.
Tip 4: Examples are Your Secret Weapon
Relevant examples distill a complex idea into something relatable and real. Plus, including examples in your technical writing forces you to consider real world implications for your information; it proves to the reader that you’ve considered the information or argument from a practical perspective, rather than merely a theoretical one.
For example, say you wanted to include after-hours AC charges in your standard commercial lease and wanted to make sure your tenants understood the process. After explaining your formula (Fixed Rate x Number of Operating Hours = AHAC Charges), you could include an example calculation:
Tenant A uses 10 hours of after-hours air conditioning for the month of January, their total charge would be $75/hr x 10 hrs = $750. Tenant B uses 15 hrs for June. Their total AHAC charge would be $75/hr x 15 hrs = $1,125.
When including examples, use real world data and situations. If the above example reflected actual electrical usage rates for the property, it would communicate to tenants how much they should expect to pay.
Tip 5: Match Your Writing Structure to Your Purpose
Your writing purpose should, in large part, determine your structure. That is, let form follow function. Is your writing meant to inform, to persuade, to explain or do something else? For most FM writing, the goal is explanatory or informative. Here are several common writing structures to aid both types:
Steps-in-a-Process
Listing and explaining steps is an effective way to organise information for a process. Steps-in-a-process is appropriate for a short memo or “how-to” manual showing tenants how to sign onto an online portal. Step-by-step formats also work for longer, more complex processes when you group the steps. If your O&M manual contains 75 steps, chunk them into larger sections. Presenting steps in this way helps your audience conceptualize the larger process and aids memory, much like chunking a phone number into parts.
Hierarchy
Technical writers often organise informative pieces based on priority, typically moving from highest to lowest. Use introductory paragraphs and summaries to highlight key points, orient your reader and save them time. For legal documents like SLAs, start off by defining the most important concepts (e.g., “parties” or “description of services”) and end with the standard T&Cs. In contrast, moving from lowest to highest priority is effective for more persuasive writing. If you’re trying to justify an investment in CAFM or IWMS, for example, present your best reason at the end. It gives your argument an emotional punch.
Time
Time is an intuitive way for readers to understand information based on an order of events. Progress reports are the perfect project for a chronological framework. Most begin with past work completed, move to the present and then explain any future work to be done. Incident reports and disaster preparedness manuals are other candidates for a time-based framework because they guide readers through a series of events.
There is no one “correct” structure for any technical writing project. Your topic may not follow an A-to-B format or have priority points to make. Regardless, it’s essential you deliver on the purpose of your writing. Whatever meets that goal is the structure you should use.
Conclusion
Use these five technical writing tips as a starting point to improving your communication. And include this last tip: be patient. Few FMs has the time or patience to invest in becoming a better writer, so it’s critical to be realistic about your progress. Find opportunities during your day to practice. Rather than tackling all at once, master one of these writing tips at a time. Ten move on to another. An incremental approach improves your odds of sticking to it.
Counting every kWh your property uses is important for your NABERS Energy Rating assessment. The more detailed your records, the more accurate your rating will be. Getting a true picture of your energy consumption means including and documenting your after-hours air conditioning (AHAC) service.
The NABERS Preparing for Office Rating Guide is a helpful resource for identifying what basic information to gather. But the guide doesn’t get into the specifics around documentation for AHAC. Documenting AHAC hours can be tricky given they’re usually tracked separately from normal operating hours. For a deeper dive, we recommend the NABERS Energy and Water for Offices Rules v.5.1. Although this resource is as a guide for assessors, it also provides valuable insights for FMs and property managers.
The Rules around AHAC are complex and hard to drudge through, so we’ve done the work for you. Below is a breakdown of the NABERS Rules for documenting AHAC, which will better prepare you for your assessment.
Rated Hours
NABERS assessors calculate the total number of hours per week your building is occupied—your rated hours. Assessors use your rated hours along with your annual kWh usage and other factors to determine your efficiency rating.
To calculate your rated hours, assessors will look at your core hours. These are your normal operating hours per week (e.g., 8 am to 6 pm). Core hours are usually listed within the owner/tenant agreement (OTA), and the assessor will likely use your OTA to help determine these.
To increase accuracy, assessors also include any AHAC hours. Your HVAC system uses energy to produce the AHAC service, so you should count these hours too. Any missing AHAC hours skew your total rated hour count, lowering your NABERS rating. And the impact will be proportionate to the total hours demanded. That is, the more AHAC hours omitted from your rated hours, the more inefficient your property will appear.
AHAC Documentation
The negative impact of omitting AHAC hours is why it’s critical to keep accurate logs of tenant requests. For NABERS, not just any records will do either. Assessors must deem data “acceptable” or else include it in the calculation. The NABERS Rules lists the following types of “acceptable data.”
Tenant Requests
Section 5.3.3.1 of the NABERS Rules addresses AHAC requests and states that “acceptable data” includes:
Logs of AHAC requests by tenants, showing the date and time of each request and the functional space to which it applied; and
Evidence of other AHAC requests, such as correspondence between the tenant and the owner or building manager or information written into the OTA which has been verified to be correct and up-to-date. This evidence must include the date, time and space to which AHAC has been agreed to be applied.
Therefore, an example of acceptable documentation might be an automated entry from an after-hours HVAC app that records date, time, floor and tenant. Unacceptable documentation might be a tenant email listing only the requested date and time. The most important part of accurate documentation is the tenant’s request, so keep this in mind when setting up your request process.
Overlapping Hours
To be considered rated hours, AHAC hours also can’t overlap with your core hours. So you’ll need acceptable documentation showing their separation. Section 8.3.2 of the Rules explains that to include AHAC hours, you must provide:
Evidence that no AHAC has been counted during the Core Hours and during the plant start-up period or the hour before the start of Core Hours if the plant start-up period is unknown;
One thing to note here: NABERS focuses heavily on counting only “comfort condition” hours— times when internal temps are appropriate for occupancy. Assessors assume that comfort conditions are not met during the start-up time for your plant. For that reason, you can’t count any AHAC hours that occur during start-up times for your system. If you can’t provide evidence of the actual run up times for temps, assessors will assume one hour.
Example: Your OTA lists your core hours from “8 a.m. to 6 p.m.” Your normal plant start-up time begins at 7 a.m. to reach comfort conditions. Tenant A requests AHAC from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Wednesday, but your start-up time for Wednesday stays at 7 a.m. (i.e., AHAC and start-up begin at the same time). Since your building isn’t at “comfort conditions” by 7 a.m. on Wednesday, you can’t count that AHAC hour towards your rated hours.
Zones and Functional Spaces
To calculate AHAC hours, NABERS assessors also need to divide your net lettable area (NLA) into functional spaces— specific areas of your building. Functional spaces can be based on tenancy distinctions (i.e., leases) or physical ones (e.g. HVAC zones), but variations often happen. For example, multiple tenants could occupy the same functional space by leasing the same floor. In contrast, a single tenant might occupy separate functional spaces.
Regardless, the goal of defining functional spaces is to group areas with the same periods of occupancy so assessors can calculate the effects of vacancies and different operational hours on your building’s efficiency.
For facilities managers, the important thing to note is that AHAC requests need to reference their correct functional spaces. This is especially important when multiple tenants share the same functional spaces. Accurate records and detailed building schematics are essential, and assessors will use them to calculate your rated hours. To this end, Section 8.3.2 of the Rules requires documentation in the form of:
Drawings and measurements showing AHAC zones for requests serving different zones within a single functional space.
If the NABERS assessor can’t locate detailed areas for different AHAC zones, they will use the smallest area available or else average hours together. Either way, any guesswork will lower the accuracy of your rated hours.
The rules around multiple tenants sharing functional spaces and zones can get quite complex. So, read section 5.3.3 of the NABERS Rules to see what situation fits your properties the most.
Conclusion
The way your NABERS assessor handles your AHAC consumption will depend on several factors. One of those is how they arrive at your core hours. There are several methods for doing this, which depends on what data you make available. The assessor may determine your core hours from your lease. If data is missing, they may need to calculate an average, and when estimates are involved, you can bet they won’t likely benefit your rating. In the end, the key is proper and thorough documentation of your AHAC requests, HVAC zones, and NLA.
After-hours HVAC charges are a sticky OPEX budget item. Normal core hour rates are predictable. Power providers determine your property’s kWh costs for you. But with after-hours AC, managers must calculate the hourly rate themselves. And it’s work that needs to be done right if you want to recoup your full utility outlay.
With figuring after-hours AC rates, you get as much as you give. The more detailed your cost analysis, the more accurate your rate. And an accurate rate will refund your actual utility cost per hour, an inaccurate one won’t.
But determining detailed costs also takes time—your time—and that’s valuable. There must be a middle ground—an approach that minimises time while maximising resource win back. To locate it, we approached FMs working today for their input on striking a balance. Here’s what they told us.
Lock In the Parts of Your AHAC Rate Early
Most after-hours AC rates need to include more than electricity for chillers and boilers. For sure, there’s the fixed energy cost of your HVAC system to consider (more on that later), but what about other resources and services you provide? Lock in these costs early. It will give your calculation process more focus and direction. But what are the other costs?
If you’re managing an office space, your tenants may need access to lift services, parking and hallway lighting. If you’re a university, you may need to add security and cleaning services to the charge. FMs with manual AHAC programs need to include an admin fee to cover staffing costs. Someone will need to record the after-hours request, program the BMS and handle cancellations.
Start with the most obvious expenses and work your way to more granular items. Go as far as practicable for your situation. Some guess work is inevitable, but at least identify each hard cost. You can always discard extraneous ones later. Besides, you’ll need the list later when drafting your AHAC clause for your lease. Listing excluded costs in your lease is a smart way to quell tenant complaints about future AHAC increases.
Fixed Energy Cost: “Keep it Simple”
Since it’s your biggest electricity hog, your HVAC system will make up the bulk of your energy use for AHAC. Therefore, it results in the biggest potential for annual OPEX losses. So accuracy literally pays here.
The simplest (least accurate) method would be to divide your annual energy bill by the number of standard operating hours per year. It’s a simple, but rough estimate that lumps every kWh into the same basket. It tells you how much it costs to operate your property, not your plant. The lack of kWh discrimination could result in under or over-charing tenants and making your property less profitable.
At the other end, an FM could attempt to record their plant’s actual kWh usage in real time. Smart meters and EMS equipment give real time feedback, but they’re expensive and complex to integrate. Stuart Bryant, GM for a large property holder in New Zealand, explained how his company attempting to calculate their AHAC costs with smart meters:
“In one instance, we installed a series of TOU meters across all distribution boards that controlled the mechanical plant to work out the ‘actual’ energy usage. This worked but was complicated, and I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Such a granular approach is costly—both in time and money—and, by the end, may be more trouble than it’s worth. Even if benchmarking your property’s kWh usage is the point, usage rates and costs fluctuate throughout the year, so the accuracy you locate at one moment will inevitably vary from season to season.
“In one instance, we installed a series of TOU meters across all distribution boards that controlled the mechanical plant to work out the ‘actual’ energy usage. This worked but was complicated, and I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Stuart Bryant, GM
“I’ve found that a simple system (agreed with the tenant up front in the lease) works best,” Bryant states. His point is notable: simplicity can be preferable to accuracy, especially when tenants are involved. Simple calculation methods are much easier to get tenant buy-in from the get go. Complexity often breeds skepticism, as tenants fear hidden costs lurk within convoluted processes.
Pro Tip: Schedule an energy audit. Whether it’s for a NABERS assessment or simply to save on energy bills, an energy audit gets the hourly data you need to calculate your fixed energy costs. Plus, it increases your sustainability.
Should You Include Depreciation?
Including accelerated depreciation will likely depend on the complexity of your HVAC system and budget. After-hours AC requests do shorten the lifespan of your equipment, so if you decide to recoup that cost, make sure it’s worth your time. One way to manually calculate depreciation is to research ASHRAE reported estimates for each piece of HVAC system, but this is complex and time consuming.
FM’s with access to asset management systems can speed up the process. Some AMS software use built-in ASHRAE reports to predict equipment life cycles. These programs can serve as a helpful guide for adding hourly depreciation to your AHAC if you have access to them.
Still, other FMs are using experts to fill in the depreciation data gaps. Bryant explained that his company solicited incumbent engineers to gather data for calculating depreciation. He notes, “Having the independent data and showing the workings meant a simple explanation to tenants when they’d questioned costs.”
Bryant’s quote highlights a critical piece of the AHAC puzzle: third-party validation. Soliciting experts is expensive, but it also adds independence and credibility to the data you collect. For some managers, ensuring a calculation that reassures tenants is worth the upfront investment. For others, it may be an unnecessary cost.
Aim for Fairness, But Be Practical
With AHAC, the notion of tenant fairness will inevitably creep into your calculation. While buildings with only one HVAC zone make figuring AHAC costs fairly straightforward, multi-storied buildings introduce complexity. Consider these two situations:
Situation #1: Tenant A is a data center and Tenant B is a law firm. Tenant A uses five times the electricity as Tenant B.
Situation #2: A building has two HVAC zones: Zone 1 is bigger and requires $50/kWh to cool. Zone 2 is smaller and only requires $30/kWh.
For Situation #1: How do you plan for this discrepancy in power usage? Is it fair to charge both tenants the same rate for after-hours AC? For Situation #2: If you opt to go with the $50/hr charge for your AHAC rate for all tenants, aren’t tenants in Zone 2 getting ripped off?
These are fair questions to consider, and there are practical ways to provide for exceptions. For example, FMs with a multi-tenant building could average their electricity costs across HVAC zones:
Floor 1 – 3 = $22/hr
Floor 4 – 8 = $36/hr
Floor 9 – 12 = $30/hr
Average = $29.33/hr
Averaging in this way spreads the cost more equitably among tenants, but the process assumes that energy data per zone is easy to come by. Plus, most FMs want only one AHAC rate for all tenants because it keeps leases consistent and billing easier. So, while you should strive for fairness, stay practical in your expectations.
Bryant says shifting your perspective on after-hours AC is beneficial here. He suggests thinking of it as a one time “cost of service” rather than a pro rata charge. “Again, I think simplicity is the best policy here,” he states. “The basic calculation that tenants have agreed to pay when using AHAC is most important. It doesn’t matter if one or multiple tenants are using it at the same time because it’s really a cost of the service you’re providing for each.”
Keep Sustainability a Priority
If you’re not on top of them, after-hours requests can tank your sustainability efforts. Without an effective booking system, cancellations and reschedules may have you heating or cooling empty spaces. Make sure you’re automating as much of the process as possible. Consider investing in technology to help, like an AHAC automation app that lets tenants order after-hours AC from their smartphones. Automation helps you conserve time, money and energy.
Plus, look for opportunities to work with individual tenants to save energy during their requested hours. Bryant suggests starting with tenants who make regular requests. “Talk with the tenant or landlord about ways to minimize their electricity usage during this time. Consider adjusting your BMS for better control of temperatures. It will limit the usage of your main plant and reduce electricity and/or gas consumption.”
Conclusion
Tenant satisfaction is a key “cost” of sloppy after-hours AC calculation. Overly complex processes, infrequent communication, and billing inconsistencies lower tenant satisfaction and occupancy rates. Tenants unfamiliar with AHAC may question the need for a separate billing at all. Others may be confused by the idea of delivering a utility-as-a-service. A few may even dispute your fixed energy rate. Many tenants simply forget the AHAC agreement exists, leading to angry emails about mystery electric bills.
These situations are why setting expectations with tenants is so valuable. “Agree to the cost and workings of the plan up front with the tenant,” Bryant advises. “Spend the time early to avoid spending time each month discussing and explaining costs and charges.”
Definition: After-hours HVAC is the delivery and maintenance of a facility’s heating and air-conditioning services, outside regular operating hours, for the benefit of a tenant. Tenants pay an hourly rate (usually specified in a lease) for any costs associated with after-hours HVAC operation. After-hour times normally include evenings, weekends and holidays.
After-hours HVAC goes by different names in different markets. For example, in the U.S. it’s sometimes referred to as “overtime HVAC.” Some landlords may use the term “after-hours air conditioning” in a lease or shorten it to “after-hours air con” or “AHAC.”
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AHAC: A Response to Changing Workplaces
Social and technological forces have changed the workplace over the last decade. Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. AI and automation are driving increased productivity. The Internet of Things (IoT) is fueling smart building design, and the COVID lockdown kickstarted a revolution in remote working. The standard 9-to-5 work day is behind us, replaced by hybrid schedules, teleconference meetings, and a more remote workforce.
These social and technological changes accelerated specific trends within facility management and building design. These include a move to more flexible workspaces, the integration of “smart” tech and the push for sustainable design. It is out of this demand for more work and building flexibility that services like after-hours HVAC emerged.
Today it’s commonplace in the FM industry to provide tenants with lighting and HVAC services outside of normal operating hours. In turn, firms use this flexibility to expand work hours, hold company meetings and host special events.
Charging for AHAC
Usually the first question a property owner asks is “How much do I charge?” Most tenants and/or their lease advisors insist that AHAC charges represent a reasonable estimate of the “actual cost” for providing after-hours service. But what is the actual cost of operating an HVAC system for one hour? Calculating a “reasonable” estimate is often difficult because HVAC systems are complex. In addition to electricity, they also require water, gas or oil to operate. Then there’s wear-and-tear of equipment, staffing, elevators, car parks and other costs to consider.
To keep things simple, some FMs determine a fixed rate based on the electricity, depreciation and a small percentage to cover “admin” costs. Other landlords avoid the hassle altogether and include the estimated cost within the monthly rent. While there are AHAC calculating best practices, the best approach is one that balances accuracy with simplicity.
Billing Strategies
Billing tenants for AHAC takes several forms. Most property managers start the billing cycle the day they execute the lease. AHAC hours are charged at the agreed rate and billed to the tenant if and when they make a request. Other FMs may allot a number of free overtime AC hours for the term of the lease (e.g., 300 hrs for 5 years). In that instance, an AHAC charge begins only when the tenant exceeds those cumulative free hours.
FMs can bill tenants for AHAC on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. After-hours HVAC charges are always billed separately from normal operating hour utility expenses to avoid double charging tenants.
Lease Stipulations
Lease stipulations are common within AHAC tenancy agreements. Some lease clauses may further define AHAC times by listing specific holidays or “dates of observation.” Other provisions set limits on tenant usage to protect the landlord against unexpected costs. For example, most property owners include a provision that allows an annual review and adjustment of AHAC rates based upon current utility costs. This is to protect the landlord against the volatility of energy prices.
To assure quality service, the majority of leases also require that tenants give a 24 or 48-hour notice. The stipulation ensures engineering staff have enough time to carry out the request. There’s also a practical reason. Every HVAC system requires a start-up time to bring the property to the standard temperature (e.g. 22°C/72°F). Notices help give the system enough lead time to ramp up. Start up times are also why landlords stipulate a minimum service time of one hour. Scheduling the HVAC system for only 30-minutes wouldn’t likely cover the actual cost of operation.
Scheduling
There are several ways to request AHAC services. Many programs have tenants create a work order or similar request via a tenant portal. Maintenance staff then program beginning and ending times along with the dates requested. The tenant then arrives at the property on the scheduled day and time.
Other properties equip each floor or tenant space with its own controls, usually a switch or button-operated interface. Occupants have control and can “order” after-hours AC or heating simply by turning the system off and on. Software then records the time and duration and charges the tenant accordingly.
Forward-looking facilities use after-hours automation software that give tenants more control of the scheduling process. Tenants make their AHAC requests through a smartphone app or web browser. The software then programs the system to operate at the desired time, date and duration. These programs cut down on staff time and increase scheduling flexibility.
If you haven’t yet automated your after-hours HVAC program or, worse, have no program at all, you’re missing out on benefits that maximise your staff productivity and cut out wasted time. Automation also helps increase tenant satisfaction and productivity, which, in the end, helps your properties thrive. Here are the biggest benefits from automating your after-hours HVAC program.
1. Easier Scheduling
The typical after-hours HVAC scheduling process usually involves several staff members and these four steps:
Tenant fills out a work request in person or on the website portal
The request is recorded on a spreadsheet
The building engineer programs the request into the HVAC system
The facility manager prepares & sends monthly billing statements for each tenant
Each step requires time and resources from your team, and when problems pop up, tasks grow exponentially. If an engineer isn’t available, another staff member has to be scheduled. When a tenant needs to schedule a change, someone must sort things. An AHAC cloud-based platform eliminates these issues by automating many of these manual steps. Here are the steps in an automated system:
Tenant makes a requests via smartphone app or desktop browser
(Automated) Recording requests entries
(Automated) Programming the HVAC system
(Automated) Sending monthly statements
Automation reclaims lost time from tending to tedious tasks. You can, instead, spend that time improving your property and tenant experience.
2. Fewer Billing Errors
By eliminating steps in your after-hours HVAC program, you stamp out inaccuracy. The best-laid plans run into the realities of everyday life. Engineers get sick. Requests are forgotten. Entries are flubbed. Statements don’t match. In contrast, automation software doesn’t lie, get ill and or forget.
The fallout from mistakes isn’t just the wasted time setting things aright. For facility managers, inaccuracy means loss of profits, and those losses can be huge.
When a billing discrepancy arises, it’s often easier to acquiesce than upset a tenant. Some managers avoid charging for after-hours at all because they fear situations like this. Where this is the case, you’re unnecessarily paying for another business’s electrical costs while shortening the life span for your HVAC equipment. The accuracy of an automated after-hours program ensures your properties stay profitable.
While AHAC automation may seem like a simple tool, its potential impact for FMs and their tenants is limited only by the lack of exploring its many applications for both.
3. Happier Tenants
Most automated after-hours platforms let tenants make reservations from a smartphone app or desktop browser. It’s a perk that benefits both managers and tenants. Tenants no longer need to waste time filling out work requests, and managers can reduce staffing costs associated with after-hours management. Since AHAC apps fully integrate with your BMS, start and stop times for HVAC service are automatically received, executed and terminated by the software. This frees your engineers and maintenance staff up to attend to higher property priorities.
Since lease holders can schedule after-hours HVAC “on demand,” this eliminates the need for an advanced notice. Most commercial leases with an after-hours clause stipulate a 24 to 48-hour advance notice from the tenant. But tenant schedules can vary wildly. Some have highly predictable office hours; others manage chaotic itineraries. For the latter, even a 24-hour notice puts them in a tight spot. But by eliminating the need for a notice, automation apps give your tenants and their employees greater work flexibility — a growing priority for workers splitting their work hours between home and office.
4. More Sustainable Properties
Going on-demand with your after-hours HVAC program conserves energy to. Changing or canceling bookings by mobile device is easy and convenient for your tenants, so they’re much more likely to cancel their after-hours appointments when things change. The upside is you won’t be heating or cooling empty properties simply because something came up at the last minute. With more accurate billing, you’ll get a better overview of your total energy use and be able to find opportunities to increase efficiency and cut waste.
Pro Tip: Identify seasonal trends for your after-hours program and use the data to make targeted improvements in lighting, insulation or renewable energy investments within specific zones of your property.
Conclusion
The benefits of after-hours HVAC automation make a strong case for its adoption among facility managers. While it frees your team from tedious tasks like reporting and billing, automation’s biggest selling point is it’s a value-add for your tenants.
Clients and their office managers can use the data collected by automation software to streamline their own internal processes. Retail tenants can use after-hours data to set sustainability benchmarks and goals. Software developers could employ after-hours usages in evaluating each team’s productivity and/or cost to a project. Law firms could recoup losses by adding their AHAC charges as a billable line item for a client.
While AHAC automation may seem like a simple tool, its potential impact for FMs and tenants is limited only by the lack of exploring its many applications for both.
