For years, building energy rules meant benchmarking — measure your consumption, report it, move on. That era is ending. Building Performance Standards (BPS) go a step further: they set hard limits on a building’s energy or...
After-Hours HVAC
This category covers policies, costs and best practices for running plant outside tenant hours. We focus on clear booking rules, cost recovery and simple automations that prevent disputes.
After-Hours HVAC and Green Leases: Aligning Cost Recovery with Sustainability
A green lease can run to dozens of clauses on retrofits, fit-outs, submetering and data sharing — and tucked among them is a short paragraph on after-hours HVAC that most people skim past. They shouldn’t. That clause is one of...
How to Bill Tenants for After-Hours HVAC: 5 Methods Compared
Once you’ve decided to charge tenants for after-hours HVAC, the next question is how — and the billing model you pick shapes everything that follows: how fair the charge feels, how much admin it creates, how many disputes you...
Documenting Your After-Hours AC for NABERS
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...
Tips for Calculating an After-Hours AC Rate
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...
What Is After-Hours HVAC? A Complete Guide for Landlords and Tenants
After-hours HVAC is heating, ventilation and air-conditioning service delivered to a commercial tenant outside a building’s normal operating hours — typically evenings, weekends and holidays — billed to that tenant at an agreed hourly rate. It goes by several names,...
4 Reasons to Automate Your After-Hours HVAC Program
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...
After-Hours HVAC: 5 Reasons to Start Charging Tenants
Charging tenants for after-hours air conditioning (AHAC) presents many difficult questions for FMs. How do I calculate an hourly rate? How do I separate after-hours billing from normal utility OPEX? Do I have enough resources and staff? Calculating and managing...
Including AHAC Charges in Your Commercial Lease
If you're new to after-hours HVAC billing, you may find it hard getting started drafting a lease or tenancy notice. After-hours HVAC is a complex topic, and each property requires a bespoke solution. However, there are a few basic terms and ideas that appear in most...
Lower Your Staffing Costs with After-Hours HVAC Automation
Scheduling after-hours AC can be an expensive and cumbersome process. It’s usually a mishmash of spreadsheets, sticky note reminders, voice mails, and impatient tenants — all trying to accomplish a task made overly complicated by a manual process. At home, we flick on...
Automation Tools Your Office Manager Needs
Few employees have more of an impact on the day-to-day operations of your business than your office manager. Whether it’s scheduling travel arrangements, ordering supplies or planning a birthday party, your office manager touches every part of your business. And while...