How Can Multifamily Become More Energy-Efficient? Learn More At Bisnow’s BMAC East Conference

Meeting the needs of the modern resident requires multifamily owners to do more than install sleek decor and comfortable lobby furniture. Instead, owners need to make changes that prioritize tenants’ wellness and convenience while meeting growing resident demands for more sustainable, energy-efficient building features. 

Lightility has been helping multifamily owners place sustainability at the forefront, from installing electric vehicle charging stations to upgrading LED lighting. Lightility principal Marnie Abramson will be at the Bisnow Multifamily Annual Conference East, speaking on the panel Understanding the Modern Resident, where she will dive into some of the improvements that multifamily owners can make to help meet their environmental, social and corporate governance goals.

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Bisnow sat down with Abramson to talk about the challenges and opportunities for advancement in ESG, the resources that multifamily owners can access to help with implementing energy efficiency and Lightility’s contribution to meeting the needs of today’s tenants.

Bisnow: What are some of the recent trends in ESG that you've been noticing?

Abramson: There are a couple of ways to look at the current trends in ESG.  

First, businesses are always under pressure to reduce risk. Right now, there are geopolitical risks, inflation, rising energy prices, congestion in the supply chain and threats of a potential recession. That backdrop of uncertainty is driving some of the discussion and movement toward ESG.  

There’s also major pushback in both the public and private markets against greenwashing, where businesses that are inherently not climate friendly — like real estate, for example — market themselves as sustainable by implementing low-cost initiatives that don’t address the most impactful carbon issues. This includes using eco-friendly materials for some of the base building construction but not addressing ongoing operational issues like energy efficiency, water efficiency or waste management. 

On the other side of that, there are exciting initiatives that companies like Lightility are working on that are actually creating new jobs and the potential for an economic revolution. These include decarbonizing transportation, creating integrated energy management systems that can combine solar with battery storage and electric vehicles to create meaningful climate change, providing new opportunities for businesses that supply those services as well as long-term cost reductions and increased valuations for those companies that utilize them. 

In this case, carbon reductions are driven by economic growth and increased revenues to all of the parties participating — and that’s what I love about this new economy. 

Bisnow: What considerations might multifamily developers and owners take into account when taking steps to incorporate more energy-efficient solutions for their buildings?

Abramson: Multifamily owners have been addressing ESG issues in meaningful ways for more than a decade. Some of the early standards like Energy Star, LEED and BREEAM as well as WELL Building Standards have accomplished a lot. For this industry the days of greenwashing are long gone. 

Today, there are building energy performance standards and a plethora of powerful software management tools to address building performance that help address the future of multifamily sustainability. I think what is going to drive one of the greatest changes to the multifamily market in the next decade is the rise of electric vehicles and the rising cost of energy.   

Bisnow: How does Lightility work with multifamily clients to upgrade their energy products?

Abramson: For more than 10 years, Lightility has built a business around helping organizations convert outdated and inefficient energy infrastructures into cost savings and improved asset value, and we have been very disciplined in that model. Our initial focus was exclusively on LED lighting upgrades. This was largely because energy prices were relatively stable over that time period, and LED was the fastest and most predictable way for a property owner to achieve energy savings at scale.  

The rise in electric vehicles will absolutely drive an increase in energy consumption, meaningfully increasing not just the overall cost of energy but also demand charges. Knowing that pushed us to develop additional expertise in electric vehicle charging and infrastructure, as well as solar and battery storage. And while it’s definitely very early in the battery storage life cycle, the long-term integration of those solutions, combined with software systems that will enable companies to load shift, will eventually be mainstreamed as the demand on the energy grid continues to grow. We are really excited to lend our expertise and work with multifamily property owners as they enter into this transition.

Bisnow: You’ll be speaking on the panel Understanding the Modern Resident: Integrating Wellness, Design, Amenities and Proptech Into Multifamily. What excites you most about connecting with the other panelists and attendees?

Abramson: I am super excited to be back at a Bisnow event. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on one of their panels. I love the topic of dealing with the modern resident because I think it’s an important distinction. It seems like every decade or so, major changes develop within this industry that force us to move beyond creating better ways to do the same things and require that we redefine and rediscover residents' wants and needs. 

If you remember 15 years ago, no one needed parking because everyone was going to use public transportation or car-sharing and be located in walkable communities. Gen Z has flipped the script on that. They have cars and are OK with some driving, especially if it’s a hybrid vehicle or EV, and they want guaranteed parking. Enhanced security features are of growing importance. Absolutely no one has a landline anymore, so cellphone reception is paramount. 

At Lightility, our focus is on electric vehicles and integrated energy solutions, but that is just a subsection of a larger movement where residents expect more from their apartments than aesthetics and amenities. Today’s residents have been living in the digital age for decades and want access to information and services instantly. I mean, people are buying cars on their phones today. So the expectations about how to renew a lease or confirm a service ticket or access a parking space are all changing, and everyone on the panel has a business that is addressing some facet of that need. It’s exciting, and I can’t wait to learn and be a part of the discussion.

This article was produced in collaboration between Studio B and Lightility. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.