Last week, building intelligence provider WegoWise announced that utility bills for inefficient buildings cost up to eight times more than those for efficient buildings. Specifically, during the winter months – when bill disparity peaks – the company found that buildings use eight times more gas; five times more electricity; and four times more oil than the most-efficient buildings.
"Winter is coming, and it makes a disproportionate impact on inefficient buildings," WegoWise CTO Barun Singh said in a statement. "Owners or managers of inefficient buildings stand to save thousands per month on their winter utility bills simply by bringing their buildings up to average efficiency."
"Year-round, targeted retrofits provide a clear, bankable path to increase efficiency and boost net operating income," Singh continued.
As is to be expected, there are regional utility discrepancies for utility expenses: For the State of Massachusetts, WegoWise's data found that the state's utility customers use six times more gas in the winter per bedroom per month. Additionally, the company found that California utility customers, used 70 percent more gas in the winter than the rest of the year, despite a warmer climate.
While tracking energy efficiency is not a new concept, what makes Cambridge-based startup WegoWise unique is its ability to digest enormous amounts of data on the fly, cheaply and efficiently.
The company's database includes information collected from more than 17,000 buildings and 1.6 million utility bills.
When Singh spoke with BostInno last Thursday during a conference, he mentioned that the database was collecting information "as we speak." WegoWise collects data constantly, helping the company compile the largest collection of multifamily housing utility data in the world.
Singh told BostInno that the thought behind WegoWise emerged after an "information problem in the market place" emerged. In other words, there was a disconnect between building managers and owners and utility companies that didn't assess cost-saving upgrades in the most timely manner.
While many of WegoWise customers are utility companies, a building owner with 100 properties, Singh said, would find energy efficiency data particularly useful.
Using the example of a building owner with multiple properties to illustrate the usefulness of WegoWise services, Singh explained that for an owner of 100 buildings, WegoWise's data allows a developer to target a specific building, at the cost of $6 per building per month.
In greater Boston alone, WegoWise collects data for a couple thousands buildings, "about 43 million square feet," Singh added.
In fact, WegoWise data has become so valuable that the company is helping underwrite loans for development financiers to evaluate energy saving measures over the course of time. As Natalie Volpe, a research analyst at Cleantech Group explained in a statement: "Innovators like WegoWise are needed both to prove the business case of those potential savings and unlock those opportunities for building owners and managers."
In fact, WegoWise data has found that simple boiler replacements and insulations upgrades can reduce utility costs.
"We don't claim that we will solve the problem end-to-end," Singh added. But, at the end of the day, energy and money "go hand-in-hand."
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