As far as commercial properties go, student housing is both residential and commercial. Students live in the residence for most of the year, but not year round, and (like hotels) also require a range of services and amenities to enhance the student living experience. After all, this environment will largely influence their entire student lifestyle outside the classroom.
And while there are overhead costs that come with providing value-added services and amenities in a sustainable student living community, those are more than offset by the cost-savings they offer. Of course, student populations value sustainable living more than any other demographic.
Consequently, student housing managers must find ways to reduce the costs of providing essential services and amenities. And there’s no better place to start than with smart thermostats.
Trends in Energy Efficient Campuses
Incorporating sustainability trends and smart technologies into student living communities helps student housing managers maximize occupancy rates and supports campus enrollment goals. They also represent significant cost-savings and an investment that will yield significant return for years to come. From energy management systems to machine-learning algorithms and green building certifications, there are a number of ways student housing managers can balance energy efficiency, comfort, and profitability.
Energy Management System
Energy consumption represents one of the most significant cost centers ( and emissions ) of a student housing residence. From common areas to individual units, energy consumption fluctuates wildly from student to student. A dedicated energy management system helps student housing operators monitor and adjust a building’s energy usage in real-time, reducing overhead costs and energy waste.
Indeed, an energy management system when paired with smart thermostats can detect and respond to real-time occupancy patterns to adjust heating, cooling, and lighting. Of course, our smart HVAC thermostats integrate seamlessly with campus-wide energy management systems, offering centralized control over heating and cooling across different buildings.
Data-driven Decision Making
Smart thermostats provide valuable data on energy usage, accounting for real-time occupancy patterns, historical thermodynamics, and temperature fluctuations. Put simply, Verdant’s smart HVAC thermostats enable data-driven decision making, offering student housing managers invaluable insights to continuously monitor and optimize energy efficiency.
Specifically, Predictive Maintenance allows student housing operators to leverage sensor data with various systems to not only track wasteful energy consumption before they become too costly, but also identify malfunctioning hardware and alert maintenance staff before an issue escalates. The end result is an energy-efficient campus with lower utility costs and comfortable living environments.
Renewable Energy Integration
Smart thermostats can be programmed to optimize heating and cooling based on the availability of renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources like solar panels can be used to generate their own electricity, and help student housing facilities become less reliant on the energy grid.
This renewable energy source presents a two-fold opportunity for energy efficient student housing facilities. On one hand, they reduce energy consumption from the main grid, and secondly, any excess solar energy production can be sold back through Demand Response Programs. This ultimately allows student housing managers to reduce their energy costs, while also creating new revenue streams.
Occupancy-based Adjustments
Our smart thermostats come equipped with occupancy sensors delivering peak energy efficiency across student campuses. These intelligent devices adjust to real-time occupancy patterns, using proprietary machine learning algorithms to optimize settings based on historical performance data.
Featuring a number of easy-to-use settings, including Night Occupancy Mode, Flexible Setbacks, and Advanced Humidity Control, our smart HVAC thermostats ensure that no space is overheated or overcooled. They can also be programmed to restore an occupant’s optimal temperature settings within a configurable amount of time upon their return to a room, without compromising guest comfort.
Machine-Learning Algorithms
Not all smart thermostats are created equal, especially when it comes to commercial properties like student housing, hotels, MDUs, and senior living facilities. After all, these dynamic environments require a smart thermostat that goes beyond traditional capabilities, including machine-learning algorithms.
Our smart HVAC thermostats leverage machine-learning algorithms to predict and optimize heating and cooling based on historical data, weather forecasts, user preferences and occupancy patterns. In addition, these smart thermostats can control any electrical device in the room, including makeup air, lighting, dampers, and electrical outlets based on occupancy signals.
Green Building Certifications
Green initiatives are reshaping student housing landscapes as we know them, retrofitting or upgrading outdated infrastructure to be more eco-friendly. Smart thermostats play an integral role in achieving ESG targets and green building certifications like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Verdant’s smart HVAC thermostats help student housing managers monitor and control heating, cooling, and ventilation in real-time, significantly reducing overall energy consumption, overhead costs, and greenhouse gas emissions––all key metrics evaluated in LEED scoring.
Green building certifications are equally as enticing for student housing operators from a financial perspective. The Energy Policy Act allows deductions up to $1.80 per square foot for buildings achieving significant energy savings.
Smart Thermostat Benefits on Student Campuses
Implementing smart thermostats not only has a positive impact on your bottom line and operating costs, but also improves the overall living experience for students. Indeed, the sum of those benefits greatly outweighs the initial investment, helping student housing managers provide a sustainable student living community at a profit.
Energy Savings
Smart thermostats help student housing managers deliver comprehensive energy savings, curbing inconsistent student energy consumption patterns. Over time, these smart energy management thermostats can learn your students’ daily preferences and occupancy patterns and automatically adjust heating and cooling settings in shared spaces and individual units.
This results in significantly lower HVAC run times and energy waste and a more profitable student housing community. In fact, our Energy Star certified smart thermostats reduce HVAC runtime by an average of 45%, helping student housing operators achieve up to 20% savings on energy costs. Best of all, they can be self-installed in under 10 minutes, offering unparalleled HVAC compatibility.
Improved Comfort
Heating and cooling are an essential feature of any student housing property and can have a significant effect on student comfort. Fortunately, smart thermostats can be pre-programmed to heat or cool a space when it is usually occupied. For example, smart HVAC thermostat settings can be optimized to reduce energy consumption in dorm rooms when students are typically in class.
And when installed alongside occupancy sensors and door/window sensors, these intelligent devices can respond to real-time fluctuations and actual occupancy. Additionally, students can customize their own smart thermostat settings in their private units based on their daily habits, delivering optimal comfort and temperature control at all times.
Reduced Carbon Footprint
Smart thermostats help student living communities dramatically reduce their carbon footprint. This plays a valuable role in not only lowering greenhouse gas emissions, but also has a positive impact on retention and student enrollment targets.
In fact, according to a 2023 survey by the Princeton Review, 67% of prospective applicants say a college or university’s commitment to environmental issues would affect their decision to apply or attend.
And beyond creating a more sustainable living environment for students, our energy management smart thermostats help student housing managers achieve their ESG targets. This, in turn, helps them access more strategic financing opportunities, which can then be reinvested back into the student living facility.
Increased Control and Flexibility
Smart HVAC thermostats provide student housing operators with unrivaled control and flexibility in managing their energy consumption, particularly as those energy needs continue to evolve. Equipped with remote access via smartphone apps, tablets, and voice-activated devices, our smart HVAC thermostats provide centralized control over heating and cooling across the entire student living facility.
This increased flexibility ensures a more seamless resident experience, delivering optimal temperature control in shared spaces, common areas, and individual units. When paired with an Energy Management System like Verdant, student housing managers receive automated notifications alerting staff before an issue escalates, or leads to system failure.
Ease of Use
As their name suggests, smart thermostats are, in fact, smart. Essentially, the “smart” in smart thermostats refers not just to their advanced technology, but also to how easy they are to use.
Equipped with a number of intuitive, user-friendly features, student housing operators can seamlessly manage energy consumption and energy management reports remotely across multiple properties.
Our smart thermostats are equally easy to use for students, who can customize temperature settings in their private units with a few simple clicks. The end result is increased energy savings and enhanced comfort for a more sustainable and energy efficient student living community.
Increase Energy Efficiency at your Student Campus with Verdant’s Smart Thermostats
Our smart thermostats (VX4, VX Smart Thermostats and ZX Smart Thermostats) offer student housing operators the ability to continuously streamline energy consumption, increasing profitability, student comfort, and retention and enrollment rates.
These smart energy management thermostats provide a plug-and-play solution, integrating seamlessly with third-party systems. It is nonetheless essential to select a smart HVAC thermostat that best reflects your energy needs. After all, the right smart thermostat not only delivers energy savings, but enhances the student living experience.
Looking to increase energy efficiency in your student living community? Join industry-leading partners and learn how our smart HVAC thermostats can automate and optimize your energy costs, and much more.