How much can energy management save an apartment building?

The short answer

It depends first on who pays the utility bill. Savings from smart thermostats, HVAC optimization and sub-metering reach the owner's NOI only where the owner pays for that energy: common areas, vacant units, and buildings where utilities are included in rent. For context, ENERGY STAR reports that certified smart thermostats save about 8% on heating and cooling bills on average. PropertyAlpha quantifies energy in each building's full Impact Model rather than with one national figure.

Updated October 2026 · PropertyAlpha benchmarks (engine 2026.11-v3) · Figures are modeled

~8%

Average heating and cooling bill savings from ENERGY STAR smart thermostats (EPA)

30% / 15%

Fannie Mae Green Rewards thresholds: energy and water combined / energy alone

Who pays decides who saves

Utility arrangement	Where energy savings go
Residents pay their own unit's utilities	To residents. The owner still saves in common areas and vacant units.
Utilities included in rent	To the owner's NOI, directly.
Common areas and vacant units	To the owner in every building.

That is why PropertyAlpha asks who pays utilities before it says anything about energy value. Student and senior housing often include utilities in rent, which shifts more of the savings to the owner.

What is already counted elsewhere

Vacant-unit thermostat savings are counted inside the smart home benchmark. Energy management covers the rest: HVAC optimization, common-area controls and sub-metering.

The financing angle

For many owners, the larger value of efficiency is not the utility bill. It is the loan. Improvements that cut energy and water use enough can qualify for agency green financing:

Fannie Mae Green Rewards: preferential loan pricing and up to 5% additional loan proceeds for improvements projected to cut a property's energy and water use by at least 30% combined, with at least 15% from energy.
Freddie Mac Green Advantage offers a parallel pricing path.
Program terms change. Treat this as a reason to screen your building, not as a loan commitment or eligibility decision.

Hotels

For existing hotels, PropertyAlpha does put a benchmark on guest-room energy management. See what building technology is worth to a hotel.

What is it worth to your building?

The free Property Impact Report applies these benchmarks to your property, by class and unit count, and shows the method behind every number.

Run your Impact Analysis