Grosvenor Systems and Spike Global have today announced a new strategic alliance, enabling build-to-rent operators to benefit from a complete end-to-end property management and accounting solution.
Propman, Grosvenor Systems’ leading financial reporting and property management product, will be combined with Spike’s tenancy management solution, Spike Lettings, and award-winning resident engagement portal, Spike Living, to create an enhanced, simplified experience for tenants.
Grosvenor Systems’ market-leading product paired with Spike’s solutions will allow the entire tenant management process to be digitalised, helping to reduce costs and streamline communications between management teams and tenants. The online offering will modernise all stages of the tenant experience – from the marketing of properties, taking initial payments and reservations, sending and the signing of contracts, approving references to managing the ongoing management and accounting requirements of tenants once moved in.
Contracts and vital documentation will also be stored digitally, increasing security and making key information easily accessible. Notifications can be sent to tenants via push notifications whenever documents need to be reviewed or signed, allowing for full traceability.
Property Managers will also benefit from comprehensive tenancy management reporting, with automated monthly rent invoices eliminating time spent performing administrative tasks, giving staff more time to focus on value-add activities.
Additionally, the Spike Living portal, which has an intuitive smartphone app, lets tenants view financial information such as service charges or payment history directly. The portal will also allow tenants to view and register for onsite events, reserve amenities, interact with other tenants via clubs and forums, and learn about local retailers they could support.
Sarah Taylor, Managing Director, Grosvenor Systems, comments: “Building on our great relationship with Spike Global, we are excited to offer the first complete end-to-end service in the BTR marketplace, which puts the customer experience at the heart of property management. We’re looking forward to continuing to evolve and innovate our offering for customers.”
Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “We are excited to be working with Grosvenor Systems. By combining our leading resident engagement and tenancy management software solutions with Propman, this complete solution will enable property managers to onboard tenants much faster and more efficiently, whilst providing a central place for tenants to manage their everyday needs.”
Resident experience refers to a resident’s living experience in a building. It doesn’t solely rely on trendy amenities, great designs, or flashy decor. Instead, the resident experience encompasses a holistic approach to residents’ wellbeing and fosters a sense of community within their living space. Delivering a great resident experience is an integral component of any successful development.
Resident Experience Impacts Retention Rates
It’s far more cost-effective to retain happy residents. Average turnover costs for an apartment within the industry is around £1,200, however, this number can often be significantly higher, depending on a wide variety of factors specific to the property.
The good news is that nearly 60% of all resident turnover is preventable, according to a report by Zillow Renters, with the most significant contributors being staff performance and dissatisfaction with the building. Whilst some turnover cannot be avoided, such as a resident needing to relocate for a new job, there are still many improvements you can make to keep residents staying year after year.
Here are six ways to improve the resident experience.
Enhance Communication and Responsiveness
Great communication between residents and property managers is important to making everyone feel welcome. Property managers need to be seen as being proactive and keeping residents informed about all the goings on in the development, from maintenance works, onsite events being held, and general resident feedback. No resident wants to get to the lift with an armful of shopping bags, only to discover it’s out of action.
Property managers should also consider the effectiveness of sending emails and physical flyers which can be easily ignored. Instead, having a resident portal that allows for push notifications to be sent directly to a resident’s mobile phone is likely to be a more effective way of keeping residents updated and engaged.
With 31% of residents choosing not to renew their tenancy due to seeking better apartment management according to research by NMHC and Kingsley, this seems the logical place to start.
Make Operations More Efficient
Feedback gained by HomeViews for their 2021 Build to Rent report found that residents that had previous experience using resident portals instantly recognised how useful they would be in their new buildings. Residents who did not have access to a portal also believed it would help issues be resolved quicker. Furthermore, there were also frustrations voiced about having to email reception to book onsite amenities, which makes accessing them a lot more laborious than it needs to be.
Residents want to do things when it suits them, without having to involve anyone else. A mobile portal enables residents to complete important life admin, like paying rent, booking the gym, or reading the latest fire safety policy – without having to rely on anyone else.
Although often overlooked, parcel rooms and delivery solutions also play an important role in the resident experience, with 13% of reviews specifically talking about how useful this was in the 2022 HomeViews Report.
One of Spike’s clients reduced parcel processing time by 75% when switching to Spike Living. Staff are able to scan packages as they arrive which then automatically sends a notification to the relevant resident informing them that a package is ready to be collected, saving staff from having to manually message them individually. This has led to a saving of more than 9 hours per week at each development, freeing up the on-site team to focus on other value-add activities.
Streamline Maintenance Requests
Without an easy and simple way for residents to report issues, maintenance problems can often go unreported, with seemingly small problems at risk of turning into serious repairs.
Resident experience is greatly improved when residents can contact the management team quickly, while your team attends to maintenance requests in a timely manner.
Many residents reference resident apps and how useful they were for reporting issues and having them swiftly resolved in the 2022 HomeViews Report.
Having a residents’ app in place can speed up the reporting of issues, with residents able to quickly provide maintenance staff with better details about the task ahead. Enquiries and defect tickets can be logged centrally, as well as being tracked and shared between teams, keeping the resident informed at all times.
Connect Your Residents to the Surrounding Area
Residents aren’t just moving into your building — they’re also moving into the surrounding neighbourhood. Some residents might be moving across the country while others just across town. Therefore, many may not be familiar with the surrounding area. Connecting them with local shops and services, or details that can bring convenience to their lives is a great way of ensuring they feel engaged from the offset. Even if they are already familiar, receiving a special discount because they are a member of your community makes them feel special.
Many of Spike’s clients team up with local businesses to offer exclusive discounts to their residents on anything from cleaning services, and dog walkers, to local bars and restaurants. All of which can be promoted and driven through Spike Living.
Allow a building to Be Community-Led
Research by Apartment Life found that the more friends a resident have within their building, the more likely they are to renew their tenancy. Without any friends living in their community, residents only have a 29% chance of renewing. That number jumps to 38% if they have 1-3 friends, and if they have 7 or more friends, there’s a 47% likelihood that they’ll renew. Facilitating safe and easy communication among members of the community allows people to get to know each other more easily.
Spike Living allows residents to create their own clubs and forums, allowing residents to find like-minded people who share similar interests. We’ve seen residents start their own book clubs, and even arrange communal BBQs and beer tasting classes, to questions being asked on utilities and hairdresser recommendations to where to find the best pint.
Unlike social media, Spike Living can be building-specific, enabling residents to meet like-minded people in their building, without being at risk from scammers and strangers.
Have a Single Multi-Purpose Portal
To keep residents happy, one multi-purpose management app is a necessity. Besides being inefficient and time-consuming, single-purpose apps also have negative effects on residents’ phones. Devices with multiple apps lack performance and drain batteries faster. And who really wants to remember which app you clicked on to do one of ten different things?
Spike’s resident engagement portal, Spike Living, allows residents to virtually manage every aspect of their lives from a single app. From being notified when a package is ready to be collected from reception, reporting maintenance issues, unlocking their front door, booking a slot at the gym, hiring a private meeting room, interacting with other residents via forums and clubs, or learning about the local retailers in which they can support, Spike Living allows residents to build budding friendships with neighbours and get the most out of their buildings.
Summary
With so many different accommodation options now available, many operators and developers have looked to ‘outdo’ one another by providing buildings with increasingly luxurious amenities. Whilst those amenities will undoubtedly make residents sit up and take notice, they become somewhat meaningless if the resident experience isn’t up to scratch.
In such a crowded market, the only way to ensure you remain at the forefront is by providing residents with an easy way to access and enjoy what’s on offer within the development and the surrounding area, something that Spike Living is proven to do.
Creating a home away from home is what Scape is all about – the developer and operator providing accommodation for students through its partnerships with world class institutions, including UCL, Kings College London and RCSI Dublin. Its latest partnership, with industry leading resident engagement and property management software provider Spike Global, will see the roll-out of a bespoke, white-labelled version of its resident engagement portal, Spike Living, across Scape’s portfolio in the UK and Ireland.
Helping students get more from their cities and their studies, residents will be able to manage their daily lives from a single smartphone app, whether that’s being notified when they have a package ready to collect, planning a night out with friends, booking a gym session, or checking availability and hiring out the cinema room to unwind after a busy week studying.
Whilst moving to a new area can be intimidating for some, the Scape app will help students by offering tips for exploring and getting to know their new surroundings. Furthermore, the app will bring students closer to the local community by sharing news, events and partner offers to help them access the best deals possible.
With Spike Living able to be integrated with electronic access control systems, students will no longer have the hassle of remembering – and subsequently forgetting – their key cards. This, alongside the ability for residents and staff to communicate digitally through the portal, allows property management to be practically paper-free, contributing to Scape’s ongoing efforts to protect the environment in its everyday business operations.
Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “We are delighted to be working with Scape and know student accommodation is about much more than just a place to stay whilst earning a degree. There are so many important aspects of a student’s life that make the experience what it is, and Spike Living helps reduce the stress and difficulties that can come with moving away for the very first time. The portal provides a one-stop shop that can help the students make the most of their time in accommodation, and fully utilise all that Scape accommodation has to offer them.”
Neil Smith, Managing Director of Scape, comments: “We expect the portal to be one of the most used apps on the phones of the students of 2022/23, thanks to Spike’s streamlining of the student accommodation experience. It is important to us that our residents experience all the benefits of a strong student community, and our residents’ app will help us to foster and enhance this at such an important time in their lives.”
Two months after successfully launching its first ever development in Münster, cospaces provider POHA House has won the 2022 Coliving Award in the Branding & Marketing category. The first POHA House is located directly across from Bremer Platz in the centre of the historic German city of Münster, a central area that has a young, multicultural scene.
Whenever POHA House enters a city, it strives to ensure it fulfils a need in the community. Loneliness, growing housing needs, and a lack of sustainable living options inspired what they have created in its first POHA House.
POHA House’s mission is to create spaces that have a positive impact, putting the wellbeing of the planet and people first and committing to minimising resources and reimagining the modern community. By partnering with Spike Global, POHA House has been able to ensure its residents feel more connected to the spaces in which they reside.
By utilising Spike’s tenancy management solution Spike Lettings, which allows prospective residents to easily find and reserve their ideal apartment online, and its award-winning resident engagement portal, Spike Living, POHA House allows residents to choose to share as much or as little space with their neighbours as they wish.
POHA House wanted to also create as many local partnerships as possible, and by using Spike Living, has encouraged residents to get to know the neighbourhood by presenting special offers and incentives from local businesses. The ‘what’s around me’ feature points residents to the best spots in the city, from bars, and restaurants to the nearest grocery store, all via its bespoke fully branded POHA House residents’ app.
Miriam Barnhart, Brand Manager and Sustainability Lead at POHA House comments: “As we have developed our approach to the POHA brand, we have made room for the individual brand culture of each POHA House to thrive on its own. POHA House Münster is unique because of how the community has made it their own which our partnership with Spike Global enables. We are so proud to be part of our resident’s stories and let that shine through to who POHA House is. Thank you to the Coliving Awards for this award that inspires us to keep innovating all things POHA.”
Jonny Wootten, Marketing Director at Spike Global comments: “We are extremely proud to be working with POHA House which is such a forward-thinking company when it comes to its branding and mission to put the wellbeing of the planet and people first. Our technology plays a pivotal role in ensuring residents get to know their fellow neighbours and the wider community, and we’re looking forward to continuing to support POHA House as they move into even more cities.”
Industry-leading resident engagement and property management software provider Spike Global has today announced its partnership with Liverpool-based property investment and development company, Legacie.
The partnership will see the roll out of Spike Global’s award-winning resident engagement portal, Spike Living, at Legacie’s flagship development, Parliament Square, located in Liverpool’s the Baltic Triangle.
Recently voted the coolest place to live in the UK, the Baltic Triangle is a completely transformed district of Liverpool city centre. Now recognised as the fastest growing business hub in Britain with over 500 companies in the digital industry, it’s also famed for its music venues, restaurants, and the stunning architecture of the Anglican Cathedral.
Legacie’s Spike Living portal is white-labelled and completely tailored to Parliament Square, which comprises of 505 apartments and amongst the many hotel-like services and amenities available, residents can book the outdoor gym, Yoga and Pilates studios, unwind by watching a film in the cinema room, catch up with friends in the resident’s lounge, or enjoy a relaxing pamper at the spectacular rooftop spa.
As well as enabling residents to manage their tenancy from their phone and enjoy the wider lifestyle on offer that Parliament Square provides, Spike Living will also connect them with their neighbours and local retailers and restaurants – offering a way to make new friends and develop a community.
Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “Our Spike Living portal makes everyday living both more straightforward and more exciting. The portal will offer a bespoke service to new residents living in Parliament Square and will help create strong relationships between residents, management staff and the local community. It provides a safer and more localised alternative for residents to connect with each other than conventional social media.”
“We’re excited about our partnership with Legacie, which will see the roll out of our Spike Living portal across more developments in the near future.”
Colin Croxton, Managing Director, Legacie Management and Lettings, comments: “We are creating high-end residential developments aimed at young professionals who have become accustomed to running their lives on smartphones. By partnering with Spike Global we can connect residents with one another and improve their connection with the local area, creating a ‘buzzing’ community feeling. We see Spike Living portal as an integral part of our developments going forward.”
VervLife, a specialist consultant and operator for the rented homes sector, has partnered with Spike Global, the industry’s leading property management and resident engagement software provider. The forward-thinking partnership aims to simplify and enhance the residential experience for renters living at its build-to-rent, single family and co-living communities across the country.
With a view to improving communication and resident living, VervLife is implementing Spike Global’s white-labelled resident engagement portal Spike Living as well as its end-to-end tenancy management software solution Spike Lettings, across its client portfolios throughout the UK.
By accessing the Spike Living portal, residents will benefit from a user-friendly app to help tap into the local community as well as being able to make the best use of their own buildings’ facilities. Residents will also be able to book facilities offered across the portfolio, as well as being able to discover what the local area has to offer and access exclusive discounts from local businesses.
Selected by VervLife thanks to its successful track record in creating communities and streamlining property management processes, Spike Lettings will allow staff to streamline and automate the resident onboarding process, whilst its Spike Living portal will provide tenants with a simple one stop app. This opens up communication between management teams and residents, making everyday tasks and social connections much simpler in a multitude of ways.
Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global, comments: “The introduction of our software will help create blossoming social communities amongst like-minded neighbours and help local businesses by connecting them to residents through our app in various forums. We are thrilled to be partnering with VervLife to bring our software to other areas across the UK, and look forward to helping them surpass their aims of meeting the needs of a new generation of renters.”
Brent Stojanovic, Director at VervLife added: “As a conscious operator of rental communities, it’s important to us at VervLife that we promote sustainable living and resident wellbeing. Partnering with Spike Global will make our communities happier and healthier, helping our residents to feel more connected to their new homes whilst increasing commercial and social value for our clients”.
Apo, the innovative London-based build-to-rent operator, is offering renters across the capital a new era of flexible living, through bespoke digital solutions shaped by modern lifestyles. Through its user-friendly resident app, efficient tenancy management software and engaging networking groups and social channels, Apo is fast becoming London’s most appealing option for city renting, offering fun, customisable living options at the touch of a button.
Behind the scenes, Apo worked closely with leading resident engagement and property management software provider Spike Global, to completely tailor and deliver both the bespoke resident app and the lettings platform to truly set Apo apart from other rental providers.
Apo’s Spike Living resident portal is a one-stop shop for neighbourhood news, maintenance queries, exclusive local discounts, and social interaction, as well as being an event booking platform for Apo’s rolling programme of resident activities including yoga classes, live music events, food markets and engaging workshops.
Taking the stress out of renting, the app allows members to perform actions such as contact the on-site team, log expected courier deliveries, receive announcements about upcoming events, and forge new social connections, such as book clubs and running groups. The What’s around me feature showcases local businesses surrounding the development, many of which offer exclusive promotions and discounts to Apo residents, reinforcing Apo’s place within its wider community.
Spike Global’s powerful tenancy management software, Spike Lettings, allows prospective Apo residents to view available properties online, make enquiries, reserve apartments online, and even submit the necessary paperwork and sign contracts. This easy-to-navigate portal revolutionises the process of renting, offering city dwellers a simple option when it comes to finding a new home.
Apo Barking, the operator’s first scheme, launched in December 2020 and recently celebrated reaching full occupation in April 2022, having flourished into an established community with its 597 thoughtfully-designed one and two bed apartments. The second scheme, Apo Kew Bridge, launched in November 2021, and has since welcomed the first residents to its 487 new homes, wrapped around the premier league stadium home to Brentford FC. Apo utilises bespoke digital solutions to simplify the stresses of everyday life for its members and foster new connections between neighbours.
This multifunctional tool also equips Apo members to control their lifestyle services through a subscription-based model, allowing them to pick the perks they want at the touch of a button. Since launch, 87% of Apo Barking residents have downloaded the app, and there have been over 388 posts and comments made on online social clubs since this January alone, ranging from questions on utilities and hairdresser recommendations to where to find the best pint.
As well as the app, a blossoming Instagram platform showcases the development’s amenities, activities and four-legged friends. Apo also manages private social media groups for residents, further strengthening relationships between new neighbours by encouraging new conversations and interactions. Providing a safe space for residents to make friends, share hobbies and co-ordinate their own activities, Apo’s digital platforms help build the authentic sense of community that is attracting record-breaking tenant applications to its developments.
Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global says: “Providing a personalised service is key to attracting and retaining good tenants who are looking for homes that truly fit their needs. Our resident engagement portal is tailored exactly to the building and its occupants, streamlining processes, organising facilities, and forging friendships. Apo is all about being ‘a part of’ a thriving, exciting city lifestyle and we are delighted that our tenancy management software and resident engagement portal are helping to create these lively new communities.”
Helping students connect to their local community and engage with their surroundings should be a major focus for PBSA operators, as students increasingly want more than just a place to stay from their accommodation.
As part of ASK4’s recent research report, The Students of 2022, prospective students across Europe were surveyed about their attitudes towards various aspects of student living including independence, discovery, and immersion. What was clear from the research is that students overwhelmingly have a desire to explore their local environments and immerse themselves in their surroundings. For example, 95% of those surveyed said that they are excited to explore a new city when they move away to study and 92% said they are excited to go out to bars and social events. Students do not view these factors as simply added bonuses of studying at university either, as 75% said that exploring a new town and city is an important part of the university experience. For PBSA operators, this presents an excellent opportunity to cater for this key part of the university journey and facilitate the connections to the city or town their residents are living in.
ASK4 and Spike’s unique offering helps to meet many of the needs and expectations that students have around student living and socialising, streamlining the process for PBSA operators and providing useful data and analytics to improve the service to their residents.
When students first move into their new accommodation, it is likely that they will be unfamiliar with the surrounding area and may not have made friends or met many people. Through Spike Global’s resident engagement portal, Spike Living, residents are able to connect with each other instantly, and the ‘what’s around me’ feature can highlight local shops and services, as well as providing access to a whole host of other details to help reduce anxiety around moving to a new location on their own at what can be a very turbulent time in their lives. As the portal caters exclusively for building residents, it offers a safer alternative to groups on Facebook or other prominent social media, which are more easily infiltrated by spammers and strangers, helping students to make truly local new friends. Both ASK4 and Spike aim to help clients ensure their residents feel engaged from the offset and feel a real sense of community and belonging.
Many accommodation providers who provide the Spike Living portal to their residents also team up with local businesses to offer special d/spike-studentiscounts to their residents on anything from hairdressers, and coffee shops, to local bars and restaurants, all of which can be promoted to residents and driven through the Spike Living smartphone app. According to the 2020 Knight Frank / UCAS Student Accommodation Survey, 29% of students said they would pay a rental premium for having access to discounts for shops/amenities in the local area, therefore providing additional value for residents.
This not only helps to introduce residents to their surroundings in a convenient way but also connects local businesses to the accommodation itself to further integrate the building as part of the community.
Spike Living can also be used to link up with external partners to provide additional services, from bedding packs and weekly cleans to pizza delivery and beauty services, which could result in additional revenue streams in the form of commission. Providing an easy way for students to interact and helping them to engage with their surroundings is now a necessity. Almost half of the university student population (46%) admit to experiencing loneliness during their time at university, and the desire from the student cohort to make new friends and collaborate cannot be overlooked. With an average engagement rate of 87% across its portals, Spike Living is proven to help residents truly live their best student lives and take from the university experience everything they want to.
DO YOU REALLY NEED A RESIDENTS’ APP?
Watch our on-demand webinar with ASK4 to learn the ways in which residents’ apps can not only help foster communities in accommodation but also help PBSA owners and operators achieve all important ESG targets.
Moda Living has launched a new data-driven proptech platform to revolutionise the way its residents interact with their energy consumption and sustainable behaviours, helping its communities save money and boosting the sustainability of Moda’s UK-wide portfolio of neighbourhoods in first for the UK build-to-rent sector.
The rental living developer and operator has worked with MyModa app developer Spike Global and ESG technology partner Utopi to give residents access to live energy usage data around the clock.
All Moda Living neighbourhoods are equipped with Utopi smart sensors throughout their homes and amenity spaces, which monitor environmental factors such as air quality, temperature and energy usage. In the last six months alone, these sensors have captured more than 105 million data points at Moda Living sites. With a pipeline of more than 18,400 new rental homes, the service will eventually be capturing 18.7 million data points every day across its portfolio.
For the first time, the new service will put this data in the hands of Moda residents to give them live readings from the sensors throughout their building, providing them with a range of new benefits.
Residents are increasingly conscious of their impact on the planet, and the new partnership will allow them to monitor their carbon emissions, ranking them within their neighbourhood, helping change behaviours, supporting residents to play their part in the journey to Net Zero Carbon. This pioneering approach will connect Moda Living residents to their building, including more data insights into how their homes and amenity spaces are performing. Operating teams at Moda Living sites will use the new tech to incentivise energy-efficient behaviour with events and competitions, boosting overall sustainability as well as engaging with residents on an issue that matters to them.
The platform will also provide residents with personalised hints and tips they can use to make small changes that will have a big impact on their utility spend. In the midst of the UK’s cost of living crisis, the new technology will help protect residents from rising energy costs and feel in control of their spending, contributing to overall wellbeing.
Moda will also be able to use the data from the Spike/Utopi partnership to set its own targets for reduction in consumption and spot anomalies. Residents with poor energy scores, for example, will be identified and offered advice and support to reduce their costs.
The service will be rolled out across Moda’s portfolio of next generation rental living platforms, from its city centre build-to-rent towers to its new suburban single family homes platform, Casa by Moda. Across its range of living platforms, Moda has a pipeline of 18,400 new homes for rent across the UK. The new tech service will help tens of thousands of renters monitor their energy costs in real-time and enhance the sustainability of their lifestyles.
As the first operator to engage with the new partnership with Spike and Utopi, Moda worked closely with both businesses to design a product that will drive down carbon emissions from Moda’s real estate portfolio while giving residents unprecedented access and control of live information about their homes and wider neighbourhoods.
It forms part of Moda’s commitment to embracing new and leading technologies across its operations to support its ESG strategy, Next Generation Futures and help residents live their happiest, healthiest lives at its rental neighbourhoods across the UK.
Dan Brooks, Director at Moda Living, said: “We are extremely proud to be the first build-to-rent operator in the UK to roll out this crucial technology to our residents and neighbourhoods. As a long-term operator of our developments across the UK, we have a responsibility to our people and our planet to run our UK-wide portfolio as efficiently as possible. We are also dedicated to protecting and enhancing the wellbeing of the teams and residents that live, work and play in our rental communities. This new tie up with Spike and Utopi adds a new level to this, enabling us to communicate transparently about our green performance and help them keep energy costs down as the cost of living soars across the country.”
Utopi’s Co-Founder & CMO, Ben Roberts, said: “We have been very keen to get the building data we collect into the hands of the residents for a while, we know it has a major impact on a building’s sustainability performance, as the residents are the ones in control of their consumption. We’re thrilled to be rolling our tie up with Spike Global out for the first time with Moda Living – a business dedicated to sustainability and wellbeing in that will champion the benefits our new service provides both the business and its residents.”
Spike Global CEO, Jeremy Heath-Smith, said: “Our clients are increasingly concerned about the climate emergency and not only need to understand their building’s performance but want to use that information to actively engage and encourage residents to reduce their CO2 output and energy consumption. By partnering with Utopi and rolling this service out with Moda, we will be able to make this information readily available via our Spike Living portal, encouraging everyone to make a positive change.”
Spike Global, the leading property management and resident engagement software provider, is pleased to announce that it has formed a strategic partnership with IoT and Data Integration SaaS provider Utopi to increase visibility and access to building performance data.
With the demand for strong ESG performance, coupled with a greater focus on creating more sustainable buildings, developers are increasingly seeking ways to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
At the moment there is a lack of transparency when it comes to understanding how a building is performing, which makes it difficult to establish a baseline or monitor sustainability improvements. This new partnership will put key information into the hands of those with the power to make sustainable changes – whether that’s building managers or tenants themselves.
Through the use of specialist smart devices and API integrations, some of which were developed in-house, Utopi is able to collect live and actionable data from managed residential accommodation. This data is then available real-time via the UtopiConnect software platform, which can be integrated with other cloud-based products such as Spike Global’s market-leading resident engagement portal, Spike Living.
By partnering with Utopi, Spike’s clients will have the opportunity to understand their building’s performance and identify areas for improvement. In addition, the information can empower individual residents living in that development to reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption by prompting them to reduce their impact, and enabling them to compare their performance with other anonymised residents within their building.
Developers and operators will also be able to use this data to set targets for reduction in consumption and spot outliers and poor performing residents, allowing them to offer advice and support. This leads to vast improvements in ESG scoring, and could also support the introduction of fair usage policies to counter ever-increasing energy costs.
Speaking of the partnership, Utopi’s Co-Founder & CMO, Ben Roberts, commented: “We have been very keen to get the building data we collect into the hands of the residents for a while, we know it has a major impact on a building’s sustainability performance, as the residents are the ones in control of their consumption. Partnering with Spike was a no-brainer and the integration of the two platforms was seamless. We are really looking forward to inspiring communities to take action against the climate crisis.”
Speaking of the partnership, Spike Global’s CEO, Jeremy Heath-Smith, commented: “Our clients are increasingly concerned about the climate emergency and not only need to understand their building’s performance but want to use that information to actively engage and encourage residents to reduce their CO2 output and energy consumption. By partnering with Utopi, we will be able to make this information readily available via our Spike Living portal, encouraging everyone to make a positive change.”
Spike Global will be exhibiting at this year’s UKAA BTR Expo being held on 28th April at the London Design Centre, where attendees will be able to learn more about the new partnership with Utopi.
