Past & Present Multifamily Utility Sub-Metering

Submetering and Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) have been around in one form or another for over 40 years. For most of that time it was limited to a few small companies providing gas & electric sub-metering services to individual owner/operators of apartment buildings. This all changed in the mid nineties and was driven by three events. The first was the decision of United Dominion Realty Trust and Equity Residential Property Trust to pass water costs through to residents through a company they helped create for this purpose.

With several hundred thousand units between them their decision to pass through these costs was followed over the next few years by most of the large owner/managers. The second event was Inovonics introduction of a wireless transmitter suitable for sub-metering applications. This technology allowed the installation of non-proprietary equipment and soon became the industry standard allowing easy installation and remote reading that could be read by every company. The third event was the widespread use and acceptance of RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing System). With RUBS an owner could get many of the benefits of metered services with no equipment costs.

By the late 90′s there were over a dozen sub-metering/RUBS companies with at least 60,000 billable units and dozens more with smaller bases. By 2004 there were over 110 billing companies serving the industry. Consolidation over the last several years has reduced the number of companies providing these services to around 70. Most of the companies are little more than mom & pops without the financing or management to grow beyond their present size.

The market is huge. There are over 30,000,000 multifamily units, a similar number of manufactured home communities, 150,000 utility & water districts, 700,000 units of military housing and 15,000,000 federal facilities. Even with all the growth, it is estimated that less than 15% of the multifamily properties are presently passing all utility costs through to residents.

So far no one company has put all the pieces together and the industry is ripe for continued consolidation. The company that can install equipment efficiently, bill correctly and provide superior customer service could corner a significant share of the emerging market.

3 Secret PPT Design Rules To Killer PowerPoint Presentations

In this post, you will learn simple PPT design rules to help you building powerful presentations people will care about.

This PowerPoint tutorial will introduce three generic rules that will get you on the way to design professional PowerPoint templates and creative presentations! These rules are an introduction, and they are the key to successful PowerPoint presentation design. Let’s get started!

1. Size

Your PowerPoint slides are usually sized 10 inches (width) * 7.5 inches (height). Resize them 12*7.5. Open a PowerPoint document, go to Design > Page Setup. With presentation slides of 12 inches width, or more, you will have more freedom and the ability to better organize the content of the slide.

2. Typography

Fonts can just make or break your PPT presentation.
I recommend you to pick ONE font for all your content slides. The default font I use myself is Calibri, it’s modern and it’s safe. Helvetica and Century Gothic are great options too. You can use ONE additional font for your cover slide or slide headings. Just make sure the extra font you pick is original and readable. Take care of your audience’s visual comfort.

For all your presentation slides, try to keep your font size BIG. Whether your plan to show your PowerPoint presentation at a public presentation or not. First, you will increase your audience visual comfort. Second, it’s a great exercise to help you develop effective presentation skills, as you will have to learn how to summarize content. I personally use a minimum of 20 for important parts, and 14 to 18 for less important parts. To comment charts or graphics, 12 is the minimum. Even if you have a lot to write, keep in mind that you don’t need to write down everything to communicate important points. Keep it short. People are busy. Less is more.

♥ Font Squirrel is my favorite source of FREE, high-quality and designer-friendly fonts. To install new fonts on your computer: On Window, download the archive > click Start > Control Panel > Font > Paste your font files.

3. Color Scheme

I suggest the use of TWO or THREE colors. For all your content slides, use of black for core text (in that case, your PPT background shall be white or light grey) and use the ONE or TWO additional colors to highlight important keywords, statements or figures. Colors picked must be visible, contrast between each other’s and with your PowerPoint background.

♥ Not inspired or just wondering which colors match well together? Try out Kuler, Adobe’s great color palette generator. It is free and you can choose y from thousands of pre-built schemes.

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Quit Giving Such Lame Gifts – A Guide to Picking the Perfect Present

Gift giving can be a grueling task. I have spent countless hours trying to figure out what to give. What do you give to the person who has everything? How about the person that never likes anything?

After all was said and done, I use to choose lame gifts. Embarrassed by the receiver’s reaction, I typically promised to do better next time. That is until I finally realized that choosing the perfect present did not have to be such a demanding, time-consuming task.

There are three strategies I discovered that can help you pick the perfect present without the headache.

Learn Their Hobbies

Find out if the receiver has any hobbies. Many people collect items such as dolls or airplanes. Golf, chess, music, and reading are also popular hobbies. For these enthusiasts, a new doll for their collection or a new chess set would be the perfect gift.

For instance, I just discovered that a friend collects dolls. To my surprise, she has been collecting them since she was eight and has an extensive doll collection. I immediately made a mental note to buy her a doll for her collection the next time I give her a gift.

Listen For Needs Or Desires

Listen carefully in conversations with the receiver to see if they reveal something they need or desire. Often in conversation people mention an item they need but never got around to buying or an item they want. This item makes the perfect gift.

I purchased the perfect gift for a friend last year using this strategy. In my eyes, he had everything. So in the months leading up to his birthday I listened carefully during conversations with him. One day he mentioned an item that he saw on an infomercial that he wanted. I knew it was the perfect gift for him when he talked about it. He was very pleased when he opened it. The perfect gift!

Determine If There Is A List

Determine if the receiver has made a list of things they need or want. People sometimes make a list to ensure they don’t receive gifts they will not use. We have all received gifts that we either had no use for or just didn’t want. Usually I either re-gift or give the item away. To prevent this from happening, I now keep a running list of things I need and want.

Take Action

Now that I have shared these three strategies with you, it’s time for you to take action. Make a list of people you have to buy a gift for over the next month. As you interact with them make note of any hobbies, needs, or desires. You may even discover that they have a list. Then use what you learn to pick the perfect present.

Choosing the perfect present does not have to be a difficult, time-consuming task that produces lame gifts. Just use the 3 strategies mentioned. You will be glad you did.

So what are you waiting for? Start shopping for the perfect present now!