national multiple family submetering and allocation billing program ...

intuitively clear, and matches common economic theory 23 , but the only way to test it is to take a
detailed look at the property level water consumption data combined with sufficient additional
information about each property to allow construction of valid regression models that will
correct for all of the important variables, and not incorrectly attribute water savings to the billing
system when it is actually due to some other effect, such as the presence of ULF toilets. To add
another dimension to the problem it was necessary to deal with not one, but three different forms
of individual billing systems, and to test them separately. The fact that one system may save
water is no guarantee that all individual billing systems will accomplish the same objective. The
nature of the billing system, and how it is perceived by the resident, could easily be as important
to the response of the customer as the mere fact of receiving a separate water bill. This study set
out to test the effectiveness of submetering, RUBS allocations, and hot water hybrid billing
programs as water conservation tools for multi-family housing. This research question has been
an over-arching theme for the entire project and significant effort has been spent collecting and
analyzing data to understand the potential water savings from submetering and RUBS.
Why are water savings so important? Water providers are keenly interested in
identifying effective approaches to reducing water demand as new supplies become increasingly
expensive and difficult to obtain. National and state agencies are interested in improving water
efficiency and promoting proven methods for achieving savings. The utility billing industry has
promoted the practice of charging multi-family customers for water and wastewater services not
only as a way to improve property owners’ net operating income, but also as a way to effect
water conservation. Water savings could provide justification for encouraging, promoting, and
expanding billing programs and could unite water providers, regulators, and billing companies in
a common goal. As a result there has been intense interest in this question.
Analytic Methods
The methodology and analytic techniques used in this study are presented in detail in
Chapter 3 in the Data Analysis section. Data sources and analytic methods are referenced in this
section to foster understanding of the results presented, but please refer to Chapter 3 for specific
information about the methodology.
It should be kept in mind when reviewing the results of the analyses that they are based
on mathematical models and other statistical tools that seek to find the center point of a large
23 See Chapter 6, “Economic Comparison of Submetering and RUBS” for details.
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