UK: BTR developer and operator Moda Living has launched a data-driven proptech platform to help its residents monitor and reduce their energy use.
The platform will revolutionise the way 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 a first for the UK Build to Rent sector.
Moda has worked with MyModa app developer Spike Global and ESG technology partner Utopi to design a product that it is hoped will drive down carbon emissions across its real estate portfolio. It will also give residents access to live energy usage data around the clock, helping them to reduce their energy usage and their bills.
Dan Brooks, director at Moda Living: “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.”
Moda Living developments are equipped with Utopi smart sensors throughout homes and amenity spaces. Sensors monitor environmental factors such as air quality, temperature and energy usage. In the last six months, these sensors have captured more than 105 million data points at Moda Living sites. With a pipeline of more than 18,400 units in Moda’s pipeline, the new service will eventually be capturing 18.7 million data points every day across its portfolio.
For the first time, the service will put this data in the hands of Moda Living’s residents, giving them live readings from the sensors throughout their building, providing them with a range of new benefits to help them go green.
The service will allow them to monitor their carbon emissions, ranking them within their neighbourhood, helping to change behaviours and supporting residents to play their part in the journey to Net Zero Carbon.
“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,” said Ben Roberts, co-founder and CMO at Utopi.
Operating teams at Moda Living neighbourhoods will also use the new tech to incentivise energy efficient behaviour through events and competitions, boosting overall sustainability whilst engaging with residents on an issue that matters to them.
Moda will also be able to use the data from the Spike Global and Utopi partnership to set its own targets for reduction in consumption and spot anomalies. Residents with poor energy scores will be identified and offered advice and support to reduce their costs.
“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,” said Jeremy Heath-Smith, CEO of Spike Global.
