Supercool · 2026-06-03 · 41 min
Utility costs are among the largest expense categories in multifamily real estate; they have been rising in the double digits year over year. The industry's attempt to answer has largely been technology. Smarter systems. AI-powered optimization. Devices that promise to cut costs by plugging into aging infrastructure. Kyle Hendricks, VP and Head of Sustainability at Equity Residential, one of America's largest apartment owners, took a different approach. He tied energy performance to the annual compensation of every employee in the company - from the executive suite to the person turning over a unit between tenants - and turned a small corporate team into an army of part-time energy managers across 300 communities. The first answer from leadership was a hard no. Then a maybe. Then show us the measurement. Where does this break down? In this episode, Kyle explains how he built the case, why operating discipline outperforms silver bullet technology in a portfolio of old buildings, and what climate tech startups need to understand about multifamily real estate before they walk in the door.
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