Every building (and every building’s tenant mix) is different. When handling and fulfilling after hours air requests, property management teams face a number of complex and unique scenarios. And more and more, savvy tenants are requesting concessions in their leases for overtime air. That’s why we’ve built our Overtime HVAC platform with the flexibility to handle a wide variety of fulfillment and billing scenarios. Here are a few of the most common overtime HVAC request and billing scenarios we handle for our customers.
Minimum Run and Bill Time
Many building teams want to ensure their equipment isn’t turned on for short stints, so the Genea platform can enforce a minimum run time. For example, if a tenant submits a request to start at 7:00 pm, cancels the request at 7:15 pm, and the system has a minimum run time of 3 hours, the system will continue to run for the minimum time required. You can also have a minimum bill time to ensure you cover the cost for the time the equipment is running, even if the request is cancelled early.
Recurring Requests
Often tenants will need overtime air on a regular schedule. The Genea platform allows tenants to submit recurring requests for multiple days in the same week or on the same day for multiple weeks. For example, if a law firm has their partners meeting on Monday evenings from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, they can submit a recurring request for that time every week until an end date of their choosing or the end of their lease.
Courtesy Start
If a tenant requests overtime air on a weekend, the building may need some additional time before the request start time to get the requested suite to comfort, so the Genea platform supports including a courtesy start, which means the system would start running a certain amount of time before the request start time, to ensure the requested suite is at comfort at the time requested.
For example, if Cindy requests overtime air from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on a Saturday in July and the temperature is 90 degrees, the system could begin running at 7:00 am to ensure the suite is comfortable at 9:00 am. This additional time can be billed for, as well.
Overlapping Requests
Often two tenants on the same floor or in the same suite will submit separate requests that overlap. For example, Bob may submit a request for 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Tuesday night. Tammy might also submit a request from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Tuesday night. The Genea platform can detect that overlap and ensure the tenant is not double billed for that overlap. The system can also detect if the overlapping requests are from different tenants, and follow the proper billing protocol for that scenario.
Split Billing
Some property teams will split the rate for overtime air between two suites on the same floor if they both request air at the same time. The logic is that no additional equipment needs to be turned on to support the request, so the tenants can share the cost. The Genea platform can support splitting the costs of these requests between the relevant tenants.
Going On-Demand On Minor Holidays and Saturdays
Many buildings have in their leases that they will provide air for some time on Saturday (half or full day) and on minor holidays, even though most tenants are not in the building. Genea’s platform allows users to submit free requests during those times. This allows the building to save money on energy and equipment costs, while fulfilling their lease requirements to their tenants. For example, the building can go on-demand on the Friday after Thanksgiving, having tenants submit requests that will not be charged if they need air on those days. The building can then run the equipment only for the tenants that need HVAC that day, while the rest enjoy the holiday.
Tiered Billing
Some multi-floor tenants will negotiate a tiered billing structure if they request overtime air on multiple floors at once. For example, if an accounting firm rents floors 8-12 and individual employees request service on floors 9 and 11 on the same evening, the first request would be billed at the normal rate and the second request would be billed at a lower rate, per the lease.
If you have a complex scenario not mentioned here, our platform can probably still help you!
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