Apleona achieve award-winning energy reductions with MRI Energy

Introduction

Julius and Stefan, team leaders from Apleona, share their journey of using MRI Energy to optimise energy consumption across their client’s extensive building portfolio. Their experience highlights the impact of MRI Energy in driving energy reductions, improving reporting accuracy, and supporting their client’s sustainability goals.

The Department Building Advisory from  Apleona Real Estate provides energy monitoring and consulting services for buildings across Europe. Over the years, they have scaled from managing 10 buildings to over 200, helping their client achieve significant energy savings, including reducing energy consumption by as much as 50% in certain buildings.

The challenge: Achieving ambitious sustainability goals

Several Apleona’s clients set a bold goal: reducing their energy consumption and achieving CO2-neutral buildings by 2050. This required implementing an energy monitoring system to benchmark and track the performance of all buildings under management. The initial challenge was gathering accurate data, particularly tenant-specific energy consumption, across a variety of complex building types.

Stefan explained, “One of the biggest challenges was to track total energy consumption, especially since tenants often have their own electricity contracts. This made it difficult to get a full picture of building energy usage.”

Implementing MRI Energy

Apleona turned to MRI Energy to streamline this process. MRI Energy allowed them to connect key meters to monitor electrical, heating, cooling and water consumption. Over time, they integrated the platform with other tools to create automated, real-time reports, which were pivotal for tracking progress toward energy reduction goals.

“MRI Energy enabled us to track actual savings, not just theoretical estimates. We could show verifiable reductions using data directly from main meters connected to the system,” said Julius.

Results: Tangible energy savings

Since deploying MRI Energy, Apleona has achieved impressive results. Initially managing 10 buildings, they expanded to the remaining more than 200 after achieving initial energy savings that exceeded their client’s expectations. For instance, one LEED Platinum-certified building, already highly efficient, saw a reduction of 50% in total energy consumption, including 48% savings in electricity and 60% in heating.

Stefan commented, “We didn’t expect such high savings from a building already performing at a high sustainability level. But with MRI Energy, we just kept finding new optimisation opportunities.”

Over time, the total energy consumption, i.e. for electricity and heat, of the first 10 properties was reduced by a total of 33%.

Efficiency through automation

A key benefit of MRI Energy was its ability to automate the reporting process. Previously, generating reports manually would have taken about 80 hours per month, as each building’s data had to be collected and analysed. With MRI Energy’s customised reports, Apleona saved significant time and resources.

Stefan remarked, “Before automation, it would have taken three teams to manage the reporting workload. Now, thanks to the joint development of the automated report by Apleona and MRI Energy, we can handle the reports for over 200 buildings with a small team. The automated reports also provide a much higher level of detail and quality compared to other systems we’ve seen.”

Impact on bidding and client relationships

The success of Apleona’s energy management program has played a crucial role in strengthening relationships with their clients. By demonstrating tangible energy savings and optimising performance, Apleona secured additional projects, expanding their scope to over 200 buildings.

Additionally, the accuracy and depth of their reports have earned them awards, such as the prestigious “Real Green Award” in 2024 for best energy performance in one of their managed office buildings.

Conclusion

The partnership between Apleona and MRI Energy has delivered a range of exceptional results. By leveraging MRI Energy’s powerful monitoring and reporting capabilities, Apleona has successfully reduced energy consumption, optimised building operations, and expanded its services significantly to meet a growing portfolio.

Julius concluded, “MRI Energy has become an essential tool for us. It’s not just about tracking data – it allows us to deliver real savings and prove it. This partnership has been key to our growth and success in achieving our client’s sustainability goals.”