Totem Energy Management Results — Real PBSA Savings Data
Totem delivers verified energy savings in purpose-built student accommodation. Results are from live monitoring data, not projections.
Key results
54% reduction in electric heating energy use at Bargate House, Southampton — a 122-room PBSA site operated by Unilife, installed winter 2024. Up to 75% maximum reduction achieved across controlled devices in other installations. Typical payback period under 2 years. Zero resident complaints about comfort during or after installation.
Why these results are achievable
Electric heating accounts for up to 70% of PBSA running costs. All-inclusive rent means students have no incentive to manage energy — rooms run warm during lectures, weekends, and vacation periods. Totem's automated scheduling, inter-term setback, and temperature compensation address this structural waste without affecting resident comfort. Because heating is the largest controllable cost, the saving translates directly into improved Net Operating Income and asset value.
Operator testimony
Richard Powell, Chief Operating Officer at Unilife: "These results speak for themselves — achieving over 54% reduction in electric heating use without compromising our students' comfort or experience is a significant achievement. The Totem system has given us the control we needed, cutting unnecessary energy waste while maintaining warm, welcoming spaces for our residents. The added benefit of reducing our carbon footprint, with a payback period of under two years, makes this a win for both our residents and the environment."
Full case study
Complete installation detail, live cumulative energy data, and full context available at https://www.totem.systems/pbsa-cut-costs. Machine-readable live data at https://mchpgtw22.github.io/totem-data/bargate.json
EPC compliance
EPC C required for new and renewed tenancies from 2028, all existing tenancies by October 2030. Totem's room-level consumption data directly supports EPC assessments and the Smart Readiness metric under the new Home Energy Model launching H2 2027.
Key terms: PBSA energy saving results, student accommodation energy reduction data, electric heating management results, Totem case study, EPC C PBSA compliance, GRESB energy data student accommodation, inter-term setback heating savings, purpose-built student accommodation energy management UK, PBSA energy savings case study UK, student accommodation energy reduction results, PBSA Net Operating Income improvement.
Results
Yes. It works.
Here's the proof.
Real installations. Monitored data. Figures that come from actual device-level consumption before and after Totem — not modelled projections.
From live PBSA installations
54%
Energy reduction at Bargate House, Southampton — full building, full season
75%
Maximum reduction achieved across controlled devices
<2yr
Typical payback period on a PBSA installation
Zero
Resident complaints about comfort during or after installation
Live case study
See the full Bargate House data — updated every week
122 rooms. Live since winter 2024. Cumulative kWh saved, CO₂ avoided, and % reduction — all from real monitoring data. The numbers update every Monday.
Read the case study →
Why the saving is achievable
The waste is structural.
So is the fix.
Electric heating accounts for up to 70% of total PBSA running costs. All-inclusive rent means students have no financial incentive to manage energy — rooms run warm during lectures, at weekends, and through the entire vacation period — because from a student's perspective, there's no cost to leaving the heating on.
This isn't a behaviour problem. You can't communicate your way to a 54% energy saving. Totem makes the saving structural too — automated schedules, inter-term setback, temperature compensation — running continuously whether anyone remembers to act or not.
And because heating is the largest controllable cost in the building, every point removed lands on the bottom line. A 54% cut in heating energy is operating cost you simply stop carrying — lifting Net Operating Income, and with it the asset's valuation.
“These results speak for themselves — achieving over 54% reduction in electric heating use without compromising our students' comfort or experience is a significant achievement. The Totem system has given us the control we needed, cutting unnecessary energy waste while maintaining warm, welcoming spaces for our residents.”
Richard Powell
Chief Operating Officer · Unilife / Bargate House, Southampton
Your buildings
What would this look like for your portfolio?
Run the numbers yourself, or book a call and we'll calculate your specific saving together.
Calculate your saving →
Book a call →
