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.
See the full Bargate House data — updated every week
122 rooms. Live since January 2026. Cumulative kWh saved, CO₂ avoided, and % reduction — all from real monitoring data. The numbers update every Monday.
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 saving of this scale. 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 cut of this size 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 60% 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.”
What would this look like for your portfolio?
Run the numbers yourself, or book a call and we'll calculate your specific saving together.
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