How Happy Building compares with perceived competitors.

There are many solutions on the market that offer some of the benefits of the Happy Building system. But ONLY Happy Building delivers savings, energy efficiency, control, convenience and tenant comfort in a single, affordable package.

We invite you to consider the following perceived competitors and compare them with our system. As you’ll see, many of these alternatives have merit—in fact, we encourage you to combine some of them with the Happy Building solution to create even greater efficiencies. However, it’s obvious that none of these alternatives alone delivers benefits comparable to Happy Building!

Wireless Thermostats Since wireless thermostats are a prominent part of the Happy Building solution, some people assume they can simply buy a $50 wireless thermostat at their local hardware store and start saving energy. Unfortunately, since wireless thermostats function independently, they can’t deliver significant benefits. The real energy savings come from a comprehensive control strategy that involves multiple components communicating with each other and working together. Happy Building combines wireless thermostats, motion detectors, advanced control and reporting software, and remote access to create a fully integrated solution that saves costs and core energy.

Programmable Thermostats Again, the low entry price of programmable thermostats makes them hard to resist. However, they offer just a fraction of the benefits and savings of the Happy Building system. On top of that, tenants complain about programmable thermostats because they’re hard to use, and they’re often used incorrectly.

Sub Metering By metering each suite independently, heating bills become the responsibility of the tenant rather than the landlord. The hope is that by paying the bill themselves, tenant’s will be motivated to reduce waste. However, this alternative creates several potential problems. Installation is invasive and potentially expensive. You lose control of your building’s energy use. Tenants see it as an extra hassle. And since some tenants end up paying for much of the heating bill of the suites above them, many legal and ethical issues are created.

Tenant Awareness Campaigns With energy costs and environmental issues constantly in the news, many building owners feel they can save energy by encouraging tenants to reduce consumption. Unfortunately, awareness campaigns on their own won’t yield significant savings. However, we encourage you to implement such campaigns in conjunction with the Happy Building system to enhance the benefits even further.

Insulation Even though adding extra insulation can be expensive and invasive, it definitely saves energy. But since insulation alone can’t produce the cost savings or control of the Happy Building system, we recommend combining both solutions to maximize the benefits!

Solar Power/Hydro Power Add-ons Like insulation, these technologies reduce energy costs, but they’re expensive to install and don’t provide the control or convenience of the Happy Building system. If you’re considering investing in solar or hydro add-ons, we recommend combining them with Happy Building, for a level of efficiency no other solution can match!

Smart Metering
 This involves heating or cooling a building during off-peak hours when energy is less expensive. But since Happy Building can provide this same benefit—in addition to many more!—there’s little to be gained by relying on smart metering alone.

New/Computerized Boilers Energy efficient boilers save money, and computer-controlled boilers gather better data. But why enhance the boiler alone when you can integrate it with the Happy Building system and also enjoy enhanced building control, remote operability, customization, actionable reporting and improved tenant comfort!

For a quick-reference comparison chart of Happy Building vs. these alternatives, click here.