Offices, retail, student accommodation, co-living and service stations
Lower running costs
across your portfolio.
Guaranteed in writing.
Common areas, central plant, lifts, car parks and empty units all land on the landlord's side of the bill. Powerhub cuts what they waste with voltage optimisation, smart controls and sub-metered monitoring, then proves every kilowatt against a baseline you sign.
Send one building's half hourly data. Get a guaranteed savings proposal back the same working day.
Every commercial building wastes energy somewhere different.
We start by finding where your waste actually sits, then fit only what pays back on that building.
Offices
Lighting, HVAC and small power running through nights and weekends.
Shopping centres and retail
Malls, escalators and car parks lit and conditioned long after trading.
Student accommodation
Bills included rents, so every wasted kWh comes out of your margin.
Co-living and shared spaces
Communal kitchens, lounges and laundries nobody switches off.
Service stations
Chillers, forecourt lighting and coffee machines, 24 hours a day.
The pressure on commercial property isn't going away.
Regulation is tightening, energy is still expensive and investors want proof. Here's what we're hearing from landlords, managing agents and operators right now.
MEES is moving, just more slowly
Rented non-domestic buildings over 1,000 sqm will be expected to reach EPC B from 2031 where it's cost-effective. The 2027 EPC C step has been dropped, but the direction of travel hasn't changed.
Plan upgrades on real consumption data, not assumptions. Pulse shows which works pay back inside the seven year payback test.
Business electricity is still expensive
The average non-domestic electricity price was 24.14p per kWh in early 2026. Lower than the 2023 peak, but still well above where most service charge budgets were set a few years ago.
The cheapest kWh is the one you don't buy. Voltage optimisation cuts consumption across the whole building from day one.
Student rooms sit empty, the plant doesn't
Student accommodation is empty for around 16 weeks a year, yet heating, hot water and communal plant often keep running. With bills included rents, the operator pays for every unit.
Pulse Control sets empty blocks back over vacations and caps room temperatures during term.
Most waste is operational
UK offices in the CUBE competition cut energy use by 12% on average, and up to 55%, just by changing how buildings were run. No new plant required.
You can't fix what you can't see. Pulse puts every building, floor and circuit on one screen.
Sources: DESNZ interim response on non-domestic MEES, June 2026. DESNZ Quarterly Energy Prices, June 2026 (Q1 2026). Dimplex, occupancy patterns in PBSA. UK Green Building Council, CUBE competition results.
Landlord or tenant, someone is paying for the waste.
Landlords carry common parts and central plant. Tenants get recharged through the service charge. Without metered data, nobody can prove who used what, and the waste in between gets paid for twice.
Landlord side
Paid by you or recovered through the service charge
- Reception and common areasLit 24/7
- Central HVAC and plantBiggest load
- Lifts and escalatorsAlways on
- Car parks and external lightingAll night
- Vacant unitsOften forgotten
Tenant side
Their own supply or recharged by floor or unit
- Tenant floors and unitsRecharged
- Server rooms and comms24/7 load
- Kitchens and tea pointsSmall power
- Out of hours workingDisputed
- Fit out HVACRarely metered
Pulse puts both sides on one screen.
Metered down to floor, unit, circuit and asset, so every recharge is backed by data and every empty unit that still draws power gets flagged.
- Recharge ready data by tenant and unit
- Out of hours and void unit alerts
- Landlord energy data for ESG, GRESB and SECR
Six ways to cut
commercial energy costs.
Start with voltage optimisation across the whole building, then go system by system where the load is heaviest. Every kWh verified in Pulse.
Voltage Optimisation Start here
Brings the whole building down from the 240V plus the grid delivers to the level your equipment was designed for. HVAC, lifts and lighting use less, with no change for occupiers.
Pulse
Live monitoring and sub-metering from the main incomer down to a single circuit, with IPMVP verified savings reports.
Pulse Control
Runs HVAC, lighting, hot water and pumps to the hours each space is actually used, including setbacks for voids and vacations.
Solar PV and battery storage
Roof and car park systems sized to what the building uses after the savings above, with batteries to cover the evening peak.
KBR Refrigeration
Cuts compressor run time on chillers, bottle coolers and cold rooms without letting temperatures drift.
Power factor correction
Cuts reactive power charges and frees up supply capacity on sites with lots of motors, lifts and HVAC drives.
Bills included rents need bills you can see.
This is what an operator running 1,442 beds sees in Pulse. Energy per bed, whether the utility budget will last the year, which block is running hot and what the building does when the students go home.
- Block A612 beds7.2
- Block B480 beds9.1
- Block C350 beds6.9
Verified results from buildings that never switch off.
The Gym Group
Voltage optimisation across 70 gyms that run 24 hours a day, as part of their net zero plan.
Solar and battery storage for a high demand office
The whole roof was needed to make a dent in the building's consumption. A 135.64kWp roof array with 224kW of battery storage now cuts grid reliance and carbon every day.
UK student accommodation operator
Voltage optimisation rolled out across 14 bills included student buildings in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2023, with every site metered and verified individually.
From one building's data to a verified saving across your portfolio.
Half hourly data or three months of bills is enough. We run a free audit and come back with a guaranteed savings proposal the same working day.
Our own engineers work out of hours, around your tenants and occupiers. Most buildings are done in a single day.
We measure every kWh against a baseline you sign, to IPMVP, and send you a monthly report your finance team and tenants can use.
What could your building save?
Indicative only, across voltage optimisation, controls and Pulse. Your real figure comes from your own data.
Want a real number instead?
Send one building's half hourly data and we'll come back with a guaranteed savings proposal by the end of the working day. No consultant fees, no obligation.
Commercial energy saving, answered.
Straight answers for landlords, managing agents and operators. If yours isn't here, ask us.
Send us one building's dataHow much can a commercial building save on energy?
It depends on your incoming voltage, your plant and your operating hours, which is why we start with a free audit of your half hourly data. As an example, The Gym Group saved over 1 million kWh a year across 70 sites that run 24 hours a day, with a return on investment inside 18 months. We give you a building specific figure, guaranteed in writing, before you commit.
Will voltage optimisation help us meet MEES and EPC B?
EPC ratings are calculated from a building's fabric and fixed services, so voltage optimisation on its own won't usually move the rating. What it does is cut running costs straight away, and Pulse gives you the consumption data to prioritise the upgrades that will, and to evidence which ones pass the seven year payback test.
Can you sub-meter tenants and support service charge recharges?
Yes. Pulse monitors from the main incomer down to floor, unit, circuit and asset level, so you can split landlord and tenant consumption and back every recharge with metered data. It also flags void units and out of hours use that would otherwise be absorbed by the service charge.
Does it work in student accommodation with bills included rents?
It's one of the best fits we have. One UK student accommodation operator has saved over £223,000 across 14 sites with voltage optimisation alone. Pulse Control caps room temperatures during term and sets empty blocks back over vacations, and Pulse tracks energy per bed against your utility budget so you know long before the year end whether the budget will hold.
Will installation disrupt our tenants or occupiers?
No. Our own engineers fit out of hours, usually early morning or at weekends, with a short planned isolation while the unit is connected. Most buildings are done in a single day, and for portfolios we plan the rollout building by building.
How do you prove the savings are real?
Every project is measured against a baseline you sign before we install anything, using the IPMVP measurement and verification standard. Pulse reports the verified saving every month in a format your finance team, your auditors and your ESG reporting can use.
What does it cost and how quickly does it pay back?
Clients typically see a return on investment within 14 months, and we guarantee the payback in writing before you commit. Pricing depends on your supply size and how many systems you want controlled. There are no consultant fees.
Do you work across multi-site portfolios?
Yes. Most of our work is across estates, from 70 site leisure portfolios to multi-let offices and retail. Every building reports into one Pulse account so you can compare energy per square metre, per bed or per tenant across the whole portfolio.
