It is extremely important to ensure that you understand the various differences between usable square footage (USF) and rentable square footage (RSF). This applies both to landlords deciding to rent out their commercial property and business owners looking to rent an office space for their company. Without the appropriate knowledge, it will be far more difficult to make the ideal decisions. When you are aware of the differences between rentable square footage and usable square footage, you will be better equipped to make the best decisions for your business. Here are a few things that you need to know about the differences between both rentable square footage and usable square footage.
Usable Square Footage
Usable square footage applies to the space within the building that is specifically set aside for your company. When it is a shared space, it won’t be included in the total usable square footage, because it is not only your company that is using the space. The usable square footage of your office is where your desks, office furniture, meeting rooms, private offices, and other rooms will be held. This may include bathrooms, storage closets, or other areas if they are exclusively designated for use by your company.
For example, if your company has the entire floor and there is a janitorial closet used exclusively for that floor, that closet may be included in the usable square footage of the property. However, if the rooms are shared between multiple companies, it won’t be included in the usable square footage of your company. While a percentage of a shared bathroom or breakroom may be included in the rentable square footage, it won’t be added to the usable square footage.
Rentable Square Footage
Rentable square footage is the amount of footage that the rent payment will be based on. Your rentable square footage takes shared areas into account when it identifies the total amount that your rent will be based on. Rentable square footage is generally determined based on the usable space, all of the space set aside exclusively for your company, and a percentage of the common areas located inside of a building. This is so that rental payments are distributed fairly among all of the businesses that use that shared space. Understanding the differences between these amounts will help you to understand your rent expenses, as well as how the various factors are allocated.
Calculating Load Factor
Calculating load factor can further help you to understand the way rentable square footage and usable square footage are calculated. In order to find the load factor, you need to know the total floor area of the building. You will likely be able to obtain this information from the landlord or realtor of the property. From this, you will subtract the amount of shared square footage to determine the usable square footage for your specific business. You will then need to divide the total floor area of the building by the USF in order to calculate the load factor for your building and business.
Ratio Utility Billing
Being aware of the difference between usable square footage and rentable square footage will help you to understand how it applies to your energy use, consumption, and billing. Ratio utility billing processes help to regulate utility bills that are based on many different factors. For example, a landlord may choose to allocate utility expenses based on the number of rooms in a property or the number of people that live within the property. For this solution, it can be beneficial to consider the difference between usable square footage and rentable square footage. It can be costly to handle the expenses of shared spaces on your own. For example, in a traditional commercial building, it is likely that hallways, bathrooms, or other shared spaces will require regular lighting, maintenance, or other expenses. Differentiating between usable and rentable square footage often helps to provide you with further insight into effective ratio utility billing processes.
Knowledge is Power
Understanding the changes between rentable square footage and usable square footage helps you to make the best decisions for your business. Additionally, obtaining more data regarding your company’s energy consumption will allow you to make the ideal decisions for your energy use. When you don’t know precisely how much energy your company is using, as well as how the energy is being used, you will be unable to implement effective energy management techniques. Vitality’s software is designed to provide you with the data that you need to save energy, money, and time. It is critical to ensure that you are aware of how much energy the building is using, where the energy is being used, and how you could make that energy use more efficient. The more information you have about your company’s energy consumption, the more effective your decisions will be.
Contact Our Experts
Here at Vitality Energy, we offer a broad array of services to ensure that you can more effectively manage your energy and ensure that it is working for you. Through understanding the differences between usable square footage and rentable square footage, you can ensure the fairest distribution of utility expenses, as well as manage a variety of other concerns. Utility bill automation can also go a long way toward ensuring that your utility processes are allocated appropriately. When it comes to the energy of your building, we believe that it should work for you, not the other way around. With effective energy management system, you can optimize the way your building consumes energy. This goes a long way toward saving you both time and money!
Our experienced team is well-equipped to handle questions that you may have about the most effective way to manage your building’s processes. We prioritize our customers to ensure that you understand all of the benefits that you can obtain through the implementation of our software. To learn more about our services and how they can improve your energy consumption, contact us at Vitality Energy today!
