Student Accommodation Case Study
Kexgill: from first deployment to repeated expansion.
Kexgill deployed Energenie smart heating controls across its student accommodation portfolio to reduce avoidable heating while retaining room-level control and visibility.
The first project delivered measurable energy reduction during a period of exceptionally high energy prices. Kexgill subsequently expanded the deployment through three further hardware orders.
The customer
A student accommodation operator with a distributed residential estate.
Kexgill operates student accommodation where heating costs form part of the wider operating cost of providing occupied residential space.
As with many bills-inclusive accommodation models, residents do not necessarily experience the direct financial consequence of individual heating decisions. That creates a difficult balance for the operator: maintain resident comfort while reducing heating that is unnecessary or continuing when rooms are not being used.
The challenge
Heating demand was difficult to control at room level.
Bills-inclusive accommodation
Energy use sits with the operator while heating decisions are distributed across individual residents.
Room-level variation
Different rooms and residents can create significantly different heating profiles inside the same property.
Limited central control
Traditional controls provide limited ability to understand or influence what is happening at individual radiator level.
The intervention
Add intelligence at the point where the heat enters the room.
Energenie introduced retrofit smart radiator control and central management capability without requiring wholesale replacement of the existing heating infrastructure.
Understand heating behaviour
Create room-level visibility around temperatures and radiator operation.
Identify patterns
Understand where heating profiles differ and where unnecessary operation may exist.
Apply control
Use schedules, setback strategies and room-level controls to manage heating more intelligently.
Measure the result
Compare performance and use measured evidence to understand whether the intervention changed energy demand.
Measured result
The deployment produced measurable reduction in heating energy.
Kexgill recorded a 19% reduction across the assessed November–March period following deployment of the Energenie heating-control solution.
The financial effect was amplified by the unusually high energy prices prevailing at the time, resulting in an approximately five-month project payback.
That payback should therefore be understood in its historical energy-price context rather than treated as a universal expectation for future projects.
Why the payback was so fast
Energy prices materially affect the financial return.
The approximately five-month payback achieved at Kexgill occurred during a period of exceptionally high energy prices.
The physical energy reduction and the financial payback are therefore related but different measures.
Energenie does not use the Kexgill result to promise the same payback on every project. Current opportunities should be assessed using the site's own energy tariff, heating profile, operating conditions and proposed deployment cost.
Land and expand
The strongest evidence came after the first project.
Following the initial deployment, Kexgill placed three additional hardware orders to extend the use of Energenie.
For Energenie, those subsequent buying decisions are important evidence. The customer had already experienced the system in live accommodation before choosing to commit further capital to expansion.
What the project demonstrates
More than one useful outcome came from the deployment.
Heating demand can be reduced
Room-level controls helped create a measurable reduction in energy consumption during the assessed period.
The result can justify further investment
Kexgill chose to extend the deployment through three additional hardware orders.
Retrofit can avoid wholesale system replacement
Intelligence and control were added around the existing heating environment rather than requiring a full heating-system replacement.
Student accommodation insights
Explore the operating questions behind the case study.
Where student accommodation wastes energy
Explore the common heating and operating patterns that can create unnecessary energy demand across PBSA estates.
Read the Insight →The hidden cost of empty rooms
Understand how holiday periods, absence and unoccupied rooms can affect heating demand.
Read the Insight →Student accommodation energy ROI
Explore the relationship between energy savings, project cost, tariffs and the commercial case for heating control.
Read the ROI Guide →The solution behind the project
Retrofit smart heating control for distributed residential estates.
Student Accommodation
See how Energenie approaches heating, energy and room-level visibility across PBSA and student housing.
Explore Student Accommodation →Smart Heating Control
Understand how connected thermostats and smart radiator controls can add more granular heating management to existing estates.
Explore Smart Heating Control →Frequently asked questions
Understanding the Kexgill result.
Did Kexgill really achieve a five-month payback?
Yes. The project achieved approximately five-month payback during a period of unusually high energy prices. That historical pricing environment materially improved the financial return and should not be treated as a guaranteed payback for other projects.
What energy reduction was measured?
Kexgill recorded a 19% reduction across the assessed November–March comparison period following the Energenie deployment.
Did Kexgill expand the project?
Yes. After the initial deployment, Kexgill placed three further hardware orders, extending its use of Energenie.
Does Energenie guarantee a 19% saving?
No. Building type, resident behaviour, weather, heating infrastructure, existing controls and operating practices all affect the result. Energenie prefers to establish a project-specific baseline and measure the outcome after intervention.
Does the system require replacement of the existing heating system?
Not necessarily. Energenie is designed around retrofit and can add room-level monitoring and control around suitable existing heating infrastructure.
Start with the evidence
What could room-level heating control reveal across your accommodation?
Energenie can start with a representative building, block or room cohort, establish the existing heating profile and build the evidence needed to assess whether wider deployment is justified.