For manufactured home communities all over the country, water metering proves to be an ongoing challenge in many respects. Besides the accuracy and efficiency of water metering solutions on the market today, there’s also the question of introducing modern technology into the equation while keeping costs down for both park owners and homeowners.

A new startup, Dune Labs, was founded by Garo Sarkissian and has entered the manufactured housing market with a clamp-on smartmeter, aptly named “Dune,” which markets itself as an IoT solution to measure, analyze, and ultimately make more efficient use of water in manufactured home communities.

Using Dune Labs’ smartmeter solution provides benefits for both park residents and owners/managers. The resident is charged for the exact amount of water used at their property, and the owner/manager is provided with actionable insights and leak alerts that, over time, can result in added monetary savings for both parties. 

Those insights and alerts are provided directly from the submeters in real-time to park owners and managers via their property management software, so they can repair leaks and advise residents on water conservation tactics.

“It’s a very owner friendly structure that helps property managers,” Sarkissian said in an interview with the MHInsider. 

And with the millions of homes in manufactured home communities, the opportunity for a unique submetering solution like Dune’s seems limitless. 

“It’s programmable and flexible enough to help us understand exactly what the water use is. We use all kinds of algorithms, but essentially we’ve programmed this thing to know what is a toilet flush and what is a shower, versus a dishwasher and hand washing,” Sarkissian said. “The granularity we have is really impressive.”

The CEO, who founded without external venture capital funding, added that the meter flags unusual usage that stands out from day-to-day expected patterns from any given home. 

“There is a lot of recovery in toilet leaks. You also can tell if someone has an indoor greenhouse, for instance. These usages stand out,” he said.

Of course, entering the manufactured home industry can present its own challenges — but they’re challenges that Sarkissian is eager to face.

“There are so many customers out there, and we have a unique technology,” Sarkissian said. “In this situation it’s not a mindset where we need to get as big as possible as soon as possible. This is something that’s never been done this way, and it’s important to do it right.”

Take, for example, the challenge that comes from entering a state like California, where water often costs more than electricity on a monthly basis. Marketing a submetering solution there takes on a different form based on the demand for water in that market. 

Regardless of the market, Dune Labs promises zero or very little capital investment is needed for community owners to get started with the Dune submeter solution. And since Dune clamps onto existing plumbing systems and provides as much accuracy as in-line metering solutions, the cost savings can begin almost immediately after installation.

Dune customers sign a four-year contract, with the monthly cost at around $11 a month, which Sarkissian notes is usually made up by the amount of water saved with Dune’s help.

Since the beginning, customers have received Dune positively.

“The overall impact has been great,” Cristian Sosa, managing director of Cooper Cardinal, said. “The water usage of all our tenants has gone down since being installed, which results in lower water and sewer bills for us.”

The future for Dune in the manufactured housing industry seems bright. With an upcoming appearance at The Louisville Show and plans to keep expanding their multi-family operations, communities across the country will have the chance to see Dune for themselves and bring water savings to their park.

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace to buy, sell, or rent a mobile home or manufactured home.

It’s not the secluded woodland setting, the nearby lakes, hiking and biking trails, and golf courses that set this special property apart. It’s the fact that James R. Dougherty, president of Community Management Group, Inc., decided to take an old, bare-bones manufactured home community and transform it into a gorgeous hybrid retirement community with both RV and  manufactured home sites.

Hybrid RV and MH communities are common in warm weather states, as are retirement communities. But in Michigan, this combination is very rare, and adding all these features together makes The Bluffs on Manistee Lake a one-of-a-kind gem.

How Did The Bluffs Come About?

When Dougherty was in school, he studied accounting and became a CPA. Later, he purchased an apartment complex in Kalamazoo, Mich., as an investment property. The attorney he used to close on that complex was the attorney for the Blank Communities at the time and suggested that he look at manufactured housing communities. He took the advice, and over the years, Dougherty has had a number of communities. He still owns Ashbury Ridge just south of Indianapolis and Palm Gardens in Harlington, Texas.

The success of the RV/MH hybrid model in Texas inspired him to try the same in scenic Michigan. In late fall of 2018, The Bluffs opened and began selling homes. Due to the later start, they missed the RV season that year but were able to open those spaces to vacationers in the spring of 2019. COVID, which hit the following year, delayed some home sales but sparked the demand for RV sites.

“It’s built nicely for motorhomes because the sites were originally built for single-section homes, so they are gigantic RV sites,” Dougherty said. “And these  sites have been very popular.”

The Bluffs has 51 sites for manufactured homes and 44 spaces for RVs. The community also has 150 additional sites that are ready for expansion. But it’s not just the RV spaces that have that extra touch. Nearly every home has an attached garage, and all homes sit on a six-inch foundation with drop siding to achieve more of a residential neighborhood appeal.

“We’ve stayed here (at The Bluffs) twice in our motorhome,” seasoned RV traveler Dennis Gruschow, a guest at the community in 2022, said. “We were so impressed with all aspects of the location and amenities that we purchased a seasonal home here. Barry, the on-site manager, has been incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. He’s truly an invaluable asset to the community.”

The success is not surprising.

“We’re nearly full on the home side now,” Dougherty said.“We currently have two available sites and four model homes in place.” The Bluffs has a lot to offer its residents, including a large pool and hot tub, a beautiful clubhouse, and a location near the quaint town of Manistee for shopping and touring.

The RV sites are offered to seasonal and weekly guests from mid-April to the end of October. When asked if the expansion sites would be MH or RV, Dougherty said, “The engineering is already done if they’re going to be homesites, but given the response to the RV sites, we’re going to give some continued thought to what that mix should be between home and RV sites.

“So, yes, the whole hybrid thing has worked out,” he said. “At least to this point. It’s turned out really  nicely; I’m pleased with it.”

MHInsider is the leader in manufactured housing news and is a product of MHVillage, the top marketplace to buy, sell, or rent a manufactured home.