Press Release

Guardian Water & Power Links Technology and Water
Management in South Campus Gateway Development

Columbus, Ohio August 16, 2005 — Guardian Water & Power, a Columbus-based supplier of utility submetering products and services, today announced the installation and final testing of a radio frequency water submetering system as part of the new South Campus Gateway development.

Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment selected Guardian to handle submetering for the South Campus area, which is an urban, mixed-use redevelopment adjacent to the campus of The Ohio State University. The zone includes 225,000 square feet of retail, 90,000 square feet of office space and 184 apartments.

Guardian installs and monitors utility metering systems in multi-unit residential and commercial properties. The systems typically connect individual utility meters through a radio frequency network that transmits meter readings to an on-site electronic data collector. The readings are then routed once a day through a telephone connection to a central billing office.

“In designing the system for South Campus Gateway, we faced the challenge of electronically transmitting a reliable signal from each unit in the development and relaying the signals through steel-structured, multiple-story, brick and concrete buildings,” said Harry Apostolos, president of the 22-year old company.

After testing several systems, Guardian selected the STAR® submetering system, manufactured by Hexagram, Inc.

“The Hexagram system incorporates an FCC-licensed clear channel operation with an effective range of up to several miles from any meter location to the South Campus data collector without the use of repeaters,” Apostolos said.

Campus Partners is a non-profit organization created by The Ohio State University to revitalize the urban neighborhoods around the Columbus campus. Gateway is its signature project, with one of the key goals being to help reinforce High Street as a pedestrian-oriented, 21st century “Main Street” that provides a gateway to the university campus and the surrounding neighborhoods.

"We are excited to play a role in South Campus Gateway’s water conservation efforts,” said Rhonda Neville, Guardian’s director of operations.

Neville explained that water submetering in multi-unit properties generally results in a 20% to 30% conservation savings.

“Our role in resource conservation is to link technology and information management tools so that our clients can more efficiently manage utility usage,” said Neville.

Guardian Water & Power, Inc. provides water, gas and electric submetering services including meter installations, billing, collections and customer care for multi-unit investment real estate located in 16 states. Clients include individual real estate investors and partnerships, property management companies and a number of real estate investment trusts. For more information, call (614) 291-3141 or toll-free at 1-800-444-9283. Visit Guardian on the Web at www.guardianwp.com.

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