Technology

Take an incremental approach to energy management

24 Jan, 2012 By: Andrew Sheivachman

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For individual hotels that are considering an energy management upgrade, there are several different solutions that can increase guest satisfaction and reduce wasteful spending on electricity. Brands are beginning to take a more comprehensive approach to partnering with owners and operators during a renovation.  When the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas was looking to upgrade its room EMS, the property chose to select a solution that combined sensors with central automation.

"Onity came in with a system that would work in conjunction with our existing unit and supplied a remote thermostat unit and wireless door switch for the guestroom door," said Paul Connelly, engineering supervisor at the Palace Station Hotel. "We were able to modernize that particular style of room to where people can now use a thermostat that looks like one you would have in your house.”

The property was able to keep rooms available for booking by closing only a portion of its inventory at a time for upgrades. Engineers and operators are more focused than ever on controlling costs during periods of peak energy demand. "We have 500 rooms and realized a huge savings,” said Connelly. “It also cuts down on our service call-in for engineering staff because the data is all sequenced into program called Control Green that engineers can look at remotely."

Regardless of a cutting-edge installation, active management remains key to reducing wasteful spending. "You can put a brand-new automation system into a building but if you don’t follow up on it and have right staff in place, adjustment by adjustment you’ve lost the fine-tuned edge of the system," said Doug Rath, energy director of the Americas for Marriott International. "A system is assumed to start out well-designed and efficient so it's delivering on ROI. However, there's a huge relationship between whoever is overseeing the system on a daily basis and the persistence of the commissioning of the system; a direct relationship between owner/operator and efficiency."

Some properties will stage an energy remodel and room refurbishment at different times, due to the long-lasting nature of modern energy management upgrades. "I would think hoteliers will go through an energy remodel on a different cycle than a normal room refurbishment," said Karl Williams, VP of energy solutions for Rexell. "Essentially the lighting and some of the management of the load should be on more of a cycled type of change out because all the technology now is moving to such long-life technology that when you install an LED or CFL bulb you don’t need to change it for a long time."

And for properties that have been properly wired and upgraded, leveraging connectivity is a constant effort instead of a one-time adjustment.

"If you’ve got your building wired up, the technology is available today where you can deal with the property manager literally program a panel to control all the lighting," said Williams. "If you've got a peak demand issue, that change is going to be unnoticed but you can save your property some significant money."

Topic : Energy-management, Palace Station Hotel
External Source : Hotel Management