This article is part three of a three-part series on energy management. Part one can be found here and part two can be found here.
Energy-management systems have rapidly evolved to benefit from integrated systems. Systems can run on the network or in the cloud and can be interfaced directly with property-management systems, allowing parameters to be set more aggressively when the room is unrented.
“This enables the sold and unsold status to dictate the level of efficiency a property desires while maintaining guest comfort as a priority,” said Chad Burow, director of sales and marketing for Telkonet.
Integrating the systems allows for the property to create profiles for sold and unsold statuses while presenting real-time data. This is also where alerts can be created. Properties also can create VIP profiles to disable the energy-management system for a particular guest or room as needed.
PMSes serve as the source of whether a room is rented or unrented and if the hotel has highly fluctuating occupancy patterns, it can also designate rooms or entire floors that should go into hibernation. It also serves as an easy way to prepare rooms for arrival without creating additional staff work. For example, when the guest checks in, the PMS can automatically send a signal to the EMS to turn on the HVAC and drive the temperature to the guest or the hotel’s preferred temperature.