Tuning In To Technology
By Derek Gale, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 3/1/2005
Basic, centralized energy management systems
(EMSs) that save hoteliers money simply aren’t good enough
anymore. With the rewiring involved, installation
of these systems often takes too much time and costs
too much, making them impractical for many properties. Enter wireless
energy management systems. While the equipment itself is more
costly, the lack of wiring makes installation quick and affordable,
and rewiring is not an issue during future renovations.
Wireless systems are an important innovation, but just as important is the latest innovation in how they communicate: radio frequency (RF) mesh networking. This technology allows the components of energy management systems to communicate wirelessly both with each other and with a central computer, without worry about obstacles such as walls or floors that hinder infrared beams.
“Infrared works well in a guestroom, but it cannot leave the confinement of a room,” says Philipp Roosli, chief technology officer at Niantic, Connecticut-based INNCOM. “RF has the advantage of being able to go through walls and floors, and thus is more suitable for communication to outbound systems.”
An RF mesh network also offers a higher bandwidth and better reliability than other wireless technologies, as rooms throughout a property form a self-configuring, self-healing network. “Imagine you have a few floors, with rooms on each side of the hallways, in a long stretch of a building with a server on one side,” Roosli says. “[The server] doesn’t have to communicate to faraway rooms,” as any room can act as a router to the final destination. The message simply hops from one room to another without any loss of signal—it’s a redundant network.
 Onity recently rolled out its SensorStat Wireless DDC, a radio frequency controlled unit that combines Onity’s SensorStat EMS with a wireless device-to-device network platform. |
INNCOM recently installed its first RF wireless EMS at the La Quinta Inn Sacramento Downtown, where a hard-wired EMS was previously in place. Mike Milburn, La Quinta’s director of energy management, is excited about the reliability of the new type of wireless system. “A mesh net configures itself around as a true mesh—if one unit goes down, the network reconfigures around another unit, so you don’t have a setup like a daisy chain where if one area goes down, you may lose three or four more.”
Atlanta-based EMS vendor Onity recently rolled out its SensorStat Wireless DDC, a radio frequency controlled unit that combines Onity’s SensorStat EMS with a spread spectrum wireless device-to-device network platform.
The rollout of that system is a first step toward the completely wireless intelligent property of the future, says Adam Yapkowitz, Onity’s vice president of marketing for North America. Formerly standalone electronic devices communicate via an in-room network. In turn, the in-room network communicates with the floor network and finally the property network, allowing for a central command station that monitors status and activity of each device in each room.
As hotels begin to move toward complete building automation, an RF wireless system also will open the door to communication with other in-room electronic devices, such as lighting and locks, allowing for integrated facility management from a centralized location.
Wireless energy management systems are just the tip of the iceberg for the capabilities of RF wireless networking, says Mark Keating, Onity’s director of research and development. “Through communication with other devices and the PMS, a hotel can fully automate and streamline staff and resource management,” he says.
 Drawn here is Onity’s visualization of the wireless property of the future. It shows how all the devices will communicate with each other and with the Local Area Network. |
Accor Tests Energy-Saving
Technology
The reach, resources and strategic partnerships
of French hotel giant Accor allow the company to test technology
and take on energy projects that smaller companies might not be
able to afford. An example is Accor’s installing solar heating
panels to produce energy used to heat water. Since 1998, the company
has equipped 23 properties with the panels. In 2003,
these panels produced 1,1000 MWh and saved 320 metric tons of
carbonic gas, heating more than 40% of the hot water used in these
hotels.
However, the initial investment of installing
such panels is quite high, and returns vary by country.
In France, for example, where Accor partners with
the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management
(ADEME), the ROI time is 10 to 15 years, and that is with ADEME
partially subsidizing the investment. “It’s
still important (from an energy saving point of view),” says
Patricia Cortijo, Accor’s environmental director, “but
return time is the reason it’s not done in all the hotels.”
Through its partnership with ADEME and the French utility EDF, Accor went even further last year, installing a photovoltaic façade at the Ibis Porte de Clichy hotel. Composed of 75 sq. m (807 sq. ft.) of photovoltaic cells that transform solar energy directly into electricity, the façade generates enough power to light about a quarter of the hotel’s 124 rooms. And by screening sunlight, the façade reduces the need for air conditioning.
But again, the issue of cost prevents this from being a widely adopted technology. Subsidies from the two partners allowed Accor to install and test the façade. But with the cost of the panels at more than E1,000 per sq. m, and with solar panels offering greater energy savings, Accor has come to the conclusion that it makes more sense for hotels to produce solar energy to heat hot water.
Lighting Projects Offer Quick ROI
In deciding what energy saving projects are
right for hotels, Phil Sprague of Minneapolis, Minnesota-based
PSA Consultants says his firm recommends anything that can recover
its cost in less than three years. There are many initiatives
that meet that criterion, but the simplest, no-brainer is lighting,
as Sprague says: “Lighting
projects come in under six months return on investment.”
Before embarking on such projects, however, check with your local energy company, as rebates and incentives can cover up to 50% of your costs, Sprague says.
A good place to start is to replace high-wattage incandescent lighting with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lighting. “Hundreds or thousands of canned fixtures with 100-watt [bulbs] can be reduced to 15-watt,” Sprague says.
U.S. operators can ensure that they are purchasing high-quality compact fluorescents by seeking out products that have earned the U.S. government’s Energy Star label. Such products meet performance requirements, including instant-on reliability and no flicker or hum, and Energy Star qualified CFLs use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb. They also last up to 10 times longer.
For the last few months, Park Lodge Hotel Group, which owns three hotels in Waltham, Massachusetts, has been replacing all incandescent lighting with Energy Star qualified GE compact fluorescents, both in guestrooms and public areas. “Our light bulb expenses were getting a little outrageous, and energy costs were high,” says Charles Stuart, assistant general manager of the group.
The company is spending about US$40,000 to replace lighting in its 390 guestrooms and public spaces. The expected ROI is about two years, which Stuart explains is longer than usual because of the upfront spending on replacing fixtures.
In addition to energy efficient lighting, Sprague stresses the installation of lighting controls. “Lighting controls are very cost effective—you simply cannot train employees to turn lights off.”
Sprague recommends occupancy sensors for many parts of a property, including maid’s closets, storerooms, walk-in coolers or freezers, public bathrooms and even guestroom bathrooms (where he suggests a motion sensor with LED nightlight). These sensors are invisible to a guest, as “lights turn on so quickly you didn’t even know they were off,” he says. Plus, they are relatively inexpensive. With a US$25 light switch sensor or a US$200 ceiling sensor, you’ll see a one-year return on investment, including a 25% rebate from energy companies, Sprague says.
The biggest obstacle to hotels saving money on energy, Sprague says, is general managers running properties the way they were run 20 years ago. “[Some] GMs are more concerned about decorating the dining room, or the bedspreads,” he says. “They spend all this money on cosmetics—they need to do just as much with electrical systems.”
Tech Briefs
Supply Line
The Strand Palace Hotel, London, selects
Visual One Systems to provide front office, sales
ledger, sales and catering and point of sale system...
BelAir Networks
and Airpath Wireless Inc. partner to provide Wi-Fi
hotspot solutions...
Bill Nicholson appointed president and general manager of SynXis...
The Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel selects Northwind’s Maestro Property Management
Suite...
PCC launches CondotelWare management software for condo
hotels...
Humber Valley Resort, Newfoundland, Canada, taps PAR
Springer Miller Systems to provide its property management system...
Hotel Bristol Stephanie, Brussels, Belgium, deploys IDeaS Revenue
Optimization solution...
IDeaS names Bernard Ellis managing director
for the Americas...
The Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, New York, selects
Wayport to provide wireless high-speed Internet access at its
three U.S. properties...
Great Hotels Organization appoints Yunna
Takeuchi as sales & marketing director, e-distribution...
TIG Global announces the expansion of its client service department,
adding the newly created role of client service director…
Broadband
Hospitality has added Internet Concierge Support to its high-speed
Internet solutions…
Expedia notes that its WWTE technology
now powers vacation package bookings for Irving-Texas based Omni
Hotels…
Ramesys announces that Cocca’s Inns & Suites,
New York, chooses its Entirety solution.
Energy Quick
Facts
Source: ENERGY STAR, U.S. EPA energy efficiency program
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