Download the case study on how this hospitality company was able to save big on an energy efficient lighting project in a place where no one would have expected. Details and data on savings included.
The Eco Engineering Approach
Eco Engineering has successfully completed a variety of projects in the Hotel and Hospitality industry. These projects typically involve a large facility with multiple areas of divergent lighting needs and operating 24×7. Our experience offers some critical insights and key learnings about energy efficient lighting projects in these types of environments.
Total Building Savings
While the guest floors and accompanying rooms of these facilities are often fairly uniform, the buildings contain a variety of highly specialized spaces with different lighting needs. Lobbies, restaurants, shops, banquet and conference spaces, offices, kitchens, housekeeping facilities, loading docks or storage areas, and exterior lighting each carry unique requirements. Understanding each of these areas and its potential for increased lighting efficiency can have a dramatic impact on projected energy savings. If each of these add-on spaces are properly audited and evaluated for inclusion in a lighting upgrade project, the hotel operator can make an informed decision about the added cost versus the additional energy savings. The solution designed for these areas is likely to be very different from the guest areas. Eco Engineering has experience with many projects fitting this situation and has seen the added impact of the non-guest room square footage create the difference between an acceptable project payback and a borderline financial business case. Additionally, energy rebates and tax credits may allow for different methods of computing savings based on partial versus total building solutions.
Lighting Controls
In many areas throughout a hotel, traffic patterns and lighting needs vary considerably during the course of a 24 hour day. Motion sensors can conserve energy by shutting lights down when there is no activity. Eco Engineering has helped clients understand this issue by conducting sensor studies using light loggers to quantify the potential energy savings even when hotel management personnel believed the areas were always in need of light. Safety issues must be elevated to paramount importance when considering this technology as some areas in the facility will never be candidates to install motion sensors.
MRO Savings
Hotels often provide an opportunity for significant savings in Maintenance, Repair and Operating expenses (MRO) following a lighting upgrade. These savings are not only real; they can carry a significant impact on the financial payback analysis associated with the project. We look carefully at maintenance practices to ensure our designs will be easily maintained so guest room lamps won’t get mixed up with loading dock lamps. Eco Engineering works closely with our clients to calculate the current expense in maintaining and repairing the existing lighting systems and then we conservatively estimate the savings from inventory management and labor costs post-project.