Saving valuable resources starts with identifying the vulnerable areas. Hotel Schweizerhof Zürich has successfully improved its energy management and now shares the strategy behind its better energy conservation.
A common problem: energy consumption and waste
Tackling energy waste might sound like a particularly challenging issue for hospitality managers. Even though the need for more effective energy management is often recognised, finding practical solutions is not easy.
There is no doubt: hotels and other businesses within the hospitality industry do require a lot of energy to operate. So how can they possibly monitor and reduce its usage?
Hotel Schweizerhof Zürich started its energy management improvement process with identifying a major source of wasted energy and unnecessary costs: the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) in hotel’s guestrooms.
Before addressing this problem, the room temperature was reset manually by the housekeeping team as soon as room cleaning began. However, with almost 100 rooms and many daily departures, sometimes the time between a guest check-out to the arrival of housekeepers was up to several hours! This simply had to be fixed.
An effective solution
The hotel recognised all the benefits and invested in a system that links the hotel software with the ventilation system. Thanks to an automation function, the most energy-efficient temperatures are now automatically set as soon as a guest checks out.
The system also offers other advantageous features, such as automated turn-off of heating and cooling when the windows are open, or manual set-up and adjustment of the temperatures to the season if necessary.
A difference has been noticed in no time: from improved monitoring of energy waste, through limiting the energy usage, and thus reducing the monthly electricity costs, to saving up the time of the housekeepers and lowering the hotel’s environmental footprint. All of it, without affecting the guests not in the slightest.
Top tips from Hotel Schweizerhof Zürich:
Automation systems exist for all sectors within the hospitality industry – no matter if you are a restaurant, a conference centre, or a small accommodation, you will be able to find an optimal and suitable solution for your business;
Technology is your ally - keep up with the times and simply look out for the newest, profitable innovations to make the best use of them;
There is always room for improvement. Continue to identify new opportunities for optimising your resource management and reaching new levels of sustainability.