Home / ANALYSIS / Hospitality Trends / Key solutions in tech

Ventilation, lighting and air conditioning of a hotel can be controlled by technology
[More Images]



Every Orchid, Lotus and Rodas room has a mini-bar that is CFC-free and saves up to 40% of energy because the fridge is equipped with ‘fuzzy logic’ which senses the load inside and cools accordingly. 

Another feature of their rooms is the electronic master control panel in every room which has a ‘Green Button’. On pressing this button, the temperature of the room goes up by two degrees. The amount of energy saved is translated into points that are accredited to the guest.

To reduce the amount of rubbish piling up on the country’s landfills, the hotels have also stopped the practice of single servings of sugar, salt, jam, and butter etc. because the packaging cannot be re-used.
 
“Hotels historically been one of the greatest solid waste generating industries because of the high use of disposable material for packing. By working with suppliers to reduce the amount of packing, they save costs and save the planet,” said Suhail Kannampilly, vice president operations, Concept Hospitality which has been instrumental in developing ecotels all over India. 

In fact, he believes that hotels in the west are bigger sinners when it comes to wasting cartons, cans, paper and packaging material than in India owing to the vast quantities of things thrown away by consumers and not re-used.

As Bakaya points out, there are ‘one hundred’ things that can be done to limit waste and carbon emissions. “Just setting the ac temperature at 23 degrees rather than 22 or 21 has made a huge saving,” he said. “But everyone has to be aware and work together.” 

Advertisement

COMMENT Comment on this article

Even television sets are acquiring green credentials. A new Sharp model claims to be the first TV set to feature a dedicated ‘eco’ button on the remote control which reduce’s the screen’s backlight output by 20-30 per cent depending on whether a mid or high setting is chosen. The amount of energy saved by one television might be tiny but it adds up to a substantial figure when multiplied tens of thousands of times.   
Computers are also being carefully controlled, being switched to energy-saving mode when not required for a while and switched off altogether when they will not be needed for a longish time. 

If a hotel uses five computers at its peak load, during the off peak load, it can run the processing of five computers on three computers since all the processes will not be run in totality. 

New hotels can be even more environment-friendly because their basic building design incorporates green features.  The newly opened Claridges in Surajkund, outside Delhi is a ‘green and intelligent’ building based on green designs, technology and materials.  

The hotel boasts of the efficient use of water and water recycling, the use of CO2 sensors for car parking area ventilation, the use of renewable energy, an efficient electrical system, and effective building management.  

“Green practices will grow as people’s awareness towards saving the environment and our planet grows.

Though the initial cost of making a building green is higher, over the years this is offset by the resources that are saved,” said Claridges chief engineer Vijay Sharma.

Kannampilly also estimates that while hoteliers probably have to spend 10-20% more on equipment at the construction stage, the returns in the long run are huge and well worth the initial cost. 

---