PANEL TALK RECAP:
How To Choose The Right Energy-Solution Provider For Your Hotel?
On July 22, 2021, SensorFlow held a webinar which tackles the important matter of how to choose the right energy-solution provider for your hotel and how to make your hotel a green and sustainable business. The one hour talk discussed some of the energy-saving challenges hotels are currently facing, as well as what hotels should look for when sourcing for an energy solutions provider.
With the increased awareness of the environmental issues nowadays, a lot of people are becoming more concerned about energy consumption and are paying extra attention to the hotels they stay in and their brand standing in contributing to the reduction of global warming.
Electricity accounts for 60-70% of a typical hotel’s electricity costs and accounts for about 6% of overall operating costs. Reducing the environmental impact through green best practices in maintenance, services, logistics, products, and supplies will lessen hotel expenses and strengthen its brand positioning.
As a hotelier, reducing your hotels’ energy consumption will not only help reduce your expenses but will also help reduce your carbon footprint.
However, how are hotels supposed to know which solution is best for them?
One of the main challenges currently faced by hotels, according to Mr Jürgen Seidel, is that there are a vast number of solution providers assessing and selling products that might not right be for hotels in terms of quality.
In his 20 years of experience, Mr Seidel came across a lot of technical engineers that were either not exposed to the right piece of information or advice on what the hotel needed, or that they refused to learn anything new that may improve their services or could jeopardize their efforts.
What hotels need most is active, continuous, and guided support online with given data in comparison to the industry’s benchmarks, as provided by the EarthCheck.
A mere ISO certification might look good on paper but it won’t do any good beyond that; it is static and it won’t tell you where your hotel is on your journey, where your hotel is going, and how your hotel is currently performing. Hotels need data, information and comparison to see where they’re standing in the industry.
With the rise of eco-tourism, the new generation of guests is looking for safety and comfort, but also for sustainable options. They’re attracted to certified facilities, even without knowing exactly what the certification stands for. What matters is knowing that the hotel is engaging in improvement, and seeing that the hotel presents a sustainability certification makes them feel like part of the mission.
This Covid-19 era should be seen as an opportunity for hotels to start using CMS and EMS systems with a solid and fundamental base platform where hotels can report their operations to guests looking for having a good service while being eco-sustainable.
Mr Seigel then reiterated the importance of having data; check it, report it, record it and then compare your results to see your hotels’ positioning in the market. Reducing energy consumption using the right systems, will not only reduce carbon footprint but will reduce expenses and increase ROI in the long run.
With increased attention and awareness around global warming, travellers are more aware of the impact old practices and technologies have on the environment. Therefore, one of the hotel criteria for these eco-travellers has become eco-friendliness. This change should be perceived as an opportunity for improvement as becoming green can be profitable for hotels.
Searching for a solution provider is not a one-man job, it’s a team effort within the hotel, and amongst all third parties involved. This webinar demonstrates the perfect partnership – a hotelier, a solution provider, and a benchmarking/certification board. Having a holistic relationship such as this will definitely push your hotel to be greener and a more sustainable business.
If you’d like to know more about energy-saving technologies and sustainability solutions for your hotel, get in touch with our experts today.
About The Speakers
Saikrishnan Ranganathan
CEO & Co-founder
SensorFlow Pte Ltd
Driven by the vision to mitigate global challenges, Sai has consistently worked towards engineering solutions that are practical, adaptable, and aligned with the immediate climate problems faced worldwide. One of the youngest thought leaders in the region, Sai was part of the Entrepreneur First cohort, where he built the technical expertise to transform SensorFlow as a viable business model, scalable across different markets. Sai also has a background in energy management and smart home automation and has worked extensively on energy monitoring solutions for schools, data centres, homes, malls and factories.
Jürgen Seidel
VP of Technical Services
Absolute Hotel Services
A Visionary Engineer & Development Hotelier with over two decades of experience in Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Europe and the Middle East, Jürgen has a profound and proven track record in Developing, Designing, Project and Managing luxury hotels and resorts technical operations from technical service, engineering, preventive maintenance and fire, life & safety aspects, since 1995. He specialized in energy and environment efficiency (eco and sustainability specialist – for building, MEP, transportation, water and energy efficiency/with solar, wind, bio matters, heat recovery, Tri-generation and thermal energy), working with ISO certification, ‘EarthCheck’ program, green leaf program, HACCP and other international certification processes (enabling bottom-line cost reduction through efficiency).
André Russ
VP of Sales
EarthCheck
André manages EarthCheck’s overall business development and engagement strategy across 70+ countries and territories. Working with a passionate team of tourism and activation specialists, he provides advice, vision, and implementation along with social activation that contributes to a location’s resilience. With a particular focus on green infrastructure, precincts, culture, and climate action, EarthCheck collaborates with its partners and networks to deliver cohesive and innovative solutions.