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Automated HVAC Controls Neutralize Highest Electricity Prices (per kWh) in the United States

September 05, 2011

It's not all sun and games for hotel owners in Hawaii. In addition to dealing with an ailing economy, hotel owners in Hawaii are forced to factor the nation’s highest electricity rates into their accounting spreadsheets. According to the US Department of Energy, the base cost of electricity in Hawaii weighs in at a staggering $0.30/kWh rate (nearly 3x the national average). The high cost is attributed to the fact that in Hawaii, power is produced by burning imported fuel.

Rather than rest idle and allow the cost of electricity to consume profits; the Kahana Falls management team set out to save money while concurrently conserving their state’s natural resources.

The solution was to install energy harvesting wireless HVAC controls into each hotel room. The energy management system has halted energy waste in unoccupied rooms while contributing to the fight against CO2 emissions.

Room-level Energy Management

• Occupancy-based Automation: When guests take removes their key card from its dock and leave the room, the air-conditioning unit is automatically set back to an unoccupied set point.
• Sensor-driven Automation: If a guest leaves a patio door opened; after a specified amount of time, a door sensor sends a radio signal that automatically turns off the A/C unit.

Challenges Faced, Problems Solved

With environmental and economical paybacks already in sight, the team installed the energy management system and was able to minimize hotel closures due to the fact that wiring obstacles were averted.

Installation challenges and their counter solutions:

• 95% Occupancy Rate: Because almost all the hotel rooms are reserved, room closures are costly. If the same solution was installed using wired sensors and switches, the cost of closures would have superseded project benefits. » The "Peel-&-stick" wireless sensors & switches enabled fast installations – Revenue was not lost to room closures.
• Concrete Divider Walls: The retro-fit installation posed hard-to-wire locations such as concrete divider walls and ceilings. The controls are battery less and wireless – the solution rescued installers from having to spend time digging into walls and ceilings.
• Zero Maintenance: Project specifications required the controls operate maintenance-free. The controls operate without batteries and will require zero-maintenance over the long life of the controls (20+ years).
• CO2 Emissions: CO2 contributes to environmental degradation. » Assuming a 20% reduction in room energy use; 319,000 pounds of CO2

Key card-based energy management becoming more commonplace

August 28, 2011 - by: Bruce Serlen

Having successfully tested its wireless energy management system in individual Wyndham, Hilton, and Le Meridien hotels, among others, Magnum Energy Solutions is completing its first installation this month at the Penn Club in New York.

A critical component of Magnum's Venergy product is the electronic key card issued to guests at the front desk when they check in. When they enter the guestroom, they insert the key card into its dock located on the wall by the front door. "That alerts the system that the room is occupied. When guests leave the room, they take the key card with them, automatically shutting off the television and any lights controlled by the system, while also setting the in-room HVAC system back to its preset mode," explained Magnum President Josh Felber.

In its beta tests, Magnum has seen energy savings range from roughly 28% to 59%, depending on the type and location of the hotel as well as seasonality of the test, according to the company. In the case of the 293- room Wyndham hotel, which is located in New England, the property's owner was on track to see a 33% saving in energy costs, which would amount to more than $73,000 on an annual basis.

Competing products rely on motion sensors to achieve energy savings. Venergy employs motion sensors as well, but its primary tool is the key card. "The technology had always been motion sensor-based, but we're starting to see a shift in the acceptance of the key card in the U.S.," noted Magnum CEO Mike Giorgi. "European travelers have long been familiar with it."

Magnum has also seen higher energy savings with the key card compared with a strictly motion sensor approach. "The motion sensor is time sensitive, so if it doesn’t detect movement, it will start to set back the thermostat one degree every half hour," Giorgi explained. "By contrast, benefits of a key card system are immediate. Once a guest removes the card, it automatically sets the thermostat to the unoccupied mode."

Invisible changes

The difference between occupied and unoccupied mode is typically four to five degrees. Consequently, the difference isn’t necessarily noticeable to the guest and it only takes a few minutes to reheat or re-cool a room.

Aside from conserving energy, Venergy is environmentally friendly in that it doesn't require batteries, as do first-generation competing products, according to Magnum. "It saves all those batteries ending up in the landfill plus labor costs are lower since there’s no maintenance required replacing the batteries," Felber noted. An unexpected benefit is that using the key card makes the guest feel a part of the energy-saving process. "Participation has been a crucial part of it," Giorgi said. "There's been a high level of acceptance. People feel they’re doing something good."

The product is based on wireless technology developed by the German company Siemens AG. Siemens spun off the technology into a separate division called EnOcean in 2001. Although the electronic key card is being used to foster energy conservation, it retains all its usual security functionality. In fact, it takes on added functionality. "Hotels can use our key card to set up multiple access levels. Guests still have their usual key card, but the housekeeping staff would have cards with limited access," Giorgi said.

Housekeeping oversight

Housekeeper keys, for example, would only access the lighting in the room. The HVAC would stay in the unoccupied mode, while the television could not be turned on, ensuring that associates weren't taking unauthorized breaks to watch a favorite program.

Venergy's front-end software can be integrated into any property management system, Giorgi pointed out. "With the housekeeping staff utilizing that different key card, it allows the hotel to track and monitor how long it takes to clean individual rooms," he added. "As a result, the hotel can keep a running tab of its housekeeping efficiency."

As Magnum gears up for a wave of Venergy installations in 2010, Giorgi, Felber, and their team are fine tuning the installation process in existing hotels, minimizing any disruption to guests. "Installation usually calls for the hotel blocking off a certain number of rooms at a time. We ship the products all tied together, so there's no programming needed on site. It's basically plug-and-play," explained Magnum’s vp of sales, Craig Oplaich.

The key card dock is also completely wireless. "It goes right inside the front door of the room, close to where the foyer light switch is, so we don't have to do any reconstruction of the room. It screws right into the wall," Oplaich added.