A Guide for Hotels: Boosting Profits with Energy Efficiency & Conservation
Lighting: Exterior Lighting
When upgrading exterior lighting, the first step is to replace inefficient lights. In general, hotel owners and managers will want to replace any incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), and replace inefficient high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps with more efficient HIDs like low-pressure sodium (LPS) or high pressure sodium (HPS), depending on the color rendering needed. At the very least, mercury vapor HIDs should be replaced since these consume about three times the energy as the equivalent LPS lights. High output fluorescent lamps are even more efficient, particularly new T5s, but check the temperature rating in case there are difficulties associated with low temperatures. Be sure to upgrade any magnetic ballasts to efficient electronic or digital units. Seek the advice of a qualified lighting professional to help with any redesign of outdoor lighting.
Lighting controls play a large role in making outdoor lighting systems efficient and effective. Photosensors (also referred to as photocells) activate outdoor lighting as daylight diminishes. Hotels tend to be active throughout evening and nighttime hours, so parking lots, walkways, entryways and other areas need lighting during all dark hours. Motion sensors can activate lighting as needed for lesser-used outdoor areas, or during very low-traffic times. Seek the advice of a lighting professional who can help design, implement and test lighting levels in different outdoor areas to optimize the system to ensure safety compliance with lighting standards and building codes, as well as to provide the optimum guest experience.
Location and position are final considerations. Using lighting as a design element can have dramatic effects, but at 4 a.m., no one is around to impress. Consider adding timers and reducing the incidence of design lighting. All lighting, both essential and decorative, should be positioned so that direct and reflected light falls down, and not up into the atmosphere or across into a neighbor's space. This helps decrease the bothersome incidence of glare, light pollution and light trespass.