A Guide for Hotels: Boosting Profits with Energy Efficiency & Conservation
Lighting
Lighting upgrades represent one of the best opportunities for energy savings in the hotel industry. A large hotel can have tens of thousands of individual light bulbs and fluorescent fixtures and may use 30% of its total electricity on lighting. By making upgrades in guest rooms, common areas and behind-the-scenes areas, a hotel can see immediate, consistent savings with no impact on the overall guest experience. In fact, the reduced heat generation and better modern lighting systems may improve comfort for guests and employees alike.
Lighting upgrades can usually be done in-house as part of routine maintenance. A hotel might choose to upgrade lighting gradually as part of a maintenance schedule, or as an all-at-once re-lamp. When replacing fixtures in high ceilings or hard-to-reach places it is usually easiest to replace all fixtures at once.
In both guest rooms and common areas, consider how you might be able to improve day lighting. A single 3'x5' window in direct sun lets in more light than 100 60-watt bulbs. Natural light also provides the best color rendering of any light source.
ENERGY STAR Commitment
The two largest hotels that have earned the ENERGY STAR are the Sheraton Waikiki with 2,228 rooms and the Sheraton Boston Hotel and Towers with 1,215 rooms. The smallest hotels with a label are the 60-room Laurel Super 8 Motel in Laurel, Montana, and the 85-room Saybrook Point Inn and Spa in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.