Following the successful trial of a Room Energy Management System (REMS) at the Crown Plaza London Docklands hotel, RBH Hospitality Management rolled out the system sitewide and is on track to deliver more than £51,000 in cost savings for the property annually, and almost £400,000 over a 10-year period**.

The 30-day trial, which took place between October and November 2022, was conducted in partnership with ESDL-UK who specialise in leveraging superior technology to reduce energy consumption.

The technology is designed to optimise energy consumption by identifying the presence or absence of human activity in a bedroom and intelligently adjusts output levels of HVAC, lighting and other appliances such as heated towel rails and underfloor heating to reduce unnecessary consumption.

Smart rooms that adapt and optimise room efficiency

Historically, where multiple key cards are provided upon check in, guests will typically leave one key card in the room resulting in the continued consumption of energy when the bedroom is unoccupied. REMS technology overrides this function via the installation of a network of discreet sensors and a centralised room controller.

A door sensor is triggered upon opening which sends a message to a microwave presence sensor that identifies whether a room is occupied or vacant. A temperature sensor is then activated to ensure the energy efficient setback temperatures are maintained when the room is vacated. Sensors are also fitted to windows and balcony doors so that if, for example, a window is opened, the HVAC will switch off. When a room is occupied, full control of appliances returns to guests.

A trial of two halves

10 rooms participated in a trial, five in ‘Control’ mode where appliances were controlled when rooms were vacated, and five in ‘Monitor Only’ mode where typical energy usage was measured when rooms were vacated to provide consumption rates for comparative purposes. The trial determined that the tech was effective in reducing average consumption and costs by approximately 46%.*

Actual results post sitewide installation

Following the successful trial results, sitewide installation was completed in July 2023 in all 210 bedrooms. Results below show actual consumption recorded from July ’23 to March ’24 in all controlled when rooms were vacated and assumes the following:

• Installation cost: £132,798
• 65% average room occupancy in controlled rooms
• 70% of guests leave appliances on upon vacating

Minimal disruption for maximum benefit

Installation was non-intrusive with minimal disruption and with no impact to room aesthetics thanks to the use of hidden sensors. Moreover, the technology fully integrates with the existing management system at the hotel offering 24/7 access to controls and settings via a bespoke and user-friendly cloud-based sustainability REACH data management platform. The platform offers immediate actions with real-time visibility to maximise optimal energy performance and savings, plus access to historic data to compare actual consumption trends to goals.

The system also creates parameters to control energy requirements to achieve optimal guest comfort pre-requisites, seasonality influences, occupancy fluctuations, internal operational requirements and day/night control settings.

Conclusion

Total cost savings have proven to be significantly better than initial projections, with the property on track to save £51k annually in energy bills after the payback period.

Over a 10-year period, once the properly has fully recouped its initial investment, based on the current kWh rate, the property will save more than £387,000 in energy bills which equates to over 300,000 kWh**.

*Trial conditions:

• Measurements are per room/day from 13.10.22 to 12.11.22.
• Results were calculated by understanding the room and air conditioning status when rooms were vacated.
• REMS measured the time appliances were left in 'On' status and calculated potential savings based upon kWh rates provided.
• kWh rate used in calculations was £0.45 per unit.

**Excluding annual service and maintenance charges and not accounting for fluctuating energy prices.