Energy Conservation

Exponential consumption owing to rising demands has brought fossil fuels- the drivers of industrial revolution- on the brink of exhaustion.

Grim scenario of depleting these energy resources, human beings have turned to several non-conventional sources such as sun, water, wind, tides and biomass to produce electricity.

Still, fossil fuels remain the main sources of power generation. This has also led to an increase in the prices of power as a result of the huge demand-supply gap. Obviously, the consumers are forced to change consumption patterns if power has to be used at all. World over the call for decreasing consumption pattern of power, and switching over to non-polluting natural resources is gaining ground.

Energy needs of hotel property- the benchmark for optimum energy consumption- how an energy audit is conducted prior to the formulation of a detailed energy conservation programme – tips for power saving- cost of energy conservation and the benefits of saving energy.

Major resources of energy 

The main primary sources of energy used in the hotel industry are fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, wood etc.. Apart from these, water or steam energy is also used for producing energy.

Fuel is defined as a substance, which can be combined chemically with oxygen to produce heat and light, and is used for burning or production of heat energy for general, domestic and industrial needs.

Fuels such as wood, which were once thought of as renewable sources of energy, as they could be replenished, are now considered as non-renewable as their rate of consumption has far exceeded their rate of replenishment. Fossil fuels which were formed millions of years ago from fossils or the remains of vegetation and living organisms in the belly of the earth, are also considered non-renewable due to their massive consumption rate that is far too much than the time taken for their formation.

Fossil fuels are available in three forms:-

Solid:       Coal, peat, lignite etc.

Liquid :    Petroleum products

Gas :        Methane, Natural gas etc. and higher gases.

These fuels are taken out of earth through mines and serve as major energy generating materials in the world.

The hotel industry mainly uses natural gas, coal and biogas as fuel sources for heat energy. However, over the years fossil fuels have been replaced by electrical energy for the purpose of lighting as well as heating and operating sophisticated equipment in kitchens. This power is either obtained from the grid (municipal supply) or captive power plants comprising huge generators powered by diesel.

Know your fuels (amount of heat energy produced by-)

• 01 litre of LPG produces 11,850 Kcal
• 01 Kwh of electricity produces 850 Kcal
• 01 litre of light diesel oil (LDO) produces 5,946 Kcal

Electrical energy is also referred to as ‘artificial’ or ‘manufactured’ fuel in hotel industry. Electrical energy is produced from other energy sources such as thermal energy (burning of fossil fuels), hydro power (kinetic energy) etc.

Conventional generation of electrical energy utilizes coal, gas, oil, or nuclear reactors to heat water, producing high temperature pressure steam. The steam flows through an electrical turbine generator, which converts steam power into electric power that is supplied through the grid for domestic and industrial consumption. As the steam leaves the turbine generator, it contains energy adequate to heat or cool buildings. This steam is also called City Steam or Street Steam. The development of city steam systems could be very important to the hospitality industry.

What is energy conservation?

Let us go through the following situation. You are the manager of a 100-room three-star hotel property located in Agra, which is operating at cent percent occupancy. Every room is carrying a total connected load of 5.0 Kwh including all types of fixtures, fittings, building system etc. The power tariff paid to the municipal authorities is @ Rs. 5.00 per Kwh. How would you compute the annual energy cost (bill) incurred by you for the rooms?

Solution:-  Total annual cost or amount of bill= No. of rooms x Connected load x

Operating hours a day x Tariff rate x 365 days of a year

= 100 x 5 x 24 x 5 x 365

=  Rs. 2,19,00,000 = 219 lakhs or 2.19 crore

This is a massive cost. Now you initiate an energy conservation programme and ask your staff to switch off all the lights of the guest rooms, when the guests are not in the room. Assuming that a guest generally spends 2/3 of the time (16 hrs) in the room and 1/3 of the time outside the room, and the staff follows your instructions then

The total amount of bill =  100 x 5 x 16 x 5 x 365

=  Rs. 1,46, 00, 000

=  Rs. 146 lakhs or 1.46 crore.

The savings made by small efforts is equal to

= Rs. 2,19,00,000  –   Rs. 1, 46,00,000

= Rs. 73,00,000 = Rs. 73 lakhs

Thus, we see that savings or conservation made is an effort to conserve or extend the availability of our energy resources for a longer period of time for future generations. At the same time no compromises have been made in maintaining the standard of services provided by the hotel, plus you are getting monetary benefits by cutting down the energy expenses and prudently using your energy resources. The saving made also help soar your profit percent directly without putting stress on the marketing and sales team, or the food and beverage service brigade.

Overview of energy cost

There are various forms of energy that are consumed in various sections of a hotel property; for example, electricity, water, kitchen gas, district heating, boiler gas, and other fuels. Energy costs of a hotel vary according to its type, size, location etc. However, the total energy cost generally ranges from 9 to 13 percent of the total operating cost of a hotel, or 2 to 3 percent of the total turnover of the hotel business.

Indian hotels consume approximately 70% of electricity, 12% water, 4% kitchen gas (LPG), 4% district heating, 4% boiler gas and 6% other fuels.

Major energy usage department of hotels

Some of the major energy consuming areas/ departments of a hotel are the following:-

• Guest rooms
• Food production
• Laundry
• Food and beverage service
• Elevators/ escalators
• Swimming pool
• Hotel Engineering especially in HVAC system which is the biggest user of energy.