NEW YORK? Lodging efficiencies come in many forms, not the least of which concern the physical plant? the hotel itself? and its ?nervous system?? electric, gas, heating, cooling, lighting. Traditionally, energy management revolves around the guest- room and overall property, although focus and concentration may vary. Some hotel companies that were quick to jump on the conservation bandwagon during the last two decades now find themselves refining their systems. Others are just addressing management programs via training, and still others find themselves in the middle, deciding on end-to-end solutions that will have stability into the future. According to Jay Litt, chief procurement officer of Texas-based Wyndham International, the company is ?in the middle of determining an entire new wired philosophy for our hotels.? For example, by October all Wyndham hotels will have high-speed connectivity, both wired and wireless, he said, using a plug-and-play system that uses existing wiring. This move has forced Wyndham to examine all of its internal systems and it will be installing a new component to its Fidelio PMS. ?That system will join a whole number of services in the hotel, including energy, so energy is being looked at from a systems standpoint as we go through a complete reconfiguration from a technology standpoint,? said Litt. Some 260 properties will have the technology layered in between now and 2001, with an initial investment of $5 million, he added. On a utility-specific front, Wyndham is taking advantage of the deregulation trend and has negotiated individual contracts on a one-year basis with gas purveyors across the country ?and we?ve achieved some very, very strong gas pricing, particularly in the Northeast and Florida,? said Litt. Prior to the contracts, Wyndham did not have a specific gas policy. ?Each hotel was doing its own thing. So we?ve centralized our gas purchasing, bulking together as many decatherms as possible to get a volume buying gas,? said Litt, noting the company has seen a 15% reduction in gas pricing where it?s been aggregated. With electric, Wyndham has taken several courses. It?s gone through a traditional bill-auditing process to make sure they?re correct; next, it?s looking at the states where deregulation is pending, as well as future deregulation, and working with energy consultants to help maximize deregulation. Litt doesn?t expect to realize the same savings on electricity, however, due to what?s called ?stranded costs.? This allows electrical companies to pass along a surcharge to the end user to recoup and balance invested costs made for its physical plant vis-a-vis deregulation. ?We?ve seen 4% to 6% in dereg savings,? said Litt. Another course, and one that can yield the biggest savings, said Litt, comes from property-based conservation. ?We are working to install a property-wide program we had written for us [by Massachusetts-based energy consultant Russell Rowe and Facilities Management Engineering]that will make properties focus on activities that will cut back on energy usage.? The back-to-basics program is a re-education process to remind staff to turn off lights, not to run excess water, etc. The program is scheduled for a third-quarter rollout and will be handled by each property?s chief engineer. ?I would like to think when we focus on something like that, we can save 3% to 5% of our energy,? said Litt. Brian Burke, energy manager for Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels, said right now the corporation is looking at metering and monitoring individual utilities ?to get a better feel for what we use on an hourly and daily basis versus just looking at a monthly bill that comes in or a daily reading that may be taken at different times during the day. We?re automating that, which will give us a better idea of how our building is truly being operated.? At a minimum, Hyatt will be monitoring electric, gas and water consumption and, depending on the property, sub-meter at whatever poin
