It might never come to light, but Information Technology plays a vital role in helping a hotel achieve its sustainability goals
BY BABITA KRISHNAN
With increasing business and improved technology across all sectors of hospitality, IT became important for a consistent method of tracking and maintaining business operations. Slowly with changing times and growing demands from the guests, the IT department grew in importance and came to the forefront of hotel operations.
One of the important roles played by the IT department is in helping the hotel achieve its sustainable goals. Though it might seem ungainly or meagre, but the reports and inputs along with regular updates keep the property on the sustainable track which not only makes sense from a CSR point of view but also affects the bottom line.
Hotel managers are constantly looking at sustainable strategies to bring down costs. Though there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to sustainability, there are strategies that can be successfully adopted. These strategies are implemented by the IT department and hotels are increasingly relying on them.
Sustainable business practices are mainly characterised by environmentally-friendly practices to make the organisation more sustainable. Adopting sustainable practices is the responsibility of a hotel – in terms of saving energy and water consumption and to become more efficient. This can be done by the use of Business Management Systems (BMS) and sensors. All information regarding energy and water consumption management can be analysed using useful analytical reports and graphs. “This is where technological buzz words like Big Data and Data Mining can play an important role,” says Harish Chandra, GM, IT & telecom, Sarovar Hotels, “Hotels need to be innovative in this area instead of just using a key tag to switch of lights and AC in guest rooms.”
Some of the technological advances that he suggests could become a part of the hotels operations include things like the AC in guest rooms to start only once the guest has checked-in through a smart device installed with PMS by the hotel driver who picks the guest at the airport. “The timer should be set such that the AC starts after a certain pre-defined time which would be enough to make the temperature comfortable before his arrival. This will save energy for the hotel. This system would need interface between PMS, EMS (Energy management system) and BMS. This is also possible by sending an SMS, which means that the telecom firms can interface the SMS gateway with BMS,” he explains.
Many properties have installed systems where the absence of a guest in the room can also deactivate lights using temperature or motion sensors installed there. Some hotels have installed LED and fluorescent lighting systems in guest and common rooms. Usage of light sensors in guest corridors are also a commonly used example to save on energy cost; some also use solar panels to preheat hot water.
Rahul Save, engineering chief of Trident BKC Mumbai, explains that energy savings of 10-20 % (or greater) can be achieved by reviewing plant equipment as well as operations and implementation of energy conservation measures (ECMs). “Execution of Building Energy Management System for maximum energy conservation has also shown great results,” he adds. The Green Engage programme of InterContinental Hotels Group measures and tracks energy, water and waste reductions, accesses a checklist of recommended actions to help reduce impacts, and creates an action plan.
Elaborating the role of IT in being sustainable, Vishal Kamat, CEO, Kamat Hotels, reveals, “We at Orchid, have automated key-cards for switching on and switching off the lights of guest rooms. This is a major energy saver. We also control the switching on and switching off of the air-conditioning plant, AHU, TFA through our installed Building Management System. We have auto-timer based lighting system for surrounding pathways of the hotel, all washrooms and few public areas. This ensures a great amount of energy saving.” Darashbir Singh, GM, engineering services, Accor India, reveals the green commitment of the group, “At Accor, we have made three commitments and quantifiable objectives for 2015 – to reduce energy usage by 10%, reduce CO2 emissions by 10% and increase the use of renewable energy by 10%.” This can be achieved by working in tandem with the IT department for regular feedback and correct data. Accor has made a commitment to the earth for preserving, recycling and replanting, he adds.
Gayasuddin Sulaimani, senior manager IT at Apodis Hotels and Resorts Ltd, has accomplished some innovations that have shown great results for the brand. “I have deployed a wireless solution for a 137 rooms hotel with five access points successfully, unlike putting one in every room or one in every six rooms with 80 to 100% signal strength. We also deployed 40, 60 and 90 access points at three different locations on a single network – each without a controller,” he reveals. Sulaimani has also deployed multi-location at a distance of 7km line-of-site wireless network for Internet bandwidth sharing and a SIP-based PABX and CCTV to interconnect and make the cameras dial-able from a remote location.
Sunil Prabhu, head, IT Aamby Valley City, has installed demo setup of Cisco Energywise Suite. “We can configure all network connected devices including desktops, laptops, servers, IP phones, printers, monitors, routers and switches, etc. Cisco Energywise Suite helps you to figure out how much energy is being used, wasted and saved for every device connected across enterprise. We can take all the data for energy cost reduction. I found this solution very useful and we can reduce carbon footprint,” shares Prabhu.
According to Mukund Sahasrabudhe, GM, technical services, overseeing engineering operations for Sarovar Hotels across India and Africa, “Sarovar Hotels, through its operating properties, aims to reduce the environmental footprint through initiatives that cut down on waste, poor environmental stewardship and unethical environmental practices that offer a reduced level of sustainability within the company practices.”
Sustainable business practices differ among industries and are often specific to the company type and the product or service it produces. However, they all depend on the information generated by the BMS and other support systems that generate data.
Sustainability is a hotel’s capacity to prosper in a competitive and changing global environment by anticipating and managing current and future economic, environmental and social opportunities and risks. Hotels that address these factors through innovation, quality and productivity enhance their ability to generate long-term value for their brand.
It is important, hence, for managements to invest time and money in IT to facilitate the generation of useful data towards enhanced operations.
