Set amongst five acres of lush, tropical gardens, the Trident hotel in Chennai was among the first in the industry to go in for an energy audit.
They formed a team which had people from across all departments to assist the audit agency in carrying ut a detailed analysis.
“All team members of the hotel have been involved in this exercise; a reduction in energy consumption cannot be achieved without the participation of people. However, this must be done carefully, without compromising on guest comfort or security,” said Sharad Puri, general manager, Trident, Chennai.
Puri said that the audit was carried out not only to cut wasteful expenditure, but also to contribute in protecting the environment. “Energy conservation needs to be done with a long term perspective, and investments need to be made taking into consideration our responsibility to save our planet,” he added.
“The cost of power will only go northwards. We felt it was important for us to take steps now and not wait for our profitability to be affected due to the high cost of energy in the future,” Puri said.
Further, he said they give due consideration before selecting a product for their hotel. “We choose suppliers based on their ability to come up with innovative products. The operating costs and the source of power used for the equipment needs to be given due attention before a purchase is made,” stated Puri.
The hotel has taken a number of initiatives to conserve energy which has helped them to reduce energy costs by four per cent per annum.
Each area in the hotel was checked for lighting efficiency. “We realised that some areas had excess lighting and some areas did not have enough. However, it is critical to ensure that reduction in lighting levels does not affect guest comfort, aesthetics or security,” he added.
Energy conservation initiatives
- Introduction of primary and secondary chilled water system
- Installation of two-way valves for FCU
- Use of T5 lights, compact fluorescent bulbs, and infra red halogen bulbs
- Exhaustive rain water harvesting
- Staff participation in energy conservation
