Continuing its multi-city endeavour, Think Turf hosts yet another successful forum in New Delhi
Sensitivity towards environment is inherent and fundamental to the domain of design and construction. Especially, in dynamic properties like hotels, which cannot afford any downtime, notion of sustenance emerge from multiple points of integration amongst various systems. With an understanding to address these fundamentals holistically, Philips in association with Hotelier India and AWESOME (Academics with Excellence Spectrum of Maintenance Engineers), convened yet another forum in May at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi. The event was attended by key leaders from the hospitality fraternity comprising of consultant, chief engineers, designers, etc, reflecting the surge in recognition of upcoming technology and sustainable strategies.
The tone for the evening was set by a dyad keynote session led by Amitabh Tyagi, hospitality specialist, and Basil Messey, director – procurement, Duet India Hotels. While Tyagi briefly conferred on the challenges of budgeting capital expenditure against operating cost, Messy emphasised on the importance of research, planning and strategising before adopting and executing various operational processes.
Vivek Jain, lighting application services – Northern region, Philips Lighting, then presented a distinct and comprehensive range of products and systems from the company’s portfolio. With a realisation that lighting constitutes to almost 33% of energy consumption in hotel properties, Philips aims to bridge the gap between users and consultants by not only charting out the various options available but also providing expert insights pertaining to the client’s usage and requirements. He highlighted on the numerous advantages of LED – freedom, flexibility, comfort, security, energy saving, reliability, personalisation and ease of use. Shedding light on the role lighting plays in enhancing brand image and perception Jain stated, “At Philips we design solutions with a keen focus on total cost of ownership in mind. This not only considers the initial investment but also takes into account the regular operating cost of the product throughout its lifetime, along with its maintenance and labour cost, in addition to the benefits one can derive from its green aspects.” He then spoke about the various available products and solutions available for design of key areas such as reception and lobby, corridor, guest rooms, etc. Showcasing the range of decorative and architectural lighting products by the company’s Italian counterpart, Ilti Luce, he provided an glimpse into the designer range of the products offered by Philips. He also spoke about their range of intelligent, network lighting systems for smart hotels, which not only controls the lights but also the blinds, AV integration, access controls, security, alarm, HVAC, etc. Equipped with individualistic memory component, energy management system and information dashboard the series provides actual, ready to use data for future projections and improved efficiency. Post his presentation he also animatedly indulged in an interminable question answer session with the audience, responding to various queries and suggestions.
Elucidating the gathered congregation of consultants and engineers, Rothin Banerjee, chief engineer, Taj Palace, New Delhi, spoke about the AWESOME’s initiative to establish the Northern Chapter of the council. The association aims to provide a platform that helps keep maintenance engineers, from the hospitality segment, abreast of what is happening in the industry and the best practices being followed. It acts as a platform for engineers to learn about new products and services to help provide superior customer service.
The panel discussion started with addressing the various concerns of chief engineers such as repair and maintenance budgets, integration of green measures, staying up-to-date with technology, contributing towards the visual standards of the hotel concerning its ambience, facade, etc, reducing maintenance downtime, developing vendor tie-ups and many others. With an aim to address these issue Delia shared with the panel his three criterion for delivering an appeasing bottom-line result – maintaining equipments in the best order do deliver highest energy efficiency; controlling wastage; and investing in updated technology. The panel then continued to discuss in brief about various methods and systems that can be adopted in new constructions as well as for retrofitting in existing structures without having major implications on budget.
On being questioned about the difficulties in convincing clients for LEDs versus CFLs Linus Lopez, partner, Lirio Lopez Electrical + Lighting Design Consultants, delved into his own experiences and said, “In the process of working with different industries, it’s the easiest to convince hoteliers. Given, they are one of the few class of operators who are actually involved in procuring, owning and also operating, they find it beneficial to invest in long term benefits; unlike builders, who they are only concerned about the initial cost, as the operating cost is transferred to another.” He also emphasises that rather than blindly following a technology trend one need to ensure its quality and consistency through its complete life span before implementing. The discussion concluded with the fact that when presented with lifetime benefits, sustainable aspects, lower operating costs, durability, etc, investing in technology helps hoteliers and the management log in higher benefits and maintains a sustainably viable property.
