Dubai hotels missed energy savings in downtime: study

Dubai city, view from villa

Hotels in Dubai may have missed out on energy savings worth AED1.5 million (US$408,441), according to a research conducted by UAE-based technology and sustainability-driven facilities management company Farnek.

The study involved 12 four- and five-star hotels and relied on hotel energy data as well as Hotel Optimizer, an online performance tracking tool for measuring and benchmarking energy, water and waste.

Dubai hotels missed out on huge cost savings in energy bills, according to a recent study; Dubai cityscape pictured

The study revealed that for the three-month period between March and May this year, compared with the same period last year, Dubai hotels may have each missed out on an opportunity to save at least AED80,000 in energy costs and to reduce their carbon emissions by 74 tonnes in the process.

Findings were presented to key hospitality figures during a recent webinar hosted by leading sustainability experts from Farnek, the Swiss Business Council and Earth Matters Consulting.

Markus Oberlin, CEO, Farnek, said: “The hotel industry has faced significant challenges since the outbreak of the coronavirus, not least with airlines grounded, Expo 2020 postponed, low oil prices, social restrictions and low consumer confidence. Therefore, it is vitally important that hotels make the most of any cost savings wherever possible and the first step as always, is to identify the opportunities.”

Farnek noted that the average occupancy of the 12 surveyed hotels stood at 25 per cent during March to May 2020, compared to 73 per cent in the same period last year. Energy consumption for the 12 hotels had fallen to 23,000 MWh compared to last year’s 32,000 MWh during the research period.

Nadia Ibrahim, head of consultancy at Farnek, commented: “According to our calculations, had these hotels put an effective energy management strategy into practice, they could have reduced their consumption to 19,000 MWh with a saving of 4,000 MWh or 17.4 per cent. That’s equivalent to a saving of AED1.45 million, plus it would have reduced their combined carbon emissions by 1,350 tonnes.”

Following international best practice, Farnek’s strategy to manage energy consumption includes strategic guestroom deployment, chiller and ventilation optimisation, occupancy-based set point adjustments and fan controls.

Sponsored Post