PNNL

Abstract

Hotel facilities present abundant opportunities for energy savings. In the United States, there are around 25,000 hotels that spend on an average of $2,196 on energy costs per room each year. This amounts to about 6% of the total annual hotel operating cost. However, unlike offices, there are limited studies on establishing appropriate baselines and quantifying hotel energy savings given the variety of services and amenities, unpredictable customer behaviors, and the around-the-clock operation hours. In this study, we investigate behavior driven energy savings for three medium-size (around 90,000 sf2) hotels that offer similar services in different climate zones. We first used Department of Energy Asset Scoring Tool to establish baseline models. We then conducted energy saving analysis in EnergyPlus based on a behavior model that defines the upper bound and lower bound of customer and hotel staff behavior. Lastly, we presented a probabilistic energy savings outlook for each hotel. The analysis shows behavior driven energy savings up to 25%. We believe this is the first study to incorporate behavioral factors into energy analysis for hotels. It also demonstrates a procedure to quickly create tailored baselines and identify improvement opportunities for hotels.