Eco-Friendly Luxury Hotel with Historic Past Greens Energy Management

By GreenerBuildings Staff
Published August 20, 2008

Energy Use

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MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- The Hotel Metro is deploying a Telkonet SmartEnergy management system at its 63-suite property.

The installation at the Hotel Metro, which was in its final stage on Monday, is the most recent of several Telkonet projects at five-star hotels in the area and illustrates the growing demand in the hospitality industry for energy efficiency solutions, representatives for the firm said.

According to Telkonet COO Jeff Sobieski, energy management has become the fastest growing business segment of the firm. The company based in Germantown, Md., is also known for its high-speed Internet systems in hotels.

The lodging industry, like others, faces market demands for environmentally sensitive products and services as well as rising energy costs. The challenge for the hospitality industry is to adopt green practices and achieve savings without compromising the guest experience. For energy management, the ideal would be a system that is so unobtrusive that the traveler is unaware of it.

Matt Koch, Telkonet’s vice president for hospitality operations, said guests at the Hotel Metro will see a streamlined thermostat with a small red arrow that points upward to indicate that the room can be warmed to the preference set by the traveler. There’s also a small blue arrow, pointing down, to indicate cooling.

“It’s very nice and easy to read,” Koch said. He added that visitors might not realize that the low-profile, simple-looking device is a key part of an energy management system.

The system remembers the HVAC preferences set by the guest, detects when the room is unoccupied, allows the preference to drift within a certain range while there’s no one in the room, and reverts to the setting indicated by the guest within 10 minutes of someone’s return, Koch said.

“It doesn’t simply turn off,” said Koch, noting that the arrangement promotes energy saving without discomforting visitors. “The hotelier wants to save on electricity but absolutely won’t do it at the expense of the comfort of the guest.”

Telkonet says its energy management systems on average result in a 30 percent savings. Properties totaling more than 90,000 rooms, primarily in the United States, use the firm’s systems, the company says.

Telkonet, a major player in energy management within the lodging industry, has been joined by several new players that have entered the arena in the past year, said Glenn Hasek, editor of the Green Lodging News and a guest columnist for GreenBiz.

“There are couple of main reasons for it — the first being rising energy prices,” said Hasek. “The second reason is the availability of new technology, specifically wireless technology.”

Wireless solutions are often more appealing options for hotels, particularly existing structures, because they can be installed without the construction required by a more traditional, wired system, he said.

The Hotel Metro occupies a six-story corner property in downtown Milwaukee and is a member of the Historic Hotels of America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Built in 1937 in the Art Deco style, the structure was originally the Mariner Building, housed offices and shops and was the first commercial building in the city to have central air conditioning. In 1998, the interior was reconstructed under Department of Interior guidelines and became a hotel. It was the first in the city to be certified by Travel Green Wisconsin.