A more energy-efficient hotel: HVAC upgrades at InterContinental Madrid cut energy use by 40 percent
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) operates over 6,000 hotels around the world. The business is working to reduce its per-room carbon footprint through the IHG Green Engage system. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are a central focus of the effort to create more energy efficient hotels, as they typically account for 60 to 80 percent of energy consumption.
The InterContinental Madrid hotel has been a favorite among travelers for 70 years. The hotel management was eager to improve the old building’s sustainability, but they felt strongly that any changes shouldn’t compromise convenience or comfort for guests.
The management conducted an energy efficiency audit with Exel Industrial – an ABB Value Provider. It revealed that the most significant consumers of power within the hotel were the eight pumps that supply the HVAC system and provide hot water to guest rooms. Working with experts from ABB, hotel management decided to replace them with 16 higher-efficiency electric motors.
The new pump motors were paired with 13 ABB ACH550 variable speed drives (VSDs) designed for HVAC applications. They enable more precise operation and save power any time the motor is not running at full speed. The motor-drive packages are also quieter and more reliable than the old motors.
These upgrades to the hotel heating and cooling systems, combined with an intelligent motion solution, reduced energy use by 445,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) annually – a 40 percent decrease. This huge saving has a significant impact on the hotel’s operating costs, cutting its annual energy spending by approximately $37,000. As a result, the upgrades paid for themselves in under two years.
The more energy-efficient hotel exceeded InterContinental’s objectives, eliminating the equivalent of 253 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.
Esteban Rodriguez, Chief Engineer of the InterContinental Hotel Madrid, explains: “InterContinental is very interested in increasing the sustainability of the chain through the Green Engage program. In this program, all the hotels aim to achieve higher levels of sustainability.”
Enrique Bernard Lillo, Quality and Financial Manager of Exel Industrial, adds: “During this fieldwork, we observed that decreasing the frequency of the motor by 10 percent would produce energy savings of 40 percent.”
