Needs
Operating a hotel successfully requires focus on the following 2 items (amongst others):
- How to make the stay of a guest as pleasant and comfortable as possible
- How to spent the minimum amount of energy to operate the hotel
Looking at these objectives from a BMS perspective this translates into:
- How to achieve the best possible comfort conditions in a room
- How to reduce the energy spent per room
At first sight, these objectives seem to be contradictive, and in reality you find either of the 2 (or even both) being sacrificed.
Example 1: Sacrificing comfort to save energy
A guest checks in for his hotel room in a hotel in Dubai, where outdoor air temperature is around 40°C. When arriving in the room, he finds his it at almost 40°C, because the air conditioning was switched off to save energy. Air condition only comes up after inserting the key card, and it may take several hours until the room is in comfortable conditions.
Example 2: Sacrificing energy to provide comfort
A guest checks in for his hotel room in a hotel in Dubai, where outdoor air temperature is around 40°C. When arriving in the room, he finds his room at almost comfortable 25°C, because the air conditioning was operating in standby mode. After inserting the key card, it takes little time to bring the room into comfort conditions. A smart BMS system should help to align on both objectives, providing maximum comfort at minimum energy.
Solutions
The CentraLine BMS system can be set up to interface directly with market leading room reservation systems. e.g. via the Fidelio protocol. Thereby the CentraLine system is able to find out in advance when hotel rooms are booked (reserved), when customers check in or when rooms are unrented. Factoring in this information in the overall control strategy in a smart way optimizes customer comfort, while reducing energy consumption:
Status: Room is unrent
Action: Allow significant deviation of room temperature from setpoint, without switching on air condition ("Off"-Condition). Additionally, shutters and blinds can be managed to prevent overheating though solar radiation (summer) or cooling down by transmission losses (winter).
Status: Room is rent, but guest has not yet checked in.
Action: Bring room into “standby” condition, with contained and controlled deviation of room temperature from comfort setpoint.
Status: Guest checks in
Action: Bring room to comfort conditions. Do this even before guest enters the room. Shutters and blinds will typically open in that state.
Status: “Rented” period
Action:Control room conditions according to the guest presence:
When room is empty, fall back to “standby” condition to save energy. Shutters and blinds can be managed to optimize energy gains and losses.
When room is occupied, switch to comfort conditions. Shutters and blinds will be exclusively managed by the guest (no automatic intervention)
Status: Guest checks out
Action: Allow significant deviation of room temperature from setpoint, without switching on air condition (“Off”-Condition). Shutters and blinds can be managed to optimize energy gains and losses.
Products
SMART INTEGRATION
HAWK
Smart integration platform, with BACnet (IP and MSTP) incl. B-BC certification, LONWORKS (FTT-10A and IP), Modbus, M-BUS, DALI, KNX, EnOcean, integration of CCTV, security and fire/smoke control.
HVAC PLANT CONTROL
EAGLEHAWK
Integrated building controller, with BACnet (IP and MSTP) incl. B-BC certification, LONWORKS (FTT-10A and IP), Modbus, M-BUS, DALI, KNX, EnOcean. Integration of lighting, shading, and other buildings applications.
SUPERVISION
ARENA
ARENA is a web-based supervisor for HVAC systems and non-HVAC systems (e.g., Lighting, Shading, Security, Life Safety, etc.). Open systems based on standards such as BACnet, LONWORKS, OPC, Modbus, M-Bus, KNX, SNMP, and others can be directly integrated in the supervisor.