Energy Use in Hotels

Version	Summary	Created by	Modification	Content Size	Created at	Operation
1		Rodrigo Schons Arenhart	--	1018	2022-07-21 23:08:30	\|
2	Format correction	Sirius Huang	Meta information modification	1018	2022-07-22 04:10:11	\|

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/su14148239

Hotel chains are reported as one of the most energy-intensive sectors and a growing number of international studies on this theme have been developed. An understanding of energy consumption is crucial for the tourism sector because the high energy cost directly affects accommodation prices and the final profitability of companies.

hotel chains energy use sustainability

1. Introduction

The hospitality industry is a worldwide source of income and a larger energy user. The tourism industry was responsible for creating 330 million jobs worldwide and represented 10.3% of the world’s gross domestic product in 2019 ^[1]. Despite this industry being made up of small operations, collectively, the resource consumption and the environmental impact are significant ^[2]. The growth in energy use has resulted in several environmental problems, including an increase in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), which is a major factor in global warming ^[3]. Some energy systems are not optimized and thus contribute to a high carbon footprint, which has generated a demand for legislation in energy-use reduction and the use of renewable sources in buildings ^[4]. Scholars have found that the energy consumption intensity of hotel buildings is the highest and that international tourism has a positive effect on energy use, which should generate a focus on renewable energy production and use ^[5]^[6]^[7]. Reducing energy use, implementing non-polluting energy systems, and improving efficiency are key to mitigating climate change’s effects ^[8].

An understanding of energy consumption is also crucial for the tourism sector because the high energy cost ^[9] directly affects accommodation prices and the final profitability of companies. Furthermore, stakeholders call upon firms to assume additional responsibilities for the benefit of the community and environment, generating in the hotel industry a gradual adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices ^[10]. Global carbon reporting frameworks and guidelines were developed to facilitate measurement and reporting processes, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which together with a growing number of academic studies, has resulted in a considerable number of companies reporting their climate change performance ^[11].

Over the last 20 years, many investigations on energy and water use in hotels have been developed; most studies focused on electricity consumption, some analyzed fuel use, and few verified water consumption ^[12]. Many variables showed interactions with energy use, such as hotels’ floor area ^[3]^[12]^[13]^[14], guest nights ^[12]^[13], star rating ^[2]^[15], worker density ^[2]^[4]^[14], occupancy ^[3]^[9]^[12]^[15], and revenue ^[4]^[14]^[15], among others. Despite this, there is still room for the discovery and ratification of relationships linked to energy consumption in hotels. It was noticed that a major part focused on collecting data from individual hotels, and just one study in the literature is based on data from hotel chains ^[13]. This occurs due to the lack of data, which can usually be found only in sustainable reports or by conducting surveys. Another characteristic observed in the studies present in the relevant journals was the geographical area, with works that normally cover only one city ^[15], country ^[2]^[4]^[9]^[12]^[14], or region ^[3]^[13].

2. Energy Use in Hotels

A growing number of international articles on resource consumption in the hospitality sector have been published ^[12]. Several indicators found in research are incorporated in the environmental reports of hotel companies. Despite this, there is a lack of standardization in the data presentation and, in many cases, the omission of important variables. These circumstances make it difficult for stakeholders to understand the complete information and do not help in the development of research.

Relevant studies that analyzed the issue of resource consumption in hotels have been identified. The main emphasis was given to those works that identified relationships between energy use and other significant variables measured in hotels. These studies collected data in several locations such as Europe, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Tunisia, and the Canary Islands. All studies developed a methodology to evaluate energy use, with two papers evaluating water consumption as well. The hotel sample varies from 6 to 200 hotels. Table 1 presents prior research on energy use in hotels.

Table 1. Research on energy use in hotels.

Authors	Sample and Period	Region	Dependent Variable(s)	Independent Variable(s)	Significant Result(s)
^[2]	29 hotels—2004	Singapore	Energy use	Star rating Worker density Last retrofit	Star rating (−) Worker density (+)
^[3]	30 hotels—2013	Hong Kong	Energy use	Building age Floor area Guestroom Occupancy rate Maintenance costs	Floor area (+)
^[4]	6 hotels—2019/2020	Gran Canaria	Energy use	Overnight stays Number of diners Number of workers Number of rooms RevPAR Pool volume Number of guests per room	RevPAR (+) Number of diners (+) Pool volume (+) Number of guests per room (+)
^[9]	73 hotels—2010	Taiwan	Energy use	Foreign individual travelers (FIT) Number of group guests	FIT (+) Group guests (+)
^[12]	55 hotels—2018	Tunisia	Energy use and water use	Floor area Number of beds Number of guests rooms Number of guests-nights Occupancy rate Floor area (guestrooms)	Floor area (guestrooms) (+) Number of guests-nights (+)
^[4]	6 hotels—2019/2020	Gran Canaria	Energy use	Overnight stays Number of diners Number of workers Number of rooms RevPAR Pool volume Number of guests per room	RevPAR (+) Number of diners (+) Pool volume (+) Number of guests per room (+)
^[13]	184 hotels—2004	Europe	Energy and water use	Floor area Guest-nights sold Food cover sold laundry washed on-site On-site health club	Floor area (+) Guest-nights sold (+) Food cover sold (+)
^[14]	200 hotels—2010	Taiwan	Energy use	Floor area Number of rooms Number of buildings Number of workers Occupancy rate ADR Total revenue Number of guests	Floor area (+) Number of rooms (+) ADR (+) Total revenue (+) Occupancy rate (+)
^[15]	24 hotels—2013	Lijiang, China	Energy use	Floor area Number of guests rooms Star rating Occupancy rate Room revenue Number of workers Floor area (guestrooms)	Star rating (+) Occupancy rate (+)

Despite the number of recent studies, only one article used data from hotel chains, which included 184 hotels from two world-renowned brands. Other works used data from surveys in hotel units, without considering the use of energy by hotel conglomerates. Another limitation was the geographical distribution of this research, which ended up reflecting the use of resources in specific regions of the world. To fill this gap, studies are needed to provide a better understanding of energy use and its key factors in hotel chains around the world.

Previous research (please see Table 1) has seen some significant relationships between the dependent variable, energy use, and several independent variables. The relationship between energy and the occupancy of the rooms and the revenue generated by them is highlighted, and this positive relationship was seen in five of the eight studies evaluated. In addition, another variable that showed a significant and positive correlation with the dependent variable in four different studies was the floor area. The other variables contributed in a not-so-evident way to the studies.

References

WTTC Economic Impact Reports. Available online: https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact (accessed on 2 December 2021).
Xuchao, W.; Priyadarsini, R.; Siew Eang, L. Benchmarking Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Singapore’s Hotel Industry. Energy Policy 2010, 38, 4520–4527.
Lai, J.H.K. Energy Use and Maintenance Costs of Upmarket Hotels. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 2016, 56, 33–43.
Santiago, D.E. Energy Use in Hotels: A Case Study in Gran Canaria. Int. J. Low-Carbon Technol. 2021, 16, 1264–1276.
Rauf, A.; Ozturk, I.; Ahmad, F.; Shehzad, K.; Chandiao, A.A.; Irfan, M.; Abid, S.; Jinkai, L. Do Tourism Development, Energy Consumption and Transportation Demolish Sustainable Environments ? Evidence from Chinese Provinces. Sustainability 2021, 13, 12361.
Huang, Z.; Chen, X.; Wang, K.; Zhou, B. Air Conditioning Load Forecasting and Optimal Operation of Water Systems. Sustainability 2022, 14, 4867.
Khanal, A.; Rahman, M.M. Are Tourism and Energy Consumption Linked ? Evidence from Australia. Sustainability 2021, 13, 10800.
De Las Casas, A.L.; Mirkova, I.; Ramos-Real, F.J. Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Possible Energy Sustainability Solutions in the Hotels of the Canary Islands. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6943.
Wang, J.C.; Huang, K.T. Energy Consumption Characteristics of Hotel’s Marketing Preference for Guests from Regions Perspective. Energy 2013, 52, 173–184.
Wong, A.K.F.; Kim, S.; Lee, S.; Elliot, S. An Application of Delphi Method and Analytic Hierarchy Process in Understanding Hotel Corporate Social Responsibility Performance Scale. J. Sustain. Tour. 2021, 29, 1153–1179.
de Grosbois, D.; Fennell, D.A. Determinants of Climate Change Disclosure Practices of Global Hotel Companies: Application of Institutional and Stakeholder Theories. Tour. Manag. 2022, 88, 104404.
Mechri, H.E.; Amara, S. Investigation and Analysis of Energy and Water Use of Hotel Buildings in Tunisia. Energy Build. 2021, 241, 110930.
Bohdanowicz, P.; Martinac, I. Determinants and Benchmarking of Resource Consumption in Hotels-Case Study of Hilton International and Scandic in Europe. Energy Build. 2007, 39, 82–95.
Wang, J.C. A Study on the Energy Performance of Hotel Buildings in Taiwan. Energy Build. 2012, 49, 268–275.
Tang, M.; Fu, X.; Cao, H.; Shen, Y.; Deng, H.; Wu, G. Energy Performance of Hotel Buildings in Lijiang, China. Sustainability 2016, 8, 780.

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Subjects: Engineering, Environmental

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Rodrigo Schons Arenhart

Adriano Mendonça Souza

Roselaine Ruviaro Zanini

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Update Date: 25 Jul 2022

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1. Introduction

2. Energy Use in Hotels

References