Smart room systems: Implementation of Energy Management Systems into existing hotels
The technology inside hotels is a pretty common thing nowadays. New property developments usually consist of several different technology included areas, in order to match operator and guest needs.
Room Management Systems are usually a part of the mentioned development. During the design phase, it is important to get on the same page with investors, contractors and other relevant parties, so the system installation goes smoothly without any unpredicted issues. This is not an easy job to do since there are a lot of different teams included, but it is still much easier than working on the implementation of the same system in an already opened hotel. Working on already opened property usually means that you have to rely on existing cablings infrastructure and hope it will match system requirements. As you can imagine, existing hotels have just a slight chance to match standard system needs.
If you are looking to implement „classic“ cardholder systems, with cabled magnetic contacts and room entry readers, you will have to prepare lots of new cablings within the room, which usually means breaking down parts of walls and plenty of work required. Energy management systems need to have some sort of cable connection with the server. This is usually done via modern protocols such as TCP/IP or older topologies such as BUS connections etc. Creating topology for RMS systems in the project development phase is quite simple, but during the retrofit/refurbishment phase it can be a massive total cost factor.
This is where Interel offers a different, more modern approach.
First of all Interel equipment is working with several modern protocols such as TCP/IP, ZigBee, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Wi-Fi.
Guestroom system workflow is s designed to work without a strict need for use of cardholders, cabled wall-mounted card readers or usually used sensors such as magnetic contacts on windows or guestroom entry doors.
Interel energy management room system is communicating with a server using the existing hotel's WIFI infrastructure, which immediately eliminates the usual server and guestrooms topologies. This actually means you don't have any work to do outside of the guestrooms. WIFI protocol ensures real-time server communication with negligible network bandwidth requirements
The only required cable within a guestroom is the one between the WIFI room controller and the thermostat panel.
There is also a possibility that existing cable fits this requirement, so there could be zero new cablings required within a room as well!
This system doesn't rely on cardholders and its own cabled wall readers so there is no need for implementing them at all. The system is integrated with plenty of other 3rd party access control vendors, and all of them offer battery-powered electronic locks. This means that EMS will receive all needed information from doorlock using wireless protocols once more meaning, the cable is not needed. Based on this info, and advanced workflow, the system will either switch to energy-saving or give guests complete control. Zigbee window magnetic contacts, or additional bathroom Zigbee presence detector can be implemented in order to receive higher functionality and energy savings.
When comparing to classic guestrooms without energy management systems, Interel EMS manages to save approx 26% of total room energy use. Besides that, systems are easy to maintain, easy to install and capable of self-regulating. All of this helps investors achieve faster ROI, helps with green initiatives and policies, without affecting the guest experience.
For more information, feel free to contact us: ivan.peris@spica.com
