Evolving Technology: Essential in Hospitality
THE THIRD BW Hotelier Smart Hotels Conclave and Expo, 2017, held at The Park, New Delhi on September 26, saw some cutting-edge product presentations and several engrossing panel discussions.
One such Session on ‘Green Forum- the Guest Above All: New HVAC Technologies That Can Uplift the In- Room Experience’ saw some of the esteem panelists from the Hospitality industry.
The panel moderated by Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor BW Hotelier had discussion with Anirban Sarkar General Manager, Country Inn and Suites, Sector-29, Gurgaon; Rajat Tuli General Manager, Radisson Blu, Agra; John Samuel Chief Engineer, ITC Grand Bharat; Anil Kumar Director of Engineering, The Imperial, New Delhi and Debajit Sen, Product Group Head, Commercial AC, Haier.
Sarkar began the discussion by saying that HVAC has expense which bothers everybody because it is one of the main components in the hotel operation. “What we are talking about here is new HVAC technologies that we can probably use, from the users perspective there are three things which they look at one is the compactness factor, second is the cost and the third is convenience.”
Speaking about the architecture of the hotel Kumar said, that this hotel had opened in 1936, the hotel building being old is not a challenge. “Architecture is very important and our hotel is so well designed that we don’t face a major challenge in up gradation of systems,” he said.
“if we talk about the challenges of HVAC the expense is the major challenge. It is almost 55 to 60 percent of the HLP which goes in HVAC. We have been upgrading the system from time to time and we are doing renovations of the rooms,” Kumar added.
Taking forward the discussion Samuel said, “We are in the industry where HVAC plays very important role. HVAC not only provides the thermal comfort it also maintains the indoor air quality. Thermal comfort is achieved by controlling the temperature, it’s not only cooling but the control of motion air,” he said.
Samuel also said that if the back end is controlled then the next is the guest end side. “The I-Pad control is part of the room automation system, which is the best tangible tool to enhance the guest experience. The guest can walk around and customize the temperature what he or she wants that also helps in reducing the wastage of energy,” he said.
