Hotel microgrids cut energy costs, meet demand from guests for sustainability
March 11, 2022
Lisa Cohn
Travelers are looking for accommodations that meet sustainability goals, and a hotel microgrid can help meet that demand with financial help from federal incentives and participation in energy markets.
Travelers have good reason to search for sustainable hotels. Because hotels operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and include refrigeration, they’re one of the highest energy and water consumers per square foot. The average guest room uses about $2,200 in energy costs annually.
Two hotel microgrid projects that aim to meet guests’ sustainability goals are Hotel Marcel, a net-zero hotel in New Haven, Connecticut, that began operating at the end of 2021, and a Marriott hotel in Costa Rica — Marriott Hacienda Belen — whose microgrid is a first for the Marriott chain in Latin America. It is expected to be operating in the next few weeks.