INNCOM International Inc., the global hospitality-industry leader in advanced energy-management and Integrated Room Automation Systems for hotels and resorts, is successfully assisting Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts in Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States in their sustainability efforts by increasing customer satisfaction while reducing energy consumption, carbon footprints and operating expenses. Using attractive and intuitive temperature and lighting controls, INNCOM has designed welcoming guestroom environments that are enhancing each guests’ experience.
The Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport Malaysia, Pan Pacific Nirwana Bali, and Pan Pacific Seattle Hotel are among the first Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts properties to benefit from INNCOM’s sustainable solutions. The company’s Integrated Room Automaton System (IRAS), E528 Smart Digital Thermostat with on-board PIR motion detector, integrated “Privacy”/“Make-Up Room” functionality, and INNcontrol II solution (responsible for controlling guestroom lights, room thermostat, and other in-room systems) is lowering operating costs, increasing operating efficiencies, and helping each property to be truly “green,” all while achieving a return on investment within 2.5 to 3.5 years.
The INNCOM E528 Smart Digital Thermostat with on-board PIR motion detector gives guests direct control of room temperature within a comfort range. When a guest leaves the room, the system initiates a guestroom temperature setback to reduce unnecessary energy consumption. Because the system is networked, it alerts hotel staff of the guests’ request for Privacy or for a room refreshing (Make-Up Room). INNCOM's IRAS with INNcontrol II is a real-time, server-based application that allows a central point of monitoring and control for all guestroom devices.
“Energy is typically a hotel’s second highest operating cost,” said Raymond Yap, Sales Director for Inncontrol Technologies Sdn Bhd, the sole distributor for INNCOM in Malaysia. “Whether the price of energy is rising, staying flat or decreasing, the impact on financial statements is always significant. While managing energy usage is imperative, there is an acute need for hotels to do so in a way that eliminates any impact on the guest. INNCOM simultaneously addresses each guest’ expectations of comfort, satisfaction and safety while balancing management’s need for efficiency and reliability. At the Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport Hotel in particular, INNCOM has been able to meet both the hotel’s desire to increase profits while remaining environmentally sensitive and the customer’s desire to remain loyal to the green-minded hotel.”
John Fernandez, Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport MIS Manager, said initially he was skeptical, knowing there were not too many success stories relating to energy- management systems -- in particular among hotels.
“We are glad that the skeptics -- including ourselves -- have been proven wrong,” Fernandez said. “We anticipated savings of $185,499.13 per year in energy costs. In addition, we realized that implementing the INNCOM EMS will help us reduce annual emissions of CO2 by 1,716 tons each year. Before INNCOM, the annual CO2 emission for electricity and chilled water consumption was 8,268 tons and 2,368 tons respectively, resulting in a total 10,636 tons of CO2 being emitted to the atmosphere each year. INNCOM has delivered a 16 percent reduction in overall CO2 emissions.”
Through INNCOM, hotel managers are able to: review room temperatures online, change the settings as required or as requested by guests, review historical data pertaining to individual rooms during a guest’s stay period, and detect any abnormality to the HVAC unit well in advance, he said.
“In reality, we have easily exceeded our own estimates in monetary value, CO2 emissions and guest satisfaction thanks to INNCOM,” Fernandez said. “INNCOM has delivered on its promise from day one, and they continue to exceed expectations in energy savings and guest satisfaction as we speak.”
INNCOM is sharing information with a host of hospitality applications, including the property-management system and the electronic-locking solution. The system also provides HVAC maintenance and mini-bar status reports.
"With the INNCOM systems, energy costs can be controlled by activating programmable temperature setbacks when guestrooms are not occupied," said Hans Winsnes, Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur International Airport General Manager. "Temperature can be pre-set for 20 C when a guest enters the room but is automatically increased to 22 C when the guest exits. It is then re-adjusted to 20 C automatically upon re-entry. It has been proven that without compromising guest comfort, guestroom energy costs can typically be reduced by 30 percent or more. This in turn will reduce the chilled water consumption by almost 35 percent and fan-cooling unit electricity consumption by almost 40 percent. We are able to do this with the installation of a motion sensor that is installed in all the guestrooms. This also helps our hotel associates to determine if the guest is occupying the room or not without having to interrupt the guest. Therefore, it minimizes intrusion on guests’ privacy and while enhancing productivity."
Winsnes said that because INNCOM enables guests to request privacy and room refreshing at a touch of button, it eliminates the need for guests to call the housekeeping or maintenance. The guest's personal request is displayed immediately on the corridor wall plate with the status of the guestroom being automatically updated centrally, enabling housekeeping associates to work more efficiently.
“Our primary mission is to design, manufacture and sell systems and expertise that permit our customers to reduce energy consumption and costs without having a negative impact on comfort,” Raymond said. “We look forward to bringing more Pan Pacific properties online with our sustainable solutions in the near future.”
INNCOM spent the past 25 years focused on reducing energy consumption and costs without negatively impacting comfort. The company has developed and installed state-of-the-art energy-management systems in several hundred thousand hotel rooms in 50 countries around the world.
For more information on INNCOM and its products and services, please visit the company Web site at www.inncom.com.
About INNCOM: Founded in 1986, INNCOM develops, manufactures, and markets advanced guestroom control systems for the global lodging industry. The company’s product line ranges from programmable digital thermostats to fully integrated energy management, lighting control and communication systems. All INNCOM products are designed to enhance guest comfort, safety and satisfaction while increasing bottom line profits for property owners. INNCOM systems are installed in more than 800,000 guestrooms in many of the most prestigious hotels in 49 countries.
