Fairfield Inn Ups Energy Savings and Guest Satisfaction with In-Room Controls

The Fairfield Inn in Syosset, NY, an 82-room, three-story Marriott brand, was consistently getting complaint calls about temperature control levels in the guestrooms. Guests were unhappy about the uncomfortable temperature in the rooms when they checked in, and the property owner was tired of the financial drain. Looking for a long-term fix, the hotel management decided to implement the INNcontrol 3 from INNCOM. The result is a significant increase in guest satisfaction and amazingly a concurrent average 36% reduction in energy consumption.

 

Since INNCOM installed its centrally controlled energy-management system, the Fairfield Inn Syosset began seeing immediate results. The INNcontrol™ 3 system uses Deep Mesh Network technology which provides for a lower cost of installation vs. traditional wired systems. The Fairfield Inn Syosset is also scheduled to receive a $13,000 incentive from Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) for installing the INNCOM INNcontrol™ 3 system with the Deep Mesh Network.

 

"Before INNCOM, we really had few energy controls in place," said Lori Hamilton, General Manager at the Fairfield Inn Syosset. "Twelve of our rooms were controlled by thermostats and dampers and the rest operated with PTAC units. In an attempt to save energy, we would instruct housekeeping to turn off the PTACs when they were refreshing rooms and when rooms were unoccupied. Only when it was an extremely hot or cold day would we allow the units to run while rooms were being turned. What we didn't understand was that each time the units were turned off and then back on, they used far more energy than if we would have run the fans continually at low settings.”

 

In addition to temperature controls, INNcontrol 3 provides Fairfield Inn staff with real-time monitoring of HVAC and temperature satisfaction and creates alarms for any units that are not operating properly. The system even monitors guestroom network connections and reports non-communicating rooms. It is a constantly vigilant resource always keeping an eye on critical comfort systems.

 

INNCOM's INNcontrol™ 3 system communicates with in-room intelligent devices, such as the e528 Smart Digital Thermostat, the room occupancy sensor and door switch. The system reports which in-room devices have low battery levels; which rooms have constant occupancy; which rooms have problems with network connectivity; and which are not communicating properly with the hotel PMS and other systems. It tracks and reports equipment run-time which helps in a property's preventive maintenance processes as well as tracking the energy savings being achieved. Additionally, INNcontrol™ 3 can also communicate with other hotel server-based systems, such as the property-management system, building-automation systems, central electronic-locking systems and work order systems.