Hotel Marcel Implements Power Over Ethernet Shades
PowerShades, a provider of manual and automated window shades for residential, commercial and hospitality applications, announces that they have been selected to outfit the innovative new Hotel Marcel in New Haven, CT with over 900 industry-first PoE (Power over Ethernet) automated roller window shades.
The Hilton-branded Hotel Marcel, the nation’s first “net zero” hotel, will feature PowerShades’ automated shades in 165 guest rooms and meeting rooms throughout the building. The sale includes 468 dual shades (468 blackout shades and 468 solar), as well as 14 single blackouts and 14 single solar shades for a total of 964 PoE motors.
The industry’s first and only PoE automated shades, PowerShades’ “True PoE” shades offer all the benefits of the company’s ground-breaking RF automated product, along with additional advantages not found in any other type of motorized shade. With PoE automated shades, a single CAT5 cable provides both power and communications, so there is no proprietary hard wiring necessary. Plus the PoE motor is low voltage (under 50V AC), so it doesn’t require a licensed electrician. And with power coming from a single, central source, more information can be transferred on the network cable while improving reliability over traditional RF solutions.
The shades in each guest room will be controllable by guests in two locations: a touchscreen located near the room entrance, as well as bedside buttons. A central control located at the Hotel’s front desk will allow hotel staff to pre-program the shades to open and close at set times including check-in and check-out. Shades can also be programmed in common areas and meeting rooms to reduce energy costs, taking advantage of the warmth of the sun during colder days and keeping rooms cool during the heat of the summer.
The Hotel Marcel will be extraordinarily innovative, both in its unique design elements inside and out, and incorporation of “smart” technology like the PoE shades. The Hotel will also generate 100% of its own electricity, heat and hot water with a rooftop solar array and solar parking canopies – making it the first “net-zero” hotel in the country.
Said building architect and developer, Bruce Redman Becker, FAIA, LEED AP of Becker & Becker, “We will be creating one of the country’s most sustainable and innovative hotels. We selected PowerShades because their automated shades featured the most developed PoE capabilities and were the best fit for our vision of bringing beauty, functionality and sustainability to every room in the hotel.”
Ryan Chacon, president of PowerShades, said, “We are thrilled that our combination of light-blocking and light-filtering PoE automated shades will be bringing convenient lighting and temperature control to the guests and staff of the Hotel Marcel. Plus, the reduced energy consumption of our True PoE shades is a perfect match for a Hotel that’s setting new standards for sustainability.”
The Hotel Marcel will be located in the former headquarters of Armstrong Rubber at 500 Sargent Dr. in New Haven. Sinclair Digital based out of Fort Worth, TX is handling PoE integration for the project. The PowerShades PoE automated shades are being installed this Fall, and the Hotel is scheduled to open in first quarter 2022.