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ARCHIVED - Step 2: Compare With Other Facilities

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Benchmarking is the practice of comparing your operation's energy consumption with that of similar facilities. Factors such as the building age and the number of “degree-days” in your region (a measurement of the energy required to heat or cool your facility to maintain a comfortable temperature) may differ. However, if you compare these figures with your calculations from Step 1, you should get a good idea of your energy performance.

Please note: Full-service hotels may have higher energy costs due to the energy-intensive nature of additional facilities such as restaurants and pools. Similarly, fast-food restaurants generally have higher energy costs than traditional restaurants because of larger meal numbers, different equipment types, higher lighting intensities and longer operating hours.

We can use the table on page 13 to compare the hotel example described in Step 1   a full-service, 12 000-m2facility that includes a restaurant, pool and 175 rooms. Its energy use was calculated at 2.1 GJ/m2per year or 147.1 GJ per room per year. The table shows that our example hotel is within the typical annual energy-consumption range, but is a slightly higher-than-average consumer of energy compared with similar hotels.

Typical energy costs in the hotel industry range from $15/m2to $50/m2. For restaurants, the range is $50/m2to $275/m2. Although it may be tempting to measure energy performance in dollars, utility prices can vary from day to day, and those used to calculate the national averages in the tables on page 13 likely differ from prices in your area. So while it is wise to track energy prices closely, the performance measure that truly responds to changes in technology, behaviour and procedures is consumption. When benchmarking, gigajoules   not dollars   really count.

Hotels and Motels

Typical Annual
Energy-Consumption Range*

Average Annual Energy Intensity*

Basic Accommodations
(without restaurant or pool)
40 to 100 GJ per room
0.7 to 1.8 GJ/m2
55 GJ per room
1 GJ/m2
Full-Service Facilities
(with restaurant and pool)
100 to 200 GJ per room
1.4 to 3.6 GJ/m2
130 GJ per room
2 GJ/m2

CIBEUS Gross Annual Average Energy Intensities Results for Hotels and Motels**

Region

Gross Average Annual Energy Intensity (GJ/m2)

the Atlantic provinces 0.9
Quebec 1.4
Ontario 1.8
the Prairies 1.6
British Columbia 1.7
Year Built Gross Average Annual Energy Intensity (GJ/m2)
1990–99 1.3
1980–89 1.2
1960–79 1.7
1920–59 1.5
Before 1920 1.7
Gross Floor Space (m2) Gross Average Annual Energy Intensity (GJ/m2)
90–459 0.7
460–929 1.9
930–4644 1.2
4645–9289 1.1
9290+ 1.8

Restaurants

Typical Annual
Energy-Consumption Range*

Average Annual
Energy Intensity*

Fast Food 5 to 12 GJ/m2 7 GJ/m2
Full Service 3 to 10 GJ/m2 5 GJ/m2
All Restaurants 3 to 10 GJ/m2 6 GJ/m2

* Benchmarking figures from Roche ltée based on various sources.

** The Commercial and Institutional Building Energy Use Survey (CIBEUS) was completed in 2002 and was the first national energy survey in these sectors. More information is available at oee.nrcan.gc.ca/neud. Gross average annual energy intensity is determined by dividing the sector's total energy use (GJ) by its total area (m2).

Real Examples

The following data describe a range of facilities across Canada. All are members of the Energy Innovators Initiative, a program within NRCan's OEE (see Take the Next Step: Join Us).

Best Western Charlottetown
Owned and managed by CHIP Hospitality.
Built: 1961 (retrofit: 1988)
Area: 8785 m2 (146 rooms)
Energy types: Electricity, oil, propane
Annual energy costs and consumption: $170,642 11 800 GJ
Energy intensity per room: $1,168.78 80.8 GJ
Energy intensity per square metre: $19.42 1.3 GJ

Best Western Charlottetown

Quality Inn and Conference Centre Grande Prairie
Also owned and managed by CHIP Hospitality.
Built: 1979 (no retrofits)
Area: 10 358 m2 (102 rooms)
Energy types: Electricity, gas
Annual energy costs and consumption: $236,010 23 357 GJ
Energy intensity per room: $2,313.82 229 GJ
Energy intensity per square metre: $22.78 2.3 GJ

Fairmont Château Laurier

Fairmont Château Laurier
Located in Ottawa and a winner of the 2002 Energy Innovators Achievement Award.
Built: 1912 (retrofit: 1998)
Area: 61 300 m2 (429 rooms)
Energy types: Electricity, gas
Annual energy costs and consumption: $1.1 million 90 832 GJ
Energy intensity per room: $2,564.10 211.73 GJ
Energy intensity per square metre: $17.94 1.48 GJ

Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet
Figures for 12 franchises owned by Famz Foods in Sarnia, Ontario.
Retrofit: 2002
Area (12 facilities): 7200 m2 (average 600 m2)
Energy types: Electricity, gas
Annual energy costs and consumption: $665,175 55 770 GJ
Energy intensity per square metre: $92.39 7.7 GJ

These Web sites will help you compare your hotel with facilities in other countries:

Hotel Benchmarking Web at www.benchmarkhotel.com

Environmental Protection Agency Benchmarking Tool for Hotels at 208.254.22.6/index.cfm?c=business.bus_index

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