Energy Saving in Tourism

Energy saving in the tourism sector is a particularly important opportunity to start building a sustainable future from today. When annual expenses of tourism facilities are analyzed, personnel, food-beverage and energy come to the fore as the primary expenses. Of course, personnel and food/beverage expenses constitute the largest expense items in tourism. However, energy and fuel costs rank as the 3rd largest expense item for tourism facilities.

Energy saving in tourism is not only important for decreasing expenses and increasing revenues of tourism facilities, but also unbelievably valuable in terms of spending less energy and creating a sustainable future. We will examine energy saving opportunities in the tourism sector in this post.

For more information about energy saving, you can visit our blog post here.

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What Are Energy Saving Opportunities in the Tourism Sector?

According to the study titled ‘Energy Consumption and Energy Saving Opportunities in Tourism Sector', energy expenses in tourism sector has a share between 8-12% in the total expenses. And the biggest expense item among energy expenses is electricity. Electricity is followed by water with 19.76% and natural gas with 17.24%.

Based on the fact that customer satisfaction depends on comfortable accommodation conditions for people, it is possible to save energy without compromising comfort. When sector is analyzed from a closer perspective, we see that the biggest share in energy expenses in hotels and restaurants belongs to heating, lighting, and hot water utilization. Therefore, we must focus on heating and lighting in order to save energy in the tourism sector, especially in accommodation.

This type of energy potential is over 40% in enterprises!

1. It is possible to reach these saving rates by utilizing daylight with maximum benefit,
2. Providing wall, pipe, and door insulation in order to decrease heat loss,
3. Building windows with double-glazing units in order to reduce energy losses,
4. Providing automation for temperature controls.

As part of Enerjisa Energy of My Business, click here to learn more about Energy Efficiency Applications.

Where Does the Tourism Sector Spend Energy?

We need tourism for discovering novel places and for recreation. We all naturally want to relax during our vacations and travel comfortably. And this comfort requirement at the heart of tourism sector increases energy consumption and demand. That is why we need to evaluate the opportunities for energy saving which can be implemented without reducing comfort levels.

In order to decrease energy consumption in the tourism sector, to enable more efficient usage of energy and to save energy, we must first identify saving opportunities. The highest rate of energy consumption in accommodation facilities, hotels and B&Bs belongs to heating with 35%. It is followed by lighting with 33%.

In other words, energy in tourism is mostly spent on heating and lighting. And this indicates to us that heating and lighting are the areas to focus on in energy efficiency applications.

How To Save Energy in the Tourism Sector?

We know that it is possible to save over 40% of energy by making use of efficiency application in heating and ventilation systems in hotels.

If we are to provide some examples:

• Lighting, heating, cooling, ventilating, and air-conditioning, and engines used for elevators, water pumps etc. in hotel rooms and common usage areas are the areas with the highest energy consumption in accommodation facilities. Heat recovery and air-conditioning applications have immense potential for energy saving. Great savings can be achieved through optimization of central heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in facilities and buildings.

• Kitchens are the areas with the highest energy consumption in restaurants. Areas where most energy is consumed in kitchens can be reduced through energy efficiency applications.

• One of the most effective methods to decrease heating costs is insulation. Insulating walls and windows may provide significant savings. For example, using double-glazing or Thermopane can reduce heat loss from windows or heat gain in cooling by almost half.

• Places with heat leakage should be identified with the help of thermal cameras. Measures can be taken in areas with heat loss.

• If radiators are used for heating, heat insulation behind the radiators can be increased.

• Having temperatures much higher and lower than the optimum levels can be prevented with automation. In other words, preventing the rooms being too hot / too cold can be a savings item.

• Energy label classes should be considered in purchases of new appliances used in tourism establishments such as air-conditioners, refrigerators, etc. and class ‘A’ appliances should be preferred.

• There should not be objects or curtain-like accessories which prevent air flow around appliances used for heating such as radiators or air-conditioning units in open areas and rooms.

• Heat recovery applications can be used, and waste heat can be recovered to increase efficiency of heat recovery steam generator.

• In regions with high cooling requirements, constructions which block sun light on the southern facade of buildings should be avoided, plants which may obstruct light should not be preferred, and northern windows should be small while southern windows should be large.

• In order to enable energy saving in lighting, the lighting fixtures should be installed after determining lighting levels as the first step, and unnecessary lighting should be avoided. In addition, using energy-efficient lighting fixtures is important in terms of efficiency.

Why Is Energy Saving Important in Tourism?

Energy is one of the most important expense items in the tourism sector as it is in all sectors. Türkiye being foreign-dependent in energy resources, provision of energy mostly from fossil resources, the increasingly rapid consumption of fossil resources in the world and their environmental impacts, and soaring prices of energy are among the factors that make energy more important than ever for the future in all sectors as well as in tourism sector.

Energy is one of the most important expense items in tourism, following personnel and food-beverage items. Thus, reducing energy expenses would increase profitability in this sector. As we detailed above, efficiency applications can be used in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems of tourism enterprises to provide savings. Heat losses can be decreased by providing insulation. Energy saving in lighting can be achieved by preventing lighting at unnecessary places and adjusting lighting levels according to the needs of the setting. Highly preferring energy-efficient appliances for cooling and heating would reduce energy consumption.

In conclusion, energy saving is indispensable for profitable, sustainable tourism.