Predicting and saving the consumption of electricity in sub-tropical hotels

Purpose - The over-estimation of the energy requirements in new hotels would not only increase energy consumption but also result in other additional costs. To address this issue, this study attempts to establish the benchmark of electricity consumption and models energy demand of hotels. Design/methodology/ approach - A survey of 17 hotels and two power suppliers was conducted. Two approaches, namely averaging and multiple regression, were used to analyze the data. Findings - The former approach found that the average electricity usage was 313 kWh/m2/year for city hotels in subtropical areas. The multivariate analysis revealed two significant variables - cooling degree day and number of occupied rooms- which determine the level of electricity consumption. Based on these findings, projections on electricity consumption for hotels in the next few years were made. Originality/value - This study provides a fine-tuned norm of electricity consumption, confirms the best temperature of cooling degree days for modeling electricity demand and further highlights some practical measures on saving electricity.