Airport Convenience Hotel
108 rooms, 3 years since last renovation at start of demonstration
Situation
Newly built or recently remodeled hotels are not immune from leaks. Consider the case of an over 20-year-old, 108-room hotel in New York’s Capital Region. Recently renovated in 2017, the general manager and chief engineer were sure that water waste in the toilets was minimal. The hotel owner, not as certain, agreed to outfit the hotel as part of a FlowActive demonstration program.
Results
During normal occupancy, the problems uncovered were fairly predictable. FlowActive recorded about 300 alerts in the first 90 days showing various leakage problems. Within a 30-day span, 49,813 gallons of water were used, of which 8,509 gallons were wasted (17 percent) before repairs could be made.
When the novel coronavirus hit, the hotel remained partially open for essential personnel, using two of the four floors. Since the hotels’ shutdown began in mid-March, the system detected problems in three rooms.
Room 107, on a closed floor, recorded 14 leak alerts with no guest checked into the room. Although triggering more than once a week, the toilet wasted less than 1,000 gallons. The hotel determined it was not as urgent as the other alerts.
Room 215, on an open floor, was vacant for several weeks and showed no alerts. In late April, a National Guard member stayed overnight. In one night, the toilet leaked about 1,500 gallons of water. This was likely due to a failing toilet flapper valve that typically leaks until someone jiggles the handle to reseat the valve. The leak stopped until the next guests arrived and then the alerts reappeared.
Room 316, also on an open floor and in use, had 31 alerts — one every three days —wasting about 1,200 gallons of water. This needed to be addressed promptly.
These types of leaks are hard to find by spot-checking and in many instances, the staff does not regularly inspect fixtures. Alerts for leaks become more frequent as fixtures age. Relying on old methods for detecting problems does not work in a hotels’ favor. One of the key benefits of continuous monitoring of water at the point of use is to promptly spot problems and make repairs before costs escalate.
Savings
For newer properties or properties with newly replaced toilets, the value of FlowAcitve is to extend and maintain the high financial performance obtained as a result of investing in facility renovations.
Water leaks become more prevalent and significant as a newly renovated hotel ages over the next several years. FirstDrops® allows you to extend new facility levels of performance and avoid the expected losses associated with aging properties.
FlowActive continues to provide year-over-year savings for a very attractive return on investment. An added benefit of the system is its ability to assist hotel owners with quantifying and reporting their water savings as part of their sustainability efforts which about a third of the guests indicate is important to them. FlowActive can be customized to easily aggregate your data for sustainability reporting.
Testimonial
FlowActive works. It not only pays for itself with the savings in the water and sewer bills but produces other, less tangible benefits. We helped improve confidence that the staff could both maximize their financial metrics and provide additional value to potential guests. The GM was “surprised to have leaks occurring during such a low occupancy period.”
“We are glad to have an alert system in place; we would have wasted many times the water. Any savings we can get are needed.”
About FlowActive®
FlowActive™ is revolutionizing property water intelligence with the power of AI. Designed and developed by building owners who know the importance of protecting real estate assets. FlowActive predictive analytics help owners and operators prevent loss, streamline maintenance, manage costs, and deliver real-time insights into water, energy, and GHG usage and savings..
Visit www.flowactive.com or call (518) 992-5408 for more information.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1831244. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
