Large Full-Service Hotel
359 rooms, 2 years since last renovation
Situation
A 30-year-old hotel property with 359 rooms was fully renovated in Summer 2018 but the renovation did not include upgraded or replaced toilets. The property is located in an area with low-cost water rates ($5/100CF). Even with low-cost water, the water bills were in excess of $30,000/year. The challenge was to determine if leaks were the cause of the higher-than-expected water costs, discover where the leaks were located and how to resolve them in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Results
The FlowActive team installed 365 FirstDrops® devices in the hotel guest room toilets to monitor individual fixture water consumption. After initial installation and audit, the first monthly report showed 631 alerts raised in a 30-day span.
The water loss in the toilets during the first 30 days was 189,000 gallons with a cost of more than $1,000. 42% of the water lost was due to continuously running fixtures.
After the repairs were made, the hotel reduced their water and sewer charges by over $600 the following month, net of repairs.
Our Artificial Intelligence (AI) based software predicted about 30% of these leaks would have continued and worsened, with a forecasted annual savings of $7,200.
Engineering worked with FlowActive to implement a more cost-effective, preventative maintenance program based on weekly reports generated by the data from each guest room fixture.
Benefits
The emergency maintenance calls decreased dramatically and immediately which created a better environment and experience for guests, front desk, and rooms department employees.
The hotel reduced its number of “out of order” rooms and benefitted from the improved guest satisfaction scores.
The savings decreased the average expense per room, helping the NOI and staff bonuses.
The water and sewer savings can be captured and reported helping the hotel meet its sustainability targets.
The Director of Sales is interested in leveraging the improved sustainability metrics for attracting future guests who value the reduced environmental impact of their hotel experience.
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.
