Case Study

How PLAZA Hotels reduce energy consumption with intelligent energy management

Marie-Kristin Heitmann

Betterspace GmbH · יָנוּאָר 13, 2024

PLAZA Hotels rely on the smart energy management system better.energy to save energy. Yonca Yalaz, Managing Director of PLAZA Hotelgroup, talks about the use and goals of smart heating control in the hotels in this experience report.

Why it matters: Rising energy prices are a challenge for hotels. To counteract the high energy costs, hotels of the PLAZA Hotelgroup use the energy management system better.energy to reduce energy consumption. One of the first hotels to be equipped with the intelligent heating control system is the Best Western Hotel am Kastell. Here, among other things, the old thermostats on the radiators were replaced with wireless ones that automatically regulate the temperature in the hotel rooms with the help of better.energy.

The intelligent energy management system better.energy regulates radiators automatically and so efficiently that hotels can reduce their energy consumption by up to 31 percent. With an interface to the hotel’s PMS system, better.energy controls heating based on occupancy. The system knows when a guest checks in and the hotel room needs to be heated. As soon as a guest checks out, better.energy automatically lowers the temperature to an efficient level. The intelligent heating control system controls the thermostats based on temperature limits that are individually set by the hotel. This can prevent the guest room from overheating and thus consuming energy unnecessarily, or prevent unoccupied rooms from cooling down too much.

Top 3 Core Objectives: PLAZA Hotelgroup was looking for a way to reduce energy consumption, but not only because of rising energy prices.

Less energy consumption: Improving heating efficiency by atomatically regulating radiators
More sustainability: With less energy consumption the CO2 emissions are reduced
Personnell-independent solution: No more manual regulation of radiators to reduce the workload on staff

"We see it as a good decision to have started or entered into this project and are looking forward to being able to report energy savings at the end of the year. [...] In addition, we can relieve the staff by the use, since no more manual regulation is necessary."

Yonca Yalaz

Managing Director, PLAZA Hotelgroup

Featured success stories for you

👍 Managing Director, PLAZA Hotelgroup Yonca Yalaz said that saving energy, becoming more sustainable and relieving hotel staff are the main priorities:

"We see it as a good decision to have started or entered into this project and are looking forward to being able to report energy savings at the end of the year. [...] In addition, we can relieve the staff by the use, since no more manual regulation is necessary."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Yonca Yalaz evaluated Betterspace GmbH's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Betterspace GmbH was the best fit solution:

Managing Director, PLAZA Hotelgroup Yonca Yalaz said, about their decision: "As we continued to talk, it became apparent that this emerging technology was a better fit for our company,"

📈 The results: better.energy controls the radiators automatically, based on intelligent algorithms such as the automatic day and night adjustment, and occupancy information from the PMS

Less energy consumption thanks to the automatic open-window detection and other features
Relieved staff thanks to automatic radiator control, no more checking the radiators after the check out
Reduced CO2 emissions, more positive green footprint, less waste due to the thermostats' extended battery life