Accommodating Sustainability : Crowne Leads the Pack

A property wide commitment to carbon emissions reductions has seen an iconic Melbourne hotel reduce its gas consumption by 25 per cent through the replacement of aging atmospheric boilers.

According to the Cold Hard Facts 2 report prepared for the Australian Government in 2012, hotels use an estimated 12 per cent of the total natural gas consumed by Australia’s commercial building stock.

A proportionally greater amount compared to electricity, natural gas is typically used by hotels for space heating, domestic hot water and pool heating – and to a lesser extent laundry and kitchen.

In fact, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) says in their Introduction to Energy Efficiency Fact Sheet, that an average 62 per cent of all hotel gas consumption is from space heating, domestic hot water and pool heating water.

Confronting the challenges of reducing hotel energy use, the 30 year old Crowne Plaza Melbourne has become a flagbearer of sustainable best practice for both its management group IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) and the wider hotel industry.

After reducing electricity consumption by almost 29 per cent, the hotel’s management team more recently turned its attention to reducing its natural gas consumption.

In 2013 it replaced its aging and inefficient atmospheric boilers, used for in-room temperature control and domestic hot water, with modern, efficient technology supplied and installed by Automatic Heating.

The three new 770kW Modulex Condensing Hot Water Heaters have not only met the needs of hotel space heating and domestic hot water, as well as pool heating, but also delivered a monthly hotel gas saving of 25 per cent.

As a result, Crowne Plaza Melbourne took out the 2013 Best Environmental and Energy Efficiency Practice at the Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) State (Victoria) Awards for Excellence.

Two years on, the savings continue to be realised.