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New Updates to ENERGY STAR Scoring for Hotels

August 29, 2017

To gain better understanding of energy benchmarking for hotels, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) launched an analysis of the July 2012 CBECS survey to review variables impacting onsite energy use in hotels. The results from this analysis revealed changes that could improve benchmarking for various hotel types, onsite equipment, and operations. The new model was developed using the 2012 CBECS data, and validated using data from AH&LA member hotels gathered through a recent AH&LA survey. Recently the EPA released findings and information on its forthcoming changes to the ENERGY STAR® scoring methodology for hotels.

Updates to ENERGY STAR Scoring for Hotels

The new model for hotels will include updated adjustments for:

The new model will continue to use the following factors, though adjustments have changed to better normalize energy use between hotels:

EPA's analysis also included the evaluation of dozens of other variables, including several addressing laundry, occupancy rate, and amount of conference space, however these were found to not be statistically significant in the analysis and therefore aren't included in the final hotel model.

Lastly, the data for the new model is not based on amenity category (luxury v. economy), because this data is not available in the CBECS survey. Instead, the model is based on differences in the data points listed above to normalize the ENERGY STAR® score across all property types, with a recognition that the characteristics used in the model are effective in taking into account differences among hotels in different amenity categories. To confirm that the new model treats hotels in different amenity categories equitably, the EPA performed extensive testing by segmenting the thousands of hotels currently using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® by brand and amenity category. These hotels were run through the final model, with the results showing that hotel amenity category is not a predictor of a certain ENERGY STAR® score.

The new scoring model will launch in Portfolio Manager in August 2018, and could cause some significant changes to the ENERGY STAR® score. However, the updates should provide more equitable ENERGY STAR® scoring for all hotels.

SOL VISTA has been an active participant in the ongoing efforts to refine the scoring system with the EPA and AH&LA, and will continue to stay ahead of the curve for our customers. If you have any questions about the upcoming changes, don't hesitate to contact us.

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