Sustainable hotel operations

Current situation

Sustainable operations are becoming an increasingly important consideration for guests when booking hotels and serviced apartments. According to the Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report 2024, 75% of travellers want to travel more sustainably over the next twelve months. In corporate travel, around 70% of global companies have formal sustainability targets that also cover supplier and hotel selection (GBTA, 2024).

What matters is not just a sustainability promise, but above all demonstrable performance, such as verified energy, CO₂ and operational data.

Energy is one of the largest controllable costs in hotel operations, typically accounting for around 5 to 7% of operating costs. In energy-intensive full-service hotels, this share can be significantly higher. Because hotels operate around the clock and energy consumption falls only to a limited extent as occupancy decreases, inefficient operating schedules, incorrect HVAC control settings and unnecessary base loads directly affect operating margins.

However, many properties lack visibility into when, where and why energy is consumed. Consumption data is often available only on a monthly basis. As a result, malfunctions, unnecessary running hours, excessively high temperatures and inefficient overnight consumption are often detected late.

Savings potential

Optimising energy use and operations in hotels and serviced apartments directly supports cost control, technical quality and sustainable positioning. Greater transparency, monitoring and adjustments to existing operating strategies can deliver significant improvements, often without extensive refurbishment or compromising guest comfort.

From 2027, fossil heating fuels and other fossil fuels will also gradually be subject to carbon pricing under the EU Emissions Trading System ETS-2. Properties with gas or oil heating, commercial kitchens and laundry facilities can therefore expect higher energy costs. Measuring and managing consumption today helps limit these additional costs before they take effect.

Indicative savings ranges run from 10 to 20% across business and city hotels, serviced apartments, conference and event hotels, hotels with spas, pools or saunas, and hotel portfolios. Actual savings depend on building condition, technical infrastructure, energy prices, usage and available data.

Calculation example (illustrative). For a 140-room city hotel with annual energy costs of around €420,000, a 15% saving is approximately €63,000 per year, with no additional capital expenditure. If the operator bears the energy costs, these savings flow directly into the contribution margin. At an assumed 5.5% cap rate, the model-based value impact is approximately €1.15m.

Typical causes of avoidable consumption include heating or cooling of unoccupied rooms, fixed operating hours regardless of occupancy, unnecessary night-time and weekend loads, heating and cooling systems running simultaneously, malfunctioning valves, fan coils or actuators, inefficient domestic hot water generation, undetected peak loads in the kitchen, laundry or spa, lack of transparency on individual building areas, and failure to factor in weather data.

The solution approach

The workcloud24 platform connects building technology, consumption data, sensors and operational information into an ongoing control and optimisation logic. The goal is not a one-off energy audit, but permanently better building operation.

• Building technology and meter data. Integration of existing BMS, smart meter, IoT and consumption data.

• Monitoring and fault detection. Early identification of unusual consumption, inefficient system states and technical anomalies.

• Occupancy and usage data. Matching energy demand against room occupancy, event schedules, operational workflows and actual usage.

• AI-driven optimisation. Taking into account weather forecasts, thermal storage capacity, occupancy and, where available, time-of-use energy tariffs.

• Measurement, reporting and continuous improvement. Documentation of measures, consumption and demonstrable progress during ongoing operations.

The AI monitors the ongoing operation of the building management system and eliminates inefficiencies. Recurring occupancy patterns and load curves are identified, and external factors such as weather data and fluctuating energy prices are fed into the control logic. Example control actions include pre-cooling rooms, lobby or conference areas ahead of hot days, preparing domestic hot water ahead of high occupancy, optimised operation of heat pumps, chillers and ventilation, using lower-cost off-peak periods where technically and contractually possible, reducing expensive daytime peak loads, and integrating on-site renewable generation and battery storage where available.

Benefits for hoteliers and operators

For the guest. Evidence of sustainable operation allows guests to book with a clear conscience and in some cases justifies a higher rate. For corporate travel bookings, this evidence is increasingly becoming a requirement. Thermal comfort also improves: rooms are proactively pre-cooled or heated and ventilated in time for check-in.

For management. By aligning the load profile with actual usage, avoidable energy and operating costs fall. Technical malfunctions are detected early, and maintenance is planned proactively and prioritised more effectively. This reduces running costs permanently, not just once.

For technical services and operations. Full transparency on energy consumption and system performance, faster response to anomalies and better coordination between engineering, housekeeping and hotel operations. For portfolios, the platform enables central monitoring and control of all properties.

For owners and investors. Energy efficiency and the operational quality of technical systems have a direct impact on property value, and therefore on lending value and financing costs. Verifiable operating data strengthens the position in financing, refinancing and sales processes.

Sustainability as a marketing and tendering advantage

Guests, corporate clients, travel agencies and event organisers increasingly expect verifiable sustainability performance. General claims such as green, eco-friendly or sustainable are no longer enough. What matters is whether an operator can show that energy consumption, CO₂ reduction and technical improvements are actually measured and continuously managed.

This supports documented reductions in energy consumption, verifiable CO₂ performance, visible measures for more efficient hotel operations, regular sustainability and performance updates, concrete content for the website, social media and sales materials, and credible communication with guests and corporate accounts.

In corporate RFPs, travel tenders and framework agreements, operators are increasingly asked about their sustainability strategy and how it is implemented in practice. Especially where location, pricing and amenities are comparable, demonstrably sustainable operation can become the decisive differentiator.

Project approach with no upfront fee

1. Initial assessment. Analysis of existing energy, meter and building data as well as the technical infrastructure, establishing which data and systems are already in place, which interfaces can be used, where metering points or transparency are lacking, which areas are the biggest consumption drivers, and which short-term measures are possible without major investment.

2. Building performance report. Analysis of consumption and load profiles, identification of anomalous systems and operating states, prioritisation of short-term optimisation measures, an estimate of savings potential, and recommendations for monitoring, sensors and technical integration.

3. Implementation and monitoring. Once approved, the relevant systems are connected step by step and ongoing optimisation begins. Measures include adjusting operating hours, optimising heating, cooling and ventilation setpoints, pre-cooling or pre-heating based on weather forecasts, reducing unnecessary base loads, targeted fault detection and maintenance prioritisation, and reporting for management, sales and sustainability communications.

The initial assessment, evaluation of potential and first recommendations for action can be provided with no upfront fee and no obligation to proceed with implementation.

Conclusion

Sustainable hotel operation starts with transparency. What gets measured gets understood. What gets understood can be managed. And what gets managed can cut costs, safeguard comfort and credibly demonstrate sustainability.

The workcloud24 platform combines energy efficiency, AI-driven operational optimisation and technical transparency, with a clear advantage for operators: lower operating costs, better technical performance, consistent guest comfort, credible sustainability communication, and a stronger position in corporate sales, framework agreements and tenders.