Overview
A leading global hospitality brand faced increasing operational costs and regulatory pressure to manage energy and water use more efficiently across its full-service hotels. Facilities were experiencing challenges including unexpected utility bill spikes, undetected equipment failures, and lack of real-time data visibility. The operations teams were under-resourced, making proactive management difficult.
To address these challenges, the brand partnered with New Horizon Technologies (NHT) to implement its Utility Monitoring System (UMS)—a turnkey solution integrating advanced metering hardware, an enterprise level cloud-based software and data management solution, real-time alerts, and ongoing technical support.
Challenge
- Limited visibility into utility usage
- Manual meter readings prone to delays and inaccuracies
- Inability to quickly detect and respond to leaks or equipment failures
- Disjointed data sources across BMS, meters, and accounting systems
- Pressure to meet sustainability goals without sacrificing operational reliability
Solution
NHT deployed its UMS across dozens of properties, with tailored configurations for each facility’s needs, including:
- Utility service integration for electricity, gas, water, steam, and solar — capturing site-level usage directly from utility-owned service meters or through installed meters, depending on availability.
- Submetering of critical systems like chillers, pools, kitchens, and tenant spaces
- BAS integration to centralize building performance data
- Daily data validation and automated reporting
- Real-time alerts for anomalies (e.g., stuck valves, cooling tower malfunctions)
- Custom dashboards and reporting templates for engineers and finance teams
Results
Over a 10-year analysis period, the properties using NHT’s UMS achieved:
- 50% greater reduction in energy consumption per occupied room compared to similar properties without the system
- $17+ million in total utility cost savings
- Faster resolution of costly issues such as:
- Cooling tower blowdown valves stuck open (8,500+ gallons/hour)
- Optimizing equipment automation sequencing to offset demand loads
- Identifying incorrect lighting schedules (convention rooms, spas, commercial spaces)
- Irrigation leaks (36,000+ gallons/day)
- Frozen pool systems leaking heated water in sub-freezing conditions
- Improved budgeting accuracy with real-time cost tracking and forecasting tools
- Enhanced sustainability performance, including reduced water usage and emissions
Key Features Used
- Interval-based utility data collection
- Weather and occupancy normalization
- Automated report delivery via email
- Alert thresholds for high/low consumption events
- Ongoing support and system optimization
Impact on Facility Teams
Facilities leaders reported:
- Less time spent on manual readings and data entry
- Improved trust from executive stakeholders due to accurate forecasts
- Greater peace of mind knowing they had early warning on system inefficiencies
- Confidence in capital planning decisions using verifiable ROI data
Conclusion
By leveraging NHT’s UMS, this major hospitality brand transformed utility management from a reactive, fragmented process into a proactive, data-driven strategy. The system not only delivered significant cost savings and operational resilience but also helped meet aggressive environmental goals—positioning the brand as a leader in sustainable hospitality operations.
