Hotel Engineer Volume 24 No 2

HE

Volume 24, Number 2 July 2019

PP 319986/101

HOTEL ENGINEER

Update Conference 15th-16th AUGUST 2019 QT Hotel Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland

Official Publication of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering

CONTENTS 18 25 31 Cover image shows QT Hotel Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast Queensland.

Host of the AIHE Update Conference.

HE

Volume 24, Number 2 July 2019

PP 319986/101

HOTEL ENGINEER

29 Features 5

President's welcome

7

AIHE State news

12 Cutting through the greenwash to improve energy efficiency in Australia’s hotels 15

Update Conference

18 Advances in communication technology for hotels 23

15th-16th AUGUST 2019 QT Hotel Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland

Official Publication of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering

Anatomy of a smart building

Call to action

25 How can IoT for elevators & escalators improve transparency and reliability?

29

Element Melbourne Richmond

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Grand Hyatt Melbourne

37 Taking control of your building management and control systems and delivering the ‘new digital promise’

47 Why hotels should embrace digital key technology 49

Kitchen exhaust cleaning in Australia

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What is a heat pump

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Back of House July 2019

63 Energy efficiency and swimming pool heating 67 What hotel engineers and administrators need to know about WELL 70 Reducing water consumption in the testing of fire protection systems 74 Why the hospitality industry needs to be ready for artificial intelligence now 76 How hotels can benefit from self check-in kiosks 82

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PRESIDENT'S welcome

THE HOTEL ENGINEER The Official Publication of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering

AIHE STATE PRESIDENTS Anura Yapa, NSW E: Anura.Yapa@shangri-la.com David Zammit, VIC E: david.zammit@hyatt.com Tony Fioraso, WA E: Tony.Fioraso@crownperth.com.au QLD Interim President E: Anura.Yapa@shangri-la.com

A

warm welcome to everyone, I feel honoured to greet you all and write this introduction on behalf of all State Presidents of AIHE to this conference edition of the Hotel Engineer Journal.

2019 Update Conference is being held at the QT Hotel Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast Queensland, Australia on 15-16 August.

Throughout the two day conference, the delegates will hear from eight different key note speakers giving various informative and technical presentations to the Hotel Engineering industry.

Officially opening the Conference and Exhibition will be Mr. David Crisafulli MP, Shadow Minister for Environment, Science and the Great Barrier Reef & Shadow Minister for Tourism.

As well as the presentations there will be a Trade Show with exhibitors displaying a wide range of products and services.

This is a great opportunity for the Engineers and members in the Hospitality Industry to gain and share knowledge about advancements and issues within the industry.

ADBOURNE PUBLISHING 18/69 Acacia Road Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156 PO Box 735, Belgrave, VIC 3160 www.adbourne.com ADVERTISING Melbourne: Neil Muir T: (03) 9758 1433 F: (03) 9758 1432 E: neil@adbourne.com Adelaide: Robert Spowart T: 0488 390 039 E: robert@adbourne.com PRODUCTION Emily Wallis T: (03) 9758 1436 E: production@adbourne.com ADMINISTRATION Tarnia Hiosan T: (03) 9758 1436 E: admin@adbourne.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Enquiries: (03) 9758 1436 Fax: (03) 9758 1432 Email: admin@adbourne.com

There will be a lot of time for networking along with fun and entertainment at “Top Golf” including dinner and drinks on the first night and as always a Gala Dinner wrapping up the conference on the second night in the Ballroom of QT. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all our sponsors especially our major sponsors Vintech Systems, Poolwerx, SLS (Specialised Lighting Solutions) and Harvey Norman Commercial.

Further thanks to my colleagues Tony Fioraso, David Zammit (State Presidents) and especially Bev Allen for the huge contribution they have given to our organisation and this event.

Finally, thanks to Adbourne our official publisher of the Hotel Engineer Magazine for their support for the betterment of the industry.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Kind Regards Anura Yapa JP – President, AIHE, NSW & QLD Chapters

Adbourne Publishing cannot ensure that the advertisers appearing in The Hotel Engineer comply absolutely with the Trades Practices Act and other consumer legislation.The responsibility is therefore on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement(s) for publication.

Adbourne Publishing reserves the right to refuse any advertisement without stating the reason. No responsibility is accepted for incorrect information contained in advertisements or editorial. The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or otherwise alter articles for publication.

All original material produced in this magazine remains the property of the publisher and cannot be reproduced without authority.The views of the contributors and all submitted editorial are the author’s views and are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Duratec Australia

ur Monthly Western Australian AIHE meeting was held in April at the Pan Pacific Perth.

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We had two guest presenters:

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Ian Knox from HFM Assets and Derrick Nichols from Blygold WA. Ian presented the following key themes: • POMEC – Findings from a POMEC study of approx. 30 properties in Australia.

• NABERS for Hotels; What the Hotel Engineer needs to know.

HFM Asset Management Airlite Group Envar Group Programmed Property Services Precision Carpets Alinta OTIS Synergy KONE Hole in One-HFM Asset Management

Derrick presented: • Overview of the different causes of HVAC Corrosion • Why it is an issue • Understanding the different coating offerings on the market • Understanding when additional coatings are warranted and what level of performance is required from a coating.

In May we had our annual golf day at the Vines Resort.

This was attended by over 80 participants and we would like to acknowledge and thank the sponsors for making this event possible: Suez Recycling and Recovery Dormakaba-Australia

We would like to acknowledge Doug Stemp who was a Director of Engineering at the Hyatt Hotel in Perth for 34 years and a member of the institute for 27 years.

Doug has held the positions of President, Secretary and just recently Social Coordinator of the institute.

Doug has moved on from his position at the Hyatt and we wish him all the very best in the future.

We hope he will continue to support the institute as he has in the past.

We all look forward to seeing you all at the conference in August.

Regards Tony Fioraso President AIHE Western Australia

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VICTORIA

W

ith the year past the midway point and with our cold winter mornings of late, we will all start to look forward to longer days and spring not too far away.

Our May meeting was hosted by Craig Morris (General Manager, Property Services) from Crown, and his Executive Assistant Jo Sainato.

Compliance and Essential Services Manager, Brett Jones delivered a presentation along with introductory by Jeremy Sampson entailing the restructure of the Crown complex essential services consolidation and testing regimes now developed to further enhance on what Crown have previously had in place. The presentation concluded with a site tour of their essential plant, ending in the fire control room and of course finally finishing with a few drinks and snacks. Thank you guys, you always are a great host and a positive takeaway for us all, with some additional knowledge and insight.

Due to some changes in presenters during the month of June and difficulty in securing a meeting venue, we chose not to hold a meeting within the month.

Our July meeting hosted at Grand Hyatt Melbourne, round table discussion, which is always a popular meeting allowing all of us to bring our ideas, concerns and general knowledge to the table and openly discuss. We find this meeting always generates great discussion with all participants, engineers and corporates alike, never a time that something new does not arise and we are walk away that little wiser.

Looking ahead we will be hosting a meeting in late August, likely on the 28th information to follow via our flyer.

The committee is also planning ahead to secure a venue for our Annual AGM and cocktail event, which will take place in December. Yes still some months away, but availability is already becoming scarce so we need to lock that in.

Thank you to those of you who have attended our few meetings this year. I can only encourage that you continue to come along, spread the word to our colleagues and bring them with you. Our meetings are a great way to network with fellow engineers and corporates, take in the insights from our presenters, whilst enjoying the hospitality of our hosting hotel.

If you wish to become a member or require further information about our meetings, feel free to contact me via email, david.zammit@hyatt.com or use the membership form published in this magazine.

Knowledge through application, delivering results, guaranteed!

Regards David Zammit President AIHE Victoria Chapter

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NEW SOUTH WALES

G

reetings from NSW Chapter.

Time really flies in a blink of an eye! We have already welcomed the freezing winter and are almost half way through it.

It is great to see that more members are joining our institute and taking part in our meetings and events than ever before. I would like to give my appreciation all the members for their huge support and contributions towards the Institute.

We kick started the second quarter of the year with a morning meeting held at Tourism Accommodation Australia on the 17th of April. Trevor Burrows, The NSW/ACT Compliance Manager of AESC (Australian Essential Services Compliance) presented on ‘Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Annual Fire Safety and Building Certification)’. The presentation was very helpful for our hotel engineers as it is mandatory for all the hotels to submit their Annual Fire Safety Statement to the Council accurately by the due date.

why? & what is needed to make disclosure work for hotels (e.g: NABERS Energy Efficiency rating is the right tool for hotels). The presentation was a big advantage to the hotel engineers as NABERS ratings are legally required for commercial building owners/ managers under the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure (BEED) Act 2010. We were fortunate enough to be joined by the new CEO of TAA, Mr. Michael Johnson who shared his thoughts and encouraged our Hotel Engineers. We also had a discussion on City of Sydney Energy Efficient Grant Schemes. Overall this meeting was a great success.

We had our committee meeting on the 10th of July at Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney. We briefly discussed our upcoming conference in August. We also selected a few engineers to be sponsored to attend our conference based on their attendance in our meetings and events along with a lucky draw where one of our members will get a 50% discount to the AIHE Conference.

Figure 2: During the Presentation on ORCA Innovative Food Waste Solution including the demonstration of ORCA Food Digestion Machine on the 17th of July, 2019.

Figure 1: Monthly meeting followed by a Factory Tour of Legrand in May.

Further, the July meeting was held at Hyatt Regency followed by a presentation on ORCA Innovative Food Waste Solution, where we were able to see the operation of an ORCA Food Digestion Machine at the Hotel. It was beneficial for our engineers to have a clear idea of the process. Thanks to Ben Leeke and Erin Poole of ORCA for organising the presentation. We welcome Michael Emerson, Facilities Director of Hyatt Regency as a new member to the AIHE and thank him for his support on the night.

We are excited that our Update Conference is just around the corner. This year the conference will be held on the 15 -16 August 2019 in QT Hotel Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland. There will be nine keynote speakers delivering presentations on a wide range of topics of their expertise. We are looking forward to having another successful conference this year.

On the 22nd of May, we had our next meeting followed by a factory tour of Legrand, specialists in Electrical and Building Infrastructures. We had several informative presentations including an Overview of Manufacturing Capabilities, Galaxy Connected Emergency Lighting System and New International Hotel Offer organised by Belinda Pollack and the Legrand Team. This meeting was well presented and informative.

Our next meeting was held at Holiday Inn Potts Point, Sydney on the 19th of June. Phil Manners, The Director of The CIE, presented an important topic, What the commercial building disclosure program has done for office buildings, and the reasons

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On a separate note I must thank Bev Allen and Geoff Baldwin of the Queensland Chapter for their huge contribution in organising the upcoming conference. The conference will be an opportunity to meet and offer our support as required for the future success of the Chapter.

Finally, I would like to welcome all the new members who have joined this year. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the committee members and general managers for their support to our industry.

Anura Yapa JP President – AIHE NSW & QLD

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Cutting through the Greenwash to Improve

ENERGY EFFICIENCY in Australia’s Hotels

ALEX SEJOURNEE I LEAD CONSULTANT, BUILDING IMPROVEMENT AT HFM ASSET MANAGEMENT

D

espite strong financial performance in hotels over the last few years, the sector is lagging other building types when it comes to energy efficiency. The large-scale adoption of energy efficiency programs has been hindered by market barriers such as split incentives and a lack of publicly available information on hotels’ energy consumption and emissions meaning that owners are not rewarded for their efforts. Hotels can do a lot to improve energy efficiency without becoming uncompetitive, but the question is: is selfregulation enough to get these programs up and running or is government intervention required?

STRONG FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN HOTEL SECTOR In recent years the economic performance of the Australian Hotel Sector has been very strong. In most capital cities increasing demand, from both domestic and international visitors, has outstripped supply of new rooms leading to increases in key financial metrics such as Average Daily Rate (ADR) and Revenue Per Room (RevPar). The flow on effect for investors has been positive. Tourism Australia (2019) states that “compared to other property types, hotel investments performed favourably over the last ten years to July 2017” and that “the risk return profile of hotel assets was superior to that of other asset classes”1.

HOTELS’ ENERGY CONSUMPTION TRENDING UPWARD Unfortunately, the strong financial performance of Australia’s Hotels hasn’t translated into a step change in energy efficiency.

Research by Pitt and Sherry has forecast that energy intensity of Australian Hotels will continue to increase from 1,420 MJ/m2 in 2009 to 1,652 MJ/m2 in 2020, while the energy intensity of offices and other public buildings was expected to reduce.

HFM have observed the lower uptake of energy efficiency measures amongst Hotels first hand; a recent comparison of the energy intensity across a portfolio of 20 Australian Hotels showed no reduction in energy intensity over the last 5 years and no obvious difference in performance between newly constructed hotels and those in operation for ten or more years.

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THE AUSTRALIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY AWASH WITH ‘GREEN SCHEMES’ – UPTAKE IS LIMITED There are several rating tools and schemes available which allow voluntary assessment and promotion of energy efficiency in hotel operations, however, despite the success of these tools internationally and across other asset classes uptake within Australian hotels has been limited. The largest programs include; Earthcheck, Gleenglobe, Greenstar Performance, NABERS Energy and Water for Hotels as well as hotel own brand tools such as Accor’s Planet 21 Both Earthcheck and Gleenglobe have limited footprints in Australia with a low number of companies registered for either scheme.

Despite the large uptake in Offices & Shopping Centres, there are currently zero Greenstar Performance and only four Greenstar design and as-built ratings publicly registered and certified for Hotels. The voluntary uptake of NABERS for Hotels has also been very limited with only a small group of hotel owners participating.

Less than 1%2 of all hotels are rated each year and the trend is not positive, falling from 0.7% in 2012 down to a meagre 0.1% in 2018.

MARKET BARRIERS TO IMPROVEMENTS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY There has been a large shift away from the owner-operator model with owners turning to independent management companies to operate their facilities. This business model has attracted many overseas and domestic funds into the lucrative Australian hotel market however issues arise due to operator remuneration methods and short management contracts.

One of the most common remuneration methods is a base fee determined based on Gross Revenue (GR) plus an incentive payment based on Gross Operating Profit (GOP)3. Remuneration based on GR means that energy efficiency projects, which do not directly increase revenue, are forgone in favour of investments with the potential to provide an immediate increase, such as lobby refurbishments. Additionally, as management contracts typically lasting 5 years and leases 10-15 years, far shorter than the replacement life cycle of some major plant, operators are not motivated to recommend investment into these items as they won’t see the full benefit.

THE ROLE OF MANDATORY DISCLOSURE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN ADDRESSING MARKET FAILURES The Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program was implemented in commercial offices in 2011 to address market failures in the voluntary adoption of energy efficiency opportunities. The program utilises the NABERS Energy for Offices rating tool which rates energy efficient operation on a scale of 0-6 stars. Under the mandatory disclosure program NABERS ratings must be displayed on advertising when over 1000m2 is put up for sale or lease. A review of the CBD program in 2015 showed that it has been successful in changing the behaviour of building owners, operators and tenants regarding energy efficiency in commercial offices across Australia4.

In 2015 the reductions in energy intensity for participating buildings had resulted in economic benefits, in excess of costs, of $44 million dollars with a further $53.3 million in net benefits forecast over the next five years of the program’s operation.

The Department of Environment and Energy is currently reviewing whether the expansion of the existing Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) Program is expected to improve the energy efficiency of Australia’s Hotels. Industry consultation currently underway and the final report and recommendations are expected in September 2019. Initial comments indicate there is significant support from private organisations, local councils and government organisations for the expansion for the CBD program to other high energy using building types such as hotels. The expansion of the CBD program is also identified as a primary objective within the Federal Government’s trajectory for Low Energy Buildings which is an initiative underpinning Measure of the National Energy Productivity Plan5.

IF MANDATORY DISCLOSURE IS IMPLEMENTED WILL HOTEL OWNERS AND OPERATORS BE MOTIVATED TO TAKE ACTION TO IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY? The extension of the CBD program is expected to reduce market barriers primarily through provision of energy efficiency information to stakeholders. The feasibility study for the expansion of the program recommended that it should only apply to hotels with more than 50 rooms and that the NABERS rating

tool for hotels is used, primarily due to a lack of another suitable rating system6. The point of disclosure is still under review however mandatory annual disclosure is most likely hotel, as sale or lease transactions occur too infrequently. Finally, the feasibility study recommended that the extension of the CBD program should be accompanied by other complimentary policy, also currently under review, for example, the NSW State government has announced plans to introduce energy criteria in NSW Government hotel bookings to encourage efficiency operation in the industry. It is expected that NABERS would be used as the benchmarking tool to compare hotel energy efficiency.

While action to increase energy efficiency has been shown to produce significant financial benefits for buildings in other industries uptake of efficiency programs for hotels has been slow.

This presents a significant opportunity for the industry. However, it appears that Government intervention will be required to ensure owners and operators committed to improving energy efficiency are able to fully realise the return on their investment.

REFERENCES 1. Tourism Australia. 2019. Hotel Industry Trends. http://www.tourisminvestment.com.au/en/research-insights/ hotel-performance.html 2. Pitt & Sherry. 2012. Baseline Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Commercial Buildings in Australia – Part 1 – Report. Commonwealth of Australia.

3. Turner & Guilding. 2010. Hotel management contracts and deficiencies in Owner-operator capital expenditure goal congruency. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Griffith University, Australia.

4. ACIL Allen Consulting. 2015. Commercial Building Disclosure Program Review. http://www.cbd.gov.au/files/CBD%20program%20review%20 final%20report.pdf 5. Commonwealth of Australia. 2018. Trajectory for low energy buildings.

6. Energy Action & Energy Consult. 2018. CBD Expansion: Feasibility Study. Prepared for Department of the Environment and Energy.

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Anatomy of a

SMART BUILDING

PAUL DEARLOVE I WESTERN REGION DIRECTOR, IBMS PTY LTD

Modern buildings would not exist in their current form without advances in technology. The discovery and harnessing of electricity led onwards to the development of efficient electric lighting, elevators and air-conditioning – all of which are necessary in a modern building.

T

he invention of microprocessors in the 1960s led to the development of a wide range of control and monitoring systems for buildings in the 80s. Systems such as DDC for air-conditioning, electronic access control, microprocessor control of elevators were introduced that greatly improved the operational efficiency of the building. A typical modern building can include anywhere between 20-80 different control systems.

We have advanced to a point where the dominant technologies we hear about today include smart mobile devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing and Big Data.

HOW WILL THESE TECHNOLOGIES IMPACT THE NEXT GENERATION OF BUILDINGS? Before we can look at the anatomy of a smart building, it is important to agree on a definition of what is a smart building: • Some define it by connectivity – how many sensors and controllers does a building contain.

• Some base it on efficiency – how well does the building perform in terms of resource consumption or environmental benchmarks • Some base it on automation – how many processes in the building are automated to make it easier to run.

From this author’s perspective, a smart building is one that can add any technology, IoT device or software solution from any vendor at any time. These systems would all interoperate using a common collection of data.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH The microprocessor systems that were developed in the 80’s were designed to a complete standalone solution with hardware, network cabling and software from the one vendor.

There was minimal interconnection between these early systems and each was left to run independently. This led to isolated silos of control forcing operators to have to deal with duplicated infrastructure and needing multiple platforms to run the building. Furthermore, data generated from these systems is segmented, hidden or stored in proprietary formats, making it difficult and expensive to integrate and support An overview of this traditional architecture (below) shows the vertically arranged silos that prevent the building operating efficiently.

Despite the rapid advances in technology mentioned earlier, the great majority of control systems still being supplied today are based on this architecture and designs from the 80’s. Without an Integrated Platform,

MODERN DESIGN An Integration Platform is a crucial component for a smart building to allow the latest technologies of today and tomorrow to be deployed. It provides the key to accessing, collecting and consolidating data from any building system so it can be made available for any current or future enterprise application to use.

These applications provide each building stakeholder with the visibility and the connected experience they require.

Figure 1 – Traditional "Siloed" Architecture

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A standard and proven approach to achieve these design requirements is using a Layered design. The following diagram shows a high-level view of each layer. The purpose of this design is to govern the flow of data from each building system (in the Process Layer) to the applications that will use and display the data (Application and Presentation Layers).

Figure 2 – Integration Platform – Layered Architecture

BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATED DESIGN A properly designed Integration Platform provides the foundation of a modern smart building with the following capabilities: • Centralised, consolidated, consistent data from all connected systems produces lifecycle cost reductions in accessing the data. Eliminates proprietary data sources that require costly, complex high-level interfaces.

• Reduces costs by ensuring building owners are not locked in to a single supplier. Each layer in the platform can be supported by multiple vendors allowing for competitive maintenance and variations • Protects older building control systems from the increased data demands of modern applications. Also supports a single cybersecurity solution for all building systems.

• Futureproof the building to add technologies can use an integrated platform without the need to re-engineer and be able to cost effectively and easily deploy new Initiatives as technology and client demands evolve.

Using a layered approach enables the Integrated Platform to expand at every level. It also makes it easier to define the performance requirements to ensure the design and implementation is done correctly. The purpose of this approach is to allow data from a single source of truth to be used for multiple purposes and provides protection to the slower, more volatile systems in the Process layer.

Layer

Description

Presentation

Any application that requires data exchanges between one or more connected systems. Web and mobile based applications used to deliver value to each stakeholder group. The presentation of the client’s key objectives.

Application

The business layer used to govern all decisions via workflows, calculations, consolidations, conversions, normalisations, analytics and data sharing. Key logic is used to determine the required course of actions based on the inputs from each connected system.

Data

Management of all real-time and historical data.

Data extraction, transformation and loading into data warehousing. Long term and life data storage using a data warehouse environment. Load balancing occurs in this layer to protect the process layer systems.

Communications

Open protocols, web services and application programming interfaces used to exchange data to/from every connected system.

Network

Deploying an Integrated Converged Network throughout the building enables physical connectivity of all base building network equipment (switches, servers, UPSs, firewalls, etc.), controllers, sub controllers and cloud services. This layer also governs all network addressing, VLANs and security.

Process Systems

Any building control system connected to the network.

Table 1 – Integration Layers

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• Allows for data exchange with cloud based or on-premises applications to provide wider choice and more cost-effective options.

• Repository for all data from every system to drive timely decision making for all stakeholders. This Data becomes a valuable owned building asset that will impact favourably on asset value in the future • Consolidates multiple alarms into a single console improving response times and removing the need to learn multiple systems • An environment that natively supports dashboards, web pages and mobile devices will deliver functionality that makes operators and tenants more efficient • Gain efficiencies by sharing building data with other business areas/departments • Creates an environment that can continuously expand and capture big data over time, thus positioning for future advances in Machine Learning and Automated Intelligence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul is the Director of the Western Region and a founding Director of IBMS. He has extensive experience in design, communications, control systems and the Integration of Extra Low Voltage Systems (IELVS).

Paul has a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from UWA and is a Green Star Accredited Professional and a NABERS Accreditor Assessor. He is a member of Engineers Australia, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Directors and an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

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1300 428 808 | sales@honeybadger.tech Copyright © 2018 SONIFI Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. SONIFI and STAYCAST are trademarks or registered trademarks of SONIFI Solutions, Inc. Google Chromecast is a trademark of Google Inc. All other trademarks used are the property of their respective owner. Some features described may require additional software, hardware, subscriptions, licensing and costs. Contact Honeybadger for details.Information deemed accurate as of 090817 – S1352SE17

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Advances in

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY for hotels

PETER BEURLE I MANAGING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL WIRELESS

To achieve outstanding guest experiences in the hotel industry, communication, both with guests and behind the scenes, is critical. Fortunately, many of the world’s leading technology brands have been concentrating on the development and improvement of wireless communication technologies to increase efficiency, productivity, safety and security.

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ere is a summary of the latest communication tech advances and how they can help hoteliers, staff and guests alike.

STAFF COMMUNICATION DIGITAL TWO-WAY RADIOS Digital two-way radios were a game changer for hotel staff when first introduced, and this technology has only improved.

These devices are now packed full of additional features to improve communication as well as safety for staff.

Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) PoC technology started to take off with the rollout of the 4G network, offering what could be considered a convergence of two-way radio and mobile technologies. Devices range from simple, ‘talk-listen’ solutions through to two-way radio and smartphone hybrids. These offer the full suite of mobile apps and dual HD cameras, eliminating the need to carry two devices.

PoC devices offer fast Push-to-Talk services, including one-toone and one-to-many, while using PMR, Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G services.

The benefit of connecting to Wi-Fi and mobile networks is staff can communicate instantly with one another, or groups, at the push of a button – locally, interstate or even internationally.

This is particularly useful for hotel chains who may need to coordinate services between different properties.

PoC devices also include the features of digital two-way radio.

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Benefits: • D ual Sim adds flexibility • 4 G delivers faster data speeds • S uperior audio quality • S uperior coverage for communication over distances • V ariety of PoC devices to cater to different roles • O nly one device to carry instead of two Improved communication efficiency Digital two-way radio allows for communication to all staff or just one person, via voice or text. Staff can easily communicate with each other one-on-one or with simple group calling, and supervisors can monitor their team at work, so they know what’s going on and who needs support. Advances in technology mean a saving of time, reduction of errors and an increase in staff collaboration and efficiency.

Benefits: • T ime saving push-to-talk functionality • O ne-to-one or one-to-many voice or text • Group calling • P assive monitoring for supervisors

Benefits: • L one workers are safer, with ‘man down’ alarm • D evices are trackable via GPS and Bluetooth • S uperior coverage in ‘blackspots’ e.g. underground carparks • C alls and texts can be broadcasted • M ore reliable (and instant) messaging • F ire panel integration • A lert of an emergency with a single touch Durability of devices Two-way radios are designed to withstand the bumps, drops and harsh environments that mobile phones simply cannot.

While the upfront cost of a quality two-way radio may be higher, the lifespan is significantly longer making it the more economical choice long-term.

Devices are more discreet than ever

Benefits:

Gone are the days of chunky handsets. The latest digital two-way radios are slim, lightweight and easily concealed.

Furthermore, devices have a quiet base operation and are compatible with audio accessories, so hotel staff can communicate without disturbing or concerning guests.

• L ess likely to break with drops and bumps

Benefits • D evices are easily concealed • C ommunication can be inconspicuous • C ompatible with a huge range of accessories Improved system integration The latest digital two-way radios offer more than a calling device – they take process automation to the next level. Status messaging allows for departments such as housekeeping, maintenance, room service or concierge to be notified of jobs, which can be accepted or declined at the push of a button.

Devices can also be integrated to security control systems, fire alarms and building management systems.

Benefits • Process automation • S eamless integration with phone systems and other systems • C ontrol of equipment through telemetry Added safety features The safety of staff and guests is paramount in the hotel and hospitality industry. Workers face inherent dangers such as shift work, intoxicated guests, working alone, communication ‘blackspots’ in elevators or underground, and the risk of fire or other threats.

Digital two-way radios utilise a suite of features that combat these dangers. From superior coverage to emergency buttons, device tracking and even ‘man down’ alarms that detect when a worker may have had a fall. Digital two-way radios can also integrate with fire panels and notify users of alarms and their nature.

ugged design that lasts • R

GUEST COMMUNICATION Guests’ love of internet comes as no surprise. What has changed over the last few years, however, is how and where guests are using the internet. There has been a dramatic shift from internet being used for e-mailing, work and social media on laptops in the guest suite, to being used to stream YouTube and Netflix on devices in common areas. In fact, 40% of Wi-Fi usage outside of guest rooms is YouTube alone!

For hoteliers, this means there is an essential need to provide high-capacity, high density speed Wi-Fi throughout the entire property – including in outdoor and leisure areas.

ENTERPRISE WI-FI Wi-Fi technology catering to large spaces has improved over the last few years. Many products can now offer seamless 802.11AC Wi-Fi coverage, on the 2.4 or 5GHz bands, from the guest room to the golf course, under virtually any condition.

Centralised wireless network management tools can be cloud-based or on-premises for secure, end-to-end network control. Device management is simplified by offering full network visibility and zero touch provisioning. Users can view and perform a full suite of wireless network management functions from a single dashboard in real time.

Such tools enable deployment of a guest portal that can be used across multiple hotels and access points.

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Benefits: • Fewer dropouts and blackspots • Improved bandwidth for multiple users • Better performance in user-dense situations such as conferences • Discreet devices that can be out-ofsight

CONCLUSION The difference between a 4 and a 5-star review from guests online is quite often, the ‘extra touches’ a hotel makes – like calm, smiling helpful staff, prompt response to requests and the (expected) luxury of high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the venue.

Improving the communications system your team uses can give them the tools they need to deliver the ‘above and beyond’ service your guests will love, and that will give you the competitive edge.

And having readily accessible, high-speed broadband for your guests? It’s now a live-or-die necessity.

DIGITAL TWO WAY RADIO – WIRELESS NETWORK SOLUTIONS • Coordinate, collaborate, communicate • Discreet devices, discreet communication • Integrate with your systems • Make safety the priority • Cost-effective communication

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Wireless Communications Solutions for

Hospitality 20

ADVERTORIAL

GEOCLIMA G

eoclima established its Australian presence in 2014 by setting up its sales, service and spare parts operations in Melbourne. “Since our beginnings five years ago we now have several hundred systems in the field, developed service networks and an impressive portfolio of loyal customers” says their Sales Manager Ashley Morgan.

One of the long-term customers of Geoclima Australia is the Holiday Inn chain, with two of its installations detailed below.

A retrofit of a water cooled 600 kW chiller at Holiday Inn hotel in Parramatta NSW, was designed and implemented

by TSA Air during the Christmas break in 2014. It became a clear case of “before” and “after” for the comparative energy consumption. “Geoclima TMH2A550 water-cooled model replaced our original oil-lubricated chiller. An average daily savings of some 2000 kW-hr kicked in immediately from commissioning and has continued to this date” says Steve Mitchell, the hotel’s Chief Engineer.

Another installation at Holiday Inn in Melbourne CBD was retrofitted in 2018. The hotel’s Maintenance Manager Andrew Ryan utilised a Geoclima air-cooled chiller with moveable adiabatic pads. “The old Multistack chiller was replaced with an adiabatic air cooled Geoclima TMA2A500ES chiller.” The pads move away from the air path when not needed, thus allowing to half the fans’ power consumption, giving exceptional energy efficiencies, says Mr. Ryan.

Geoclima products cover a very wide range of equipment, from chillers on scroll, screw and Turbocor compressors through to dry coolers and 4-pipe heating-cooling systems with inbuilt tanks and pumps. We are very proud to be one of the Turbocor-authorised service and training providers in Australia, serving in low temperature glycol specifications, ice rinks, mission-critical data centres, process cooling and comfort HVAC applications.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY Chiller Solutions

Geoclima are a chiller manufacturer that produces highly efficient and environmentally friendly chiller equipment.

Our most efficient Turbomiser air-cooled chiller uses Magnetic Bearing Compressors and is equipped with innovative evaporative system.

Exploiting the natural process of adiabatic cooling, hot and dry air normally drawn into air cooled condensers passes through the wet media before reaching the actual condenser.

The evaporative effect reduces the air temperature reaching the condenser coil by as much as 8 degrees increasing the chiller efficiency.

In low ambient temperatures the evaporative pads automatically move away from the condenser coils to allow free passage of air reducing fan power.

Power savings of up to 25% can be easily achieved using this system which is particularly effective in the Southern parts of Australia.

The TMA ES EC model chillers are also available in low noise and super low noise versions utilising our Dynamic Noise Control System.

For more information visit: www.geoclima.com or send an email to admin-au@geoclima.com Telephone +613 9580 3847

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CALL TO ACTION MARK THOMSON I ECO EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS

Prominent broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough recently stated “Radical Action” was needed to tackle the climate emergency – “we can not be radical enough” but also called for pragmatism finding reason for optimism among young people “who were already making themselves and their voices very, very clear”

C

limate emergency’s have already been officially called by cities including Cologne, the most recent amongst approximately 700 world cities including Sydney, London and Paris, in making a stand on Climate Change. An official declaration of “Climate Emergency” places a government on a war time mobilisation” that places climate change at the centre of policy and planning decisions. The common focus is placing new targets of zero energy emissions in timeframes within the next 30 years.

• D isclosing any alternative energy solutions by either Green power purchasing, or use of renewable power

The boutique Hotel Stadthalle in Vienna is claimed to be the worlds first urban hotel to have a zero energy balance, meaning that it produces as much energy as it produces. Emirates One and Only Wolgan Valley is heading towards its 10th year of carbon neutral certification and has claimed to be the first resort in the world to achieve internationally accredited carbon neutral status. Carbon neutral and zero energy hotels will soon be the target of all hotels.!

The Call to Action by governments, celebrities and even school children is not likely to disappear.

The hotel and hospitality sector can quickly shift to demonstrate leadership in meeting energy savings and is likely to be rewarded as a key differential easily measured by guests.

At the recent EarthCheck Inner Circle meeting in Brisbane, the figure of 73% of travellers previously surveyed proposed they “wanted to give something back” when quizzed about reasons for travel. Today’s younger travellers seek authenticity and connection with people and place, with sustainability issues part of their daily thinking. “User experience” a current buzz word in the industry, is not only the domain of the high technology futuristic event, but engenders the expectation that energy efficiency and responsible recycling practices, are already “business as usual” in provider activities and operations.

So how do Hotel Engineers, Facility Managers and Hotel staff prepare for climate emergencies and younger travellers’ expectations for sustainable practices?.

A starting point is:

• A dopting waste disposal and recycling practices, particularly focussing on plastics minimisation.

• R educing harsh cleaning chemicals and eliminating any hazardous materials • P racticing water saving and disclosing water efficiency strategies.

I look forward to meeting many of you at the Gold Coast at the AIHE Conference where this issue will be explored further.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Thomson is an eco Architect with qualifications from the GBCA and Earthcheck organisations.

He has over 30 years experience in the Australian design development and construction industry. He has built and refurbished multiple hotel projects around Australia and was co-owner in a national hotel chain up until 2005. His current business is Eco Effective Solutions based in Brisbane www.ecoeffective.com.au mark@ecoeffective.com.au

REFERENCES The Guardian 10-7-19 http://climateemergencydeclaration.org http://www.hotelstadthalle.at http://www.oneandonlyresorts.com http://www.earthcheck.org

• Disclosing the energy performance of the facility and the measures in place to improve energy efficiency

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The T-Series solution for premium hotel room control.

With a full colour touchscreen featuring a premium, easy to use design, the T-Series was developed with flexibility and compatibility in mind.

Its integrated design comes with a range of popular control functions enabled, including Room Key Card On/Off, Window Switch On/Off, Door Switch & Occupancy Sensor Inputs (PIR), and Remote On/Off, and is also BMS compatible.* Furthermore, its single relay board allows for an easy and simple installation, with no need for additional modules or complicated extra wiring.

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Available in black or white.

How can

IOT FOR ELEVATORS & ESCALATORS improve Transparency and Reliability?

CLAYTON BOLADERAS I SALES MANAGER, THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR

T

he better the technology, the more invisible it becomes to the user. The elevator is a classic example: it is only when it breaks down that users perceive the underlying technology. Advances in edge computing, mobile connectivity and cloud storage allow the harnessing of big data from connected elevators, resulting in many benefits to Owners, Staff and Guests.

WAITING Many don’t realise it, but elevators are the most consistently used means of transport on the planet. Around the world, 12

million elevators ferry approximately one billion passengers from floor to floor every single day. Most of us probably don’t appreciate just how integral they are to our lives, or how they allow our cities to thrive at heights that they couldn’t otherwise reach. They go largely unnoticed, that is, until they break down.

We become acutely aware of the function and importance of elevators when they are out of service (approximately 190 million hours each year). When this occurs everyone is frustrated, would-be passengers and repair technicians a like.

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SMARTER ELEVATORS The addition of microprocessor controls in the late 70’s gave elevators the ability to collect data, however only accessible once they were on site. Advances in edge computing, mobile connectivity and cloud analytics have now ‘unlocked’ these data streams.

An elevator “Internet of Things” (IoT) system generally consists of a small box, installed in the lift shaft or machine room, that continuously collects data and sends it to the cloud. Machine data such as door movements, trips, calls and fault codes are captured and transmitted by the networked elevators.

Intelligent algorithms evaluate the operating data, for example, can calculate the remaining service life of individual components and advise that they be exchanged before the elevator goes out of service with a defect.

by experienced technicians on site, the targeted maintenance and scheduled repairs are then carried out.

THE BENEFITS Greater Transparency. The dashboards and alerts which are made possible by IoT data allow Hotel Engineers to be able to see, real time, the status of their elevators, even remotely. This can facilitate a more transparent dialogue with the maintenance provider, hotel management, staff and guests. Additionally, when preparing budgets, real data on equipment usage and condition can be utilised to make the best capital planning decisions.

PARTNERSHIPS According to management consultancy firm McKinsey, “establishing a robust data backbone is a fundamental enabler for digital reliability and maintenance.”

Choosing the right partners is critical to ensuring that the best return on investment is realised over the long life of the asset. The power is not only in the hardware, connectivity and analytics, but also the large connected asset-base which provides the ‘big data’ necessary to enable ‘machine learning’.

This data is used to identify common failure patterns across hundreds of thousands of elevators, by using anomaly detection algorithms, develop failure patterns that are specific to each asset. According to thyssenkrupp Elevator’s head of digital operations Hyun-Shin Cho – “Even if two elevators are the same model and make, they will have different usage patterns and subcomponents. You cannot apply a single set of rules to this vast heterogeneous environment – that is where machine learning is ground-breaking for us.”

However, gathering this data and developing these algorithms is not about outsourcing maintenance work to Artificial Intelligence (AI) – a successful IoT project requires technicians capable of partnering with technology to improve service delivery, and equipment reliability. The data classification is achieved through end-to-end feedback loops which are verified

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Better Service. IoT allows service technicians to be better prepared prior to arriving for breakdown call, as the system sends them the equipment operating modes, fault codes, likely problems and proposed solutions, as well as a list of parts and tools required. Not only does the technician arrive sooner (as the system flags the breakdown as soon as it happens), but the fault is confirmed and rectified sooner, and disruption minimised.

Improved Reliability. Maintenance quality improves as the technician receives targeted tasks identified by the machine learning algorithms in addition to scheduled safety tests, adjustments and regular checks. Human and machine work together, with AI assisting the technician, who in turn trains the AI. Reduced Downtime. As the algorithms become more accurate in their diagnoses based on the data collected, the system can inform a technician that an issue is likely before it happens, that technician can then arrive ready to prevent it from occurring.

Furthermore, technicians can also schedule maintenance at a time when the elevator is likely to be unused, rather than making the repair during what is a busy point in the day.

ABOUT THE THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR IOT SOLUTION – MAX

and analytics of Microsoft Azure, and mobile communications of Vodaphone, to deliver a powerful end-to-end IoT solution which leverages intelligence of over 130,000 connected elevators and escalators. In the future, around one million elevators worldwide in Europe, Asia and North and South America will be equipped in this way.

ABOUT THYSSENKRUPP ELEVATOR With sales of €7.6 billion in fiscal 2017/2018 and customers in 150 countries, thyssenkrupp Elevator built its position as one of the world’s leading elevator companies from scratch in a mere 40 years’ time applying thyssenkrupp’s unique engineering capabilities. With more than 50,000 highly skilled employees, the company offers smart and innovative products and services designed to meet customers’ individual requirements. The portfolio includes passenger and freight elevators, escalators and moving walks, passenger boarding bridges, stair and platform lifts as well as tailored service solutions for all products. Over 1,000 locations around the world provide an extensive sales and service network to guarantee closeness to customers.

MAX leverages the asset base and domain expertise of thyssenkrupp Elevator, with the computing power, cloud storage

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ELEMENT

Melbourne Richmond Efforts to reduce energy consumption may have been at the forefront of the hotel industry for some time, but few can match the dedication of Element Melbourne Richmond when it comes to an eco-conscious approach. The new build hotel features 168 spacious rooms in one of Melbourne’s most sought-after suburbs. For Marriott International, the opening in June 2019 marked a significant milestone as its first Element by Westin-brand hotel in Australia.

W

hat sets the hotel apart though, is its footprint of another kind – its small environmental one. The Element brand is committed to helping healthy, active guests maintain a balanced lifestyle when away from home, and this extends itself to the products and practises of the engineering department.

Reducing power usage begins with the LED lights installed throughout the hotel. Solar powered lighting is incorporated where possible, while motion sensors control the lighting throughout the lobby, corridors, restaurant and common areas.

Lighting specialist Aglo Systems provided a range of products, including the 912lm 12W Laggar surface light. Downlights in the lobby offer 2075lm output, while in the hotel rooms, a 1134lm 13.4W product is used. Recessed uplights boasting IP67 offer protection from the elements, while offering 1050lm of light.

Algo has been a leading supplier of lighting solutions since 2004, with custom made architectural features an option the company provides.

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Water saving is another big focus for Element Melbourne Richmond. Water restrictors are used in all taps and showerheads. Sensors also control the irrigation, so the hotel’s water reserves are not being used when it is raining.

However, rainwater is used in toilets throughout the hotel, and freshwater is only used when the rainwater tank is empty.

Reflecting the hotel’s eco-conscious ethos, an electric vehicle recharging

station is available in the car park.

Melbourne-based firm Evolution partnered with Marriott International to supply the charger. It’s a sound decision for the hotel – according to ClimateWorks Australia, 2,284 electric vehicles were sold in Australia in 2017 – a 67 per cent jump from the previous year. As demand for electric vehicles increases, hotels like Element Melbourne Richmond will be ahead of the game, and the soonest to benefit.

HOTEL BUILDING

AUTOMATION SPECIALISTS Specialized Controls Solutions Australia in conjunction with Reliable Controls are delivering industry specific solutions.

We are integrating products with software, thus providing solutions for our clients, in order to become more connected, efficient and productive.

These include: • Design, Installation, Optimisation and Maintenance of Building Automation Systems • Hotel Booking System Integration • Energy Management Systems • Integrated Fault Detection and Diagnostics • Building Analytics • Car Park Ventilation and Gas Detection Systems • AS1668 Smoke Exhaust and Pressurisation Systems

If you are interested in a smart, easy to use, integrated, energy efficient and sustainable building automation system, now would be a great time to discuss your building automation needs with us!

Specialized Control Solutions Australia T +61(03) 9336 0049 W www.scsaust.com.au E scott.donaldson@scsaust.com

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Electcon was behind the hotel’s BMS. One of the outstanding energy saving functions is the capacity to schedule events in advance. This means lighting, heating and cooling in a function room, for example, can remain switched off until an event is scheduled to begin.

The hotel boasts four meeting spaces spanning a total of 256 square metres (with space for up to 250 guests), making the power savings to the hotel extremely valuable.

Pacific HVAC supplied Clint chillers to the hotel with a 365kW output.

Temperzone supplied the air conditioning fan coil units, while Colair and Dakin split system units are installed. Pacair supplied the air handling units. Automatic Heating commissioned four Meridian boilers, with a heating capacity of 150Kw and an energy input of 560MJ/Hr. Midrim Electrics, Advanced Filtration and Fabraduct were among the other suppliers, along with Holyoake Industries for the grilles. In another eco-conscious initiative, CO2 sensors are installed in the basement, car park and kitchen. An all hours gym features the latest Technogym equipment, to help guests to remain active during their stay.

The hotel is drenched in an abundance of natural light. Awardwinning Melbourne architects Rothelowman incorporated oversized windows to the rooms, and designed an exterior that curves in line with the nearby Yarra River.

Guest rooms feature signature Heavenly Beds and high-speed WiFi. The ‘Bikes to Borrow’ program is also available, allowing guests to cycle around the local area.

Through its combination of advanced and efficient technology, and the Element by Westin brand’s association with clean and green energy, Element Melbourne Richmond is at the forefront of the eco-conscious market, and has a rich future in the space.

CASE STUDY

GRAND HYATT Melbourne

Hotels lie at the hub of smart cities, welcoming travellers, fostering friendships, hosting functions and nurturing corporate communication. In the heart of the Paris end of Melbourne’s Collins St, the 550-room Grand Hyatt Melbourne towers over the bustling streets beneath. As Melbourne’s first five-star hotel, the Grand Hyatt stands as the epitome of luxury. Measuring 123 metres in height over 37 floors, the hotel’s guest rooms offer floor-to-ceiling skyline or Yarra River views. On Level 31, the exclusive Grand Club Lounge boasts a 180-degree vista.

D

elivering the ultimate guest experience requires facilities to invest in future-ready technology and stay ahead of trends. In a building that combines the old-world glamour of Italian marble and vintage leather with business facilities, technology needs to move with the times. Historically, luxury hotels have taken a leading role in implementing smart technology and the Grand Hyatt Melbourne is no exception.

In 2009, the hotel began a complete interior redesign of their guest rooms, including contracting the Australian company mySmart to retrofit the hotel with communication and monitoring systems. mySmart has eighteen years’ experience in creating intelligent environments and is the exclusive Australian distributor for Honeywell’s Inncom systems.

As well as new builds and retrofits of many hotels including Melbourne’s Crowne Plaza, Sydney’s Shangri-La and Perth’s Crown Towers, mySmart continues to deliver a range of smart solutions in a variety of environments. From lighting to HVAC to security, they’ve commissioned intelligent technology in schools/universities, offices, hospitals, prisons and entertainment venues. In the hotel industry, mySmart have enhanced the guest experience via a combination of automation and smart user interfaces for: • Creating the perfect ambience through lighting • A/C Management to maintain guest comfort • Requests for prompt staff service • Room status to provide privacy and guest preferences

CASE STUDY

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WHEN YOU’RE DELIVERING THE ULTIMATE GUEST EXPERIENCE WE’RE HERE TO HELP mySmart has been partnering with Australia’s leading hotels for over 18 years to deliver smart building solutions. From guest room monitoring to energy management, mySmart understands the complex relationship between the people, spaces and devices in your hotel and creates solutions for your operational needs.

Building smart cities, one mySmart building at a time.

BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULT NOW!

mysmart.com.au hospitality@mysmart.com.au 1300 697 627 32

CASE STUDY

The support of mySmart’s David Wilson and Michael O’Dea over the past ten years since we introduced INNCOM to our hotel has been instrumental in having our upgrade approved.

• Alarm reports for malfunctioning equipment

The project coordination with the installation team was efficient and reliable, along with post-project teething issues being resolved promptly.

• Higher security for guests

David Zammit, Director of Engineering, Grand Hyatt Melbourne A five-star hotel needs a top of the line intelligent monitoring, communications and energy management system. According to IHS Markit, ‘in 2019 hotels will spend more than US$500 million on connected equipment and will invest over $2.2 billion to refurbish guest rooms.’ The Grand Hyatt’s engineers chose mySmart to install the INNCOM system as far back as 2009, recognising that the system offers a myriad of versatile functions that improve operations efficiency and response times. The advanced INNCOM client/server software processes data points to generate notifications, statistics and reports for use by housekeeping, engineering, security and other hotel staff. Some of the current INNCOM capabilities on offer include: • Real-time room status information • Room and property energy monitoring

• Instant control of temperature setback parameters and other system settings • Online diagnostic/preventive maintenance • Interface with most PMS, BMS and other hotel systems • Automatic load shedding and peak demand algorithms • Remote access ready • Lighting scenes to create the perfect ambience • A/C Management to maintain guest comfort • Requests for prompt staff service • Room status to provide privacy and guest preferences

STAGE ONE The first stage of the retrofit involved the installation of Inncom’s Energy Management System into 106 guest rooms, the best-in-class solution available in 2009. The system covers occupancy-based HVAC and lighting control. An internal MakeUp Room/Privacy Panel and External Hallway Bell Push with Chime & MUR/Privacy Indicators was also fitted to alert staff to guest requests.

STAGE TWO Second stage work began in 2010. Over a six-month period, mySmart was scheduled to continue the installation of INNCOM’s Energy Management System through retrofitting 440 additional guest rooms. However, budget restrictions prevented the networking of all the guest rooms to the system software at

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10

this stage. In anticipation of networking being activated in the future, network cabling was laid from each guest room to the hotel’s risers, coiled and identified to be installed with network switches.

STAGE THREE The third stage of the retrofit was approved in 2018 and involved connecting all guest rooms to INNcontrolTM 3 (IC3) client-server application for in-room, real-time monitoring and control. IC3 has the ability to communicate with other hotel server-based systems and provide a 3D interactive rendering of the property and rooms, allowing staff to select individual rooms.

The Grand Hyatt’s engineers also chose to implement the new high-speed fibre switching technologies to increase connectivity speeds. As the cabling had been laid in 2010 and was available for termination, the scale of work required was far less than previously.

As an additional benefit to guests, the decision was made to upgrade the door locking system to be online and accessible via INNcontrolTM 3’s interface. The INNCOM Guest Room System, which previously operated in standalone mode, was easily upgraded to communicate wirelessly with the door locking system using ZigBee Technology. ZigBee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network ideally suited to keyless entry locking solutions. The Inncom Network could then ‘carry’ the door locking system data, meaning that only one network system was required, saving the hotel considerable cost.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY Energy stands as the hotel industry's second-greatest operating cost, with the greatest load on heating, cooling and lighting.

Energy savings are one of the main drawcards of implementing intelligent monitoring technology. mySmart anticipates that the INNCOM software will save the Grand Hyatt Melbourne up to 15% in energy costs through thermostat and lighting control.

The INNcontrolTM 3 also guards against frozen compressors and optimises chiller loading, minimising revenue loss.

FUTUREPROOFING David Zammit, Director of Engineering for the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, commented that the hotel’s substantial investment in intelligent technology was worth it to futureproof the

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10

A trusted partner

building against constant change. Having had the foresight to manage to engage mySmart in providing solutionsBig as enough far back as large projects, small enough to offer personalised attention, 2009, he now sees the hotel’s staff and guests reaping the thyssenkrupp Elevator supports our around the world throughout benefits of networking the systems using customers improved, lower-cost your project lifecycle, from the design connectivity. through the installation to the service. Every step of the way, we fully understand your

needs and consistently deliver the safest, Through working in partnership with the Grand Hyatt highest quality next-level transportation Melbourne’s engineers, mySmart has been able toOurgrow, adapt solutions. capabilities include highquality, customer-focused and evolve future-ready intelligent solutions according to theservice as well as individual maintenance and modernisation hotel’s budget and requirements. packages. Globally, our highly skilled

AAtrusted trusted partner partner

technicians efficiently service a multi-brand portfolio consisting of more than 1.2 million units under maintenance globally.

At thyssenkrupp Elevator we pride ourselves on the fact that we build long term partnerships.

From major national and international clients, residential strata segments to tertiary educational campuses. This signifies thyssenkrupp Elevator in the market place as a customer-centric lift technology company.

Big enough Big enough to manage to manage large large projects, projects, smallsmall enough enough to offer to offer personalised personalised attention, attention, thyssenkrupp thyssenkrupp Elevator Elevator supports supports our our customers customers around around the world the world throughout throughout your your project project lifecycle, lifecycle, from from the design the design through through the installation the installation to thetoservice. the service.

EveryEvery step of step theofway, the way, we fully we understand fully understand your your needsneeds and consistently and consistently deliver deliver the safest, the safest, highest highest quality quality next-level next-level transportation transportation solutions. solutions.

Our capabilities Our capabilities include include high-highquality, quality, customer-focused customer-focused service service as well as as well as individual individual maintenance maintenance and modernisation and modernisation packages. packages.

Globally, Globally, our highly our highly skilled skilled technicians technicians efficiently efficiently service service a multi-brand a multi-brand portfolio portfolio consisting consisting of more of more than than 1.2 million 1.2 million units units underunder maintenance maintenance globally. globally.

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Why choose thyssenkrupp Elevator?

10

We believe in thinking differently. We believe in our values, driving our entire team and underpinning our high standards and commitment to our customers. They include:

Customer care and value:

11

11

Our customers and their safety always come first. We are committed to be a transparent, seamless company to do business with. Customer satisfaction is the basis for all our designs and service products.

Excellence:

Why Whychoose choose thyssenkrupp thyssenkrupp Elevator?

Elevator?

We stand for outstanding performance and customer service. With a longstanding heritage, we are a trusted name in the industry, known for staying ahead of trends and delivering on time, every time.

Innovation:

Our team of industry leading experts is known for developing advanced automated solutions and innovatively applying existing technologies to address customer needs.

Thus, we can provide you with our most innovative and ground-breaking products like TWIN, MULTI, MAX, HOLOLENS and ACCEL.

Sustainability:

We believe in thinking differently.

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We believe our values, driving our entire Embedded in ourstandards culture is our the environmental and underpinning our high and commitment to to ourreducing They They and underpinning our standards high andcommitment commitment tocustomers. our customers. footprint of our products, processes and operations.

Sustainability also plays include: include:

A trusted partner

an integral part of our corporate strategy with innovative products and solutions securing a sustainable future for our business.

Customer Customer care care and and value: value: Our people:

Our customers Our customers and their and safety their safety always always comecome first. We first.are Wecommitted are committed to be to a be a We believe our people are our most important asset, and our strong positive transparent, transparent, seamless seamless company company to do to business do business with.

Customer Customer satisfaction is centric is culture supports this, with long termwith. employees which havesatisfaction customer the basis the basis for allfor our alldesigns our service and products. products. values at designs theirand core.

We service also provide ongoing training to 24,000 service technicians worldwide and specialise in focused local training to support our customers. As an employer of choice, we also believe in securing the

future of thyssenkrupp Elevator through continuous apprenticeships and the Excellence: Excellence: employment of specialist engineers.

We stand We stand for outstanding for outstanding performance performance and customer and customer service. service.

With aWith longa longstanding standing heritage, heritage, are we a are trusted trusted namename in the inindustry, the to industry, known known for staying for support staying for all Youwe can count ona thyssenkrupp Elevator provide world class aheadahead of trends of trends and and delivering on time, on time, everyevery time. kindsdelivering of different elevator systems.

We time. are your “One-Stop Shop” for quality and reliable service!

Innovation: Innovation:

Big enough to manage large projects, small enough to offer personalised attention, thyssenkrupp Elevator supports our customers around the world throughout your project lifecycle, from the design through the installation to the service. Every step of the way, we fully understand your needs and consistently deliver the safest, highest quality next-level transportation solutions. Our capabilities include highquality, customer-focused service as well as individual maintenance and modernisation packages. Globally, our highly skilled technicians efficiently service a multi-brand portfolio consisting of more than 1.2 million units under maintenance globally.

At thyssenkrupp Elevator we pride ourselves on the fact that we build long term partnerships.

From major national and international clients, residential strata segments to tertiary educational campuses. This signifies thyssenkrupp Elevator in the market place as a customer-centric lift technology company.

Our team Our team of industry of industry leading leading experts experts is known is known for developing for developing advanced advanced automated automated solutions solutions and innovatively and innovatively applying applying existing existing technologies technologies to address to address customer customer needs.needs.

Thus,Thus, we can weprovide can provide you with youour withmost our most innovative innovative and ground-breaking and ground-breaking products products like TWIN, like TWIN, MULTI,MULTI, MAX, MAX, HOLOLENS HOLOLENS and ACCEL. and ACCEL.

Sustainability: Sustainability: Embedded Embedded in ourinculture our culture is ouriscommitment our commitment to reducing to reducing the environmental the environmental footprint footprint of ourofproducts, our products, processes processes and operations. and operations.

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We also We provide also provide ongoing ongoing training training to 24,000 to 24,000 service service technicians technicians worldwide worldwide and specialise and specialise in focused in focused local local training training to support to support our customers. our customers.

As anAs employer an employer of choice, of choice, we also we believe also believe in securing in securing the the 12 futurefuture of thyssenkrupp of thyssenkrupp Elevator Elevator through through continuous continuous apprenticeships apprenticeships and the and the employment employment of specialist of specialist engineers. engineers.

You can Youcount can count on thyssenkrupp on thyssenkrupp Elevator Elevator to provide to provide worldworld class class support support for allfor all kindskinds of different of different elevator elevator systems. systems.

We are Weyour are “One-Stop your “One-Stop Shop”Shop” for quality for quality and reliable service! and reliable service!

Office Locations

thyssenKrupp Elevator Australia www.thyssenkruppelevator.com.au National Call Centre:1300 799 599

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ADVERTORIAL

KEYWATCHER DAVID ISHAK I AST PTY LTD

EXPANDED ELECTRONIC KEY CONTROL WITH CUSTOM MANAGEMENT REPORTS

K

eyWatcher is an electronic key cabinet which can host access to sets of keys that employees and contractors alike may need access to on a daily basis. Keys that an organisation may consider risky or may carry financial or liability value may be locked down and only be accessible to certain people and at certain times of the day/week/month.

The system also provides an audit trail on the movement of each set of keys equipping the organisation with complete control around key issuance and access

THE INTEGRATED SOLUTION KeyWatcher is designed for complete interactivity with your other business systems. For example, by integrating your KeyWatcher system with your access control system, your access control system will know which users have keys and which do not. A user who has taken a specific key from

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KeyWatcher can be denied egress from the facility until the key is returned – and selected management can be alerted via email if a key has not been returned on time.

KMAAS (KEY MANAGEMENT AS A SERVICE) Hosted and Managed Services available Like anything electronic, the KeyWatcher system requires access to software which controls the management of who can have access to which set of keys and also provides access to the audit trail information. The KMaaS software may be hosted on site or AST may provide all of the IT and Network infrastructure required through a completely hosted and managed service.

Administrators are provided with access to a secure web management portal.

The KeyWatcher is equipped with a 4G wireless modem and the KeyWatcher database resides on a secure Amazon Web service.

All communication between the hardware and software is encrypted using an encrypted VPN service.

Taking control of your Building Management and Control Systems and delivering the

‘NEW DIGITAL PROMISE’

DAVID OAKESHOTT I LEADER – TECHNICAL ADVICE (QLD), A.G. COOMBS ADVISORY

L

ike most technology products, Building Management Systems are undergoing a seemingly endless cycle of change.

The demand for fast, reliable and dependable information is rising with a multitude of new systems feeding on the data gathered from the field and an abundant number of providers are beginning to fill our buildings with new and diverse sensors.

End users are also becoming more educated in interacting with their buildings and are expecting more from systems which were traditionally back of house.

HOW HAS BMCS TECHNOLOGY EVOLVED AND WHERE ARE WE TODAY? Recent BMS History Unlike most computer systems, the memory and processor requirements haven’t changed too significantly in the field BMS controllers, but the data being gathered and the scrutiny applied to it is ramping up. In many ways he evolution of the BMS in the past has followed closely behind IT trends. The rate of current development demonstrates that this does not appear to be changing.

From his book The Road Ahead (Penguin Books, 1996), Bill Gates saw a trend in tech development – "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction." This is particularly true for the development of BMS. Looking back some 25 years ago to the year 1995 and the dominant marketing material for BMS vendors was generally around converting text based “green screen” DOS BMS user interfaces to Colour Graphics in Microsoft Windows environments.

This was the moment BMS suddenly came to life.

Fast forward 5 years and there was significant investment in the upgrade of BMS as the Y2k bug spawned a flurry of activity to protect our assets from the perceived new millennial threat.

The promise of “Open systems” was established about 15 years ago. This gave the opportunity for standard devices to sit on the same networks, however this unfortunately was not the beginning of the era of “vendor independence’” that many had hoped for.

IP based controllers and systems began to emerge as RS485 networks struggled to pass the volume of new data.

Around 10 years ago, a web compatible and mobile compatible BMS had become expected. Most vendors provided a solution to appease expectations, but the uptake was mixed. In Australia there was a skills shortage as mining exports more than tripled over the 10 years to 2012. Many consultants, engineers and technicians moved to better paying mining jobs, vastly reducing the amount of manpower available to spurn development in the BMS industry.

Following the downturn of the mining industry 5 years ago came the firm establishment of automated analytics and intelligent buildings in the Australian market with mixed results. The marketing promise of reduced operating costs from Data Driven Maintenance was not as conclusively realised by building owners and managers as first thought, with some platforms being rushed into deployment and others under serviced.

Today Today, the BMS market is met with an explosion of new market influences. Buzzwords are abundant; IoT, AI, hyper-connectivity, cloud solutions, information driven maintenance, data lakes, Fog computing, big data, framework, multi-platform systems.

Information is being demanded on an unprecedented level, and

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With the region focusing its attention on energy efficiency and sustainability, now would be a great time to discuss your green building needs with your choice of Reliable ControlsÂŽ Authorized Dealer.

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there is a clear expectation for fast reliable information. There are a massive number of devices and companies with interests in measuring and controlling all aspects of a facility. For example, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are becoming more widely used in healthcare from the operating theatre to the boiler room. The construction industry – historically slow implementers of technology – are now commonly using VR combined with 3D drawings and precision laser pointers to lay out equipment and install hangers inside concrete slabs before they are poured.

Service organisations are also beginning to use AR to see through walls to the services network of pipes and ducts to diagnose systems. Some mechanical service providers are streaming live (and historical) BMS information to their technicians to aid them in the servicing plant and diagnosing building system issues.

BMS information is even being used to assist in equipment lifecycle planning. The runtimes of equipment obviously contribute to the wear of the machines, likewise the number of starts per hour and the additional stress on under-sized machines contribute to the shortening of equipment life and reliability. Third-party devices are also being applied to measure the vibration or sounds from major plant to predict equipment failure. Energy, water and other performance measurements are seeing greater demand with increased scrutiny.

The current generation has grown up in a world where “all” information is at the tip of their fingertips through connected mobile devices. Because of this, it is anticipated that the expectation for meaningful, secure, interactivity with systems will only increase with time.

What does this mean for the building engineer or facility manager trying to manage the BMS? The reality for many buildings means considering the existing installation and potentially significant investment in their BMS. In many cases the BMS vendor is the only source of technical advice for the client. Unfortunately, this provides an obvious biased opinion and is not likely to result in a more innovative approach to the solutions required in today’s market. On the other hand, the BMS vendor usually has a good knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of the facility and the ability to provide excellent supporting information to an upgrade which they are involved in.

Sadly, being locked into a single manufacturer’s platform usually means: • High maintenance costs • High repair or upgrade costs • Dependant on vendor for advice As such, one of the most frequently asked questions is “which BMS should I choose?”. This however doesn’t have a simple answer, as most platforms provide similar hardware and software features.

Sometimes the larger companies offer improved support – but at what cost, and have they been able to retain the skilled staff you want to turn up on the next service call?

Smaller companies often have a greater level of customer service but can lack the diverse skillsets required for modern projects.

Some offer “open programmability” inferring that other vendors can extend, repair, service or upgrade the system, but there are still ways to lock down even these systems.

New players to the market are offering “controllerless BMS” where they use Internet of Things sensors which are combined in logic on either an edge device or in the cloud.

The answer to the question “which BMS should I choose?” is therefore about who is programming the system and the level of support offered post-installation.

The most important consideration is where technical advice is sought from and how the BMS is policed. A detailed specification is required for small changes to the system or even a service contract. The BMS work needs to be periodically verified to ensure compliance with the specification. BMS vendors often see the BMS specification as a “guide” rather than a contractual document. This has usually come about because of poorly written specifications in the past.

In some facilities “analytics” engines have been added, overlaying the BMS with a promise of cheaper maintenance, improved energy efficiency, reduced reactive works or even to police the BMS. While some platforms are achieving some of their goals, often the reality involves more alarms (now coming from the original BMS and the analytics engine), duplication of systems to license and service at additional cost to the building manager, conflict between multiple vendors with competing interests and even downstream BMS networks being overloaded and crashing.

It is clear that analytics have a place in the modern system, but just like the BMS, they need to be carefully specified and verified to ensure they achieve the targeted goals. In the past, when it came to issue resolution there used to be a BMS contractor and a services provider (usually mechanical services) standing in a plantroom pointing the blame at each other, now there is a new player in the room offering more confusion.

Often analytics providers are not integrating to the desired levels and do not implement nor sometimes understand, the hierarchal relationships between the plant and equipment which service the facility. When implemented correctly, this can provide very powerful insights into the interconnected systems, but too often these are underdeveloped and “simple” rules are applied which are not much better than a well configured BMS alarm regime.

Another legacy issue many building engineers face is poor documentation. As-built data is often unavailable, out of date or incomplete. Many construction projects deliver separate systems which are expected to provide a seamless user experience, but often fail to achieve the desired level of integration. A recent count of programmed control systems in the central plant of a modern building saw over 70 disparate systems. From generator and HV control systems, right down to stand alone pump controllers, there were over 6 different Windows operating system versions required and countless vendor software packages and proprietary connector cables to manage. In fact, most of the systems were

39

not networked to each other and only a handful had some level of basic integration. Before the audit, the plant operator only knew of 6 of the 70 installed systems, exposing the building to significant risk should any of these systems fail. During the review, it was identified that most of the control systems did not have backups for their program or had ever been serviced.

In another review of a recently constructed site, it was revealed that there was incomplete commissioning data. While this initially may not sound significant, further investigations identified that the BMS programmers had mislabelled sensors and actuators, failed to connect some devices, fed redundant systems from the same power source or were controlled by the same hardware (causing a single point of failure) and had created graphics that were not matching the physical installation or schematics. In totality, these issues can be compared to a ticking time bomb which is waiting to flare up, usually at the worst possible time. Compounding the seriousness of the situation, the service provider was unaware of these issues and had no plans to test the functionality of the critical systems, they even provided service reports to indicate everything is “OK”.

Post-installation, poor documentation also led to the inability of the end user to monitor, control, understand or change the BMS. The BMS training for the operators was inadequate and often referred to non-specific generic literature. The user interface was not properly accessible for graphics, reports, alarms and was not intuitive or an accurate representation of the reality in the field.

While the previous example was of a greenfield site, often the biggest issue with older facilities is change management.

Recent projects have required a significant and expensive recommissioning process due to well-intentioned technicians who have reprogrammed the BMS to address physical issues, made changes based on poor information leading to an incorrect diagnosis, remotely conducted maintenance without verifying the result onsite or have used the BMS to “fix” other physical issues without addressing the root cause. Many of these changes were undocumented.

Older facilities, over time, undertake projects to expand or reconfigure spaces into alternative uses. It is often overlooked that the BMS requires modification to match the requirements of the new space and best serve its needs. Whilst an older facility will plan for the lifecycle replacement or upgrade to the mechanical services, the upgrade or replacement of the BMS is commonly underestimated or poorly planned. Easy energy efficiency gains can be realised by replacing mechanical services, however these gains can be compounded by ensuring that the controlling equipment is current and capable of providing the full extent of control required. Whether maintaining or upgrading an older facility, it is important to consider the fire, power and other life safety functions integrated to the BMS. Neglecting the BMS and leaving these functions untested and unresolved can lead to compliance issues during mandatory full function (power and fire) testing.

Within the facility management world, uncontrolled or poorly understood changes to the BMS programming have recently been associated with mould issues, creation of single point of failure

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SOME OF THE BMS SKILLS REQUIRED IN TODAY’S MARKET: • Programming language (specific to the vendor and sometimes multiple vendors) • Graphics and human interfaces • Trends and historical reporting – managing controller capacities and databases • Mechanical design – Hydraulic/liquid flow – Airside – Chillers and staging – Energy management – Control loops – Sensor selections and proper locations – Control device selections • Electrical systems and power analysis • Cabling design – sensor and signal electromagnetic interference, RS 232 / 422 / 485 and IP network cabling designs and limitations • Protocols • Databases • Other vendor integration • Data presentation and the inability to diagnose problems because the BMS graphical information was no longer valid. All of these situations lead to a significant increased risk of failure.

THE FUTURE FOR BMS IN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Having demonstrated the potential pitfalls in a poorly implemented and maintained BMS, the goal for the modern BMS user is to create a managed, well documented, intuitive system serviced by a competitive environment where the most suited vendor is selected, and price is reasonable. Where practical, convergence with IT should be sought to leverage systems and architecture already provided in a reliable and controlled manner.

Analytics can be used to support a well configured BMS and provide valuable insight into issues which would take a trained operator a significant amount of time to manually diagnose.

Finally, the system should have a lifecycle plan for progressive upgrades and be future proof.

The facility should also consider other input sources to their data model including BIM and any other construction modelling.

New facilities or expansion project data can provide valuable information about the relationships between equipment and the spaces they serve, while existing facilities can benefit from point mapping and retrospective drawing uploads to build-up the information when required.

To achieve a reliable and high performing BMS, the follow suggestions are provided: • Prior to undertaking a BMS project, engage a vendor independent BMS specialist consultant to assist throughout the course of the project. Having a third-party specialist assist with identifying the primary requirements of the BMS and provide guidance in writing specifications will greatly improve the odds of a successful outcome. This will also help prevent being drawn into a single manufacturer’s platform and the accompanying pitfalls.

• Consider a separate technology package to sit parallel with the mechanical, electrical, communications and security contractors.

The BMS shouldn’t be an afterthought, but rather an extensive, planned technology installation.

• Create a clear specification for mechanical, BMS and analytics services post construction. This should be targeted on proactive, performance-based maintenance outcomes to ensure that the product has been installed correctly and is operating to its best ability. Savings will be realised in reduced temperature complaints and energy usage.

• From the outset of a project, specify the targeted analytics of the new system:

there are appropriate inhibits are built to prevent false alarms as over-alerting can lead to lax response times. o Short term trends – equipment is failing to perform the required outcomes over a period of a few hours or days. o Long term trends – equipment is repeatedly out of service or desired conditions over a long term. This can also be used to support a lifecycle analysis of the underlying plant and equipment. o Develop comparative sensors to cross-check readings. o Develop exercise routines for plant, actuators and end devices. o Configure data to feed into a larger dataset which can provide source information to other services in a secure structured method.

• Establish clear change management expectations by conducting regular change management meetings with defined responsibilities and deadlines.

• Establish a programme to conduct risk management reviews, including physical installation, contractor performance, end user requirements and compliance testing.

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o Immediate alerts – separate to BMS alarms, these alerts are used for multi-faceted events where the equipment is detected to be operating incorrectly. Conversely, ensure

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41

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING INC

UPDATE CONFERENCE DELEGATE PROSPECTUS

15 TH – 16 TH AUGUST 2019 QT Hotel Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland MAJOR SPONSORS A Sonepar Company

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www.aihe.com.au

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING INC

Founded in 1988, the Institute aims to provide its members with the latest developments in engineering, construction and technology. With a national membership base and chapters in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia - the AIHE brings together a group that offers diverse experience and an extensive knowledge pool.

The AIHE Conference is held bi-annually, bringing together hotel industry’s key decision makers and experts from across Australia and the globe. AIHE Conferences have been providing inspiration and essential resources to hotel engineers of Australia for the past 31 years.

STATE PRESIDENTS Anura Yapa

David Zammit

Tony Fioraso

NEW SOUTH WALES AND QUEENSLAND

VICTORIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

KEY NOTE SPEAKERS David Crisafulli David Crisafulli is the Liberal National Party Member for the State seat of Broadwater on the northern Gold Coast. He holds the portfolios of Shadow Minister for Environment, Science and the Great Barrier Reef as well as the Shadow Minister for Tourism. David was returned to parliament in late 2017.

Born and raised in Ingham, North Queensland, David graduated from James Cook University with a degree in journalism and for six years worked in print, radio and television. David was Chief of Staff of the WIN Townsville newsroom, worked as a correspondent for The Australian and Sunday Mail newspapers and lectured in journalism at JCU. David, a respected journalist, made his debut into politics in 2004 when he secured a seat on Townsville City Council.

In 2008 he was re-elected, topping the poll of 49 councillors and was Deputy Mayor until resigning in 2012 to run for the State seat of Mundingburra.

From 2012 to 2015, David served as Queensland Minister for Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience, being promoted to cabinet in his first term. He undertook what was one of the biggest reforms to local government in a generation and overhauled State disaster recovery programmes.

David and Tegan live in Hope Island and have two daughters.

Anthony Du Preez Anthony has founded and helped build a number of global SaaS companies that are leaders in their space - Adslot in adtech, BidEnergy in energy tech, and Predictive hire in HR tech. He is an acknowledged expert in building large-scale cloud-based Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platforms that manage complex business processes with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). Anthony holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours), an MBA from the Melbourne School and an advanced management post-graduate certificate at Berkeley University in San Francisco.

André Guichon André Guichon is the Sales & Marketing Director of Otis Elevators, based out of Sydney. André spent the last 25 years in technology, internet commerce and consulting roles across various industries and continents. In the world of Vertical Transportation, André likes to be involved in projects where technology-based innovations help solving a business issue, be it guest experience, traffic bottleneck, raising energy consumption or poor service level. His areas of expertise include cloud computing, destination control and mobile connectivity.

Nathan Semos

David Chokolich

Nathan’s built-form career spans more than two decades. He has extensive experience in the compliance, maintenance and facility management sectors. His various roles include Building Surveyor, State Manager, Technical Services Manager, National Operations Manager and now General Manager – Safety Measures at Hendry. Nathan’s wealth of knowledge of national and state based regulatory processes & extensive knowledge of the BCA, DDA, maintenance and installation standards, Building Act and Regulations allows him to conduct workshops and seminars on current industry best practice.

Nathan couples his passion for safety, with his expertise in applying digital solutions to tackle current industry problems, ensuring built-environment stakeholders are working together to create safer, smarter and more sustainable buildings cities and communities for all.

David is the General Manager of Technical Services for HFM Asset Management. David is responsible for the management of all technical staff delivering projects such as energy & water procurement; energy tracking and improvement programs, building condition audits; building maintenance and life cycle planning and a broad range of energy and environmental reporting.

With over 23 years’ experience within the Building Services design and Facilities Management, David has extensive experience in Building Operation, Maintenance and Energy Management, which is built on a strong working knowledge of a wide variety of facilities and this ensures the best applicable industry practice is evaluated and implemented for our Clients.

Rick Durnford Anwar Ahmed Anwar has a great passion on energy conservation especially with advanced control and working in this field for over 50 years and is a graduate from University of Queensland and post graduates from University of Newcastle. He has been working on the technology development and implementation of energy saving through controls and optimisation for over 40 years both in commercial and industrial plants in different part of the world. Lately working mainly in Australia and hotel industry. Anwar has published over 35 case studies and articles mainly on commercial building especially hotel industries. This presentation will be focused on its technology, development, achievement and acceptance by this industry including its pitfalls.

Brendon Granger With a great passion for all things hotels, but in particular technology and a desire to help others his role as Director at Technology 4 Hotels allows him to do both. Brendon has worked with hundreds of hotels to help them with their in-room technology. He has helped them to increase guest satisfaction, strengthen guest loyalty and encourage repeat bookings as well as win awards such as the best business hotel, best city hotel, best upscale hotel and best luxury hotel in Australasia. Always going the extra mile, Brendon began his hospitality career over thirty years ago working in 5-star hotels whilst completing his Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management. He has held various management positions within 5-star hotels, worked as a consultant in both hotel feasibility and technology and has an extensive background in hotel technology.

Rick Durnford is the Connected Buildings Software Sales Director at Honeywell in the newly formed Honeywell Connected Enterprise business unit. Based in Sydney, Australia, Rick is responsible for all Connected Buildings Software sales across the APAC region. Honeywell’s Connected Building Software builds on Honeywell’s rich service heritage, and recognizes the connected realities of today so customers can reap the benefits in how their buildings operate and the experiences it provides to occupants. Rick has been with Honeywell for nearly 11 years holding diverse roles including General Management, Functional Leadership and Change Management.

Mark Thomson Queensland Registered Architect, Mark Thomson has 32 years professional experience, specialising in Ecological Sustainable Development. He has 26 years’ experience as a company director with organisations, some which have won awards including, an Australian Quality Award, a Telstra Small Business Award, multiple A.I.A. (Architects Institute of Australia) Awards and UDIA (Urban Development Institute of Australia) property development Awards. He has over 30 years experience in the Australian design development and construction industry . Mark has designed and refurbished multiple hotel projects around Australia and was co-owner in a national hotel chain up until 2005.His current business, Eco Effective Solutions provides Earthcheck and Greenstar consulting services, architectural design advice including peer review assessments,plus educational services to the building industry from his Brisbane office. Mark is immediate Past President of the Australian Green Development Forum, a past QUT Adjunct Professor and a regular judge in local, national and international Award programs. Later this year he returns to Amsterdam as a Judge in the 2019 World Architecture Festival and is an invited thought leader and speaker at the USA 2019 SFI Conference at Richmond, Virginia.

www.aihe.com.au

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MC Andrew Nason

QT Conference Room

QT Lounge Area

QT Hotel Room

PROGRAM DAY ONE I

Thursday 15th August, 2019

7.45am

Registration

8.30am - 9.00am

Opening Address by David Crisafulli

9.10am - 9.40am

Technology & Trends And How They Are Transforming The Guest Experience Brendon Granger

9.50am - 10.30am

Latest Trends in Hotels with NABERS David Chokolich

10.30am - 11.00am Morning Tea and Trade Viewing 11.15am - 12.00pm

New Predictive Maintenance and Tools for Enhancing Performance and Reducing Breakdowns of Vertical Transport AndrĂŠ Guichon

12.00pm - 1.30pm

Lunch and Trade Viewing

1.30pm - 2.00pm

Outcome Based Servicing Rick Durnford

2.15pm - 2.45pm

Afternoon Tea and Trade Viewing

3.00pm - 3.45pm

Discussion on the technology that allows better visibility and how to lower costs on electricity and gas expenditure Anthony Du Prezz

3.45pm - 5.00pm

Trade Drinks and Viewing

6.30pm - 10.30pm

Fun Night at Top Golf – including dinner and drinks

DAY TWO I

Friday 16th August, 2019

THE VENUE Qt Hotel 7 Staghorn Avenue Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast Queensland 4217 Australia

ROOM DEAL AIHE Exhibitor and Delegated Deal From $190 per night

8.00am - 9.00am

Coffee and Trade Viewing

9.15am - 10.00am

Hotel energy management system (EMS) Anwar Ahmed

10.15am - 11.00am

Morning Tea and Trade Viewing

TICKET INCLUSIONS

11.15am - 12.00pm

Architectural designs and refurbishment of hotels with a focus on Ecological Sustainable design and Development Mark Thomson

Your ticket purchase includes:

12.00pm - 1.30pm

Lunch and Trade Viewing

1.45pm - 2.30pm

Safety Measures around BCA & DDA maintenance and installation standards Nathan Semos

2.30pm - 3.00pm

Afternoon Tea and Trade Viewing

3.150pm - 3.45pm

Closing Address Neil Weenink

3.45pm - 4.30pm

Closing Address by the State Presidents

6.00pm - 7.00pm

Pre Dinner Drinks

7.10pm - 11.00pm

Gala Dinner

Conference Workshops Access (Day 1 and/or Day 2) Trade Show and Exhibition entry Network with educators, industry leaders, suppliers and other AIHE members Online access to Guest speaker presentations Online access to Sponsors websites Morning and Afternoon Tea, Lunch, Drinks and Cocktail Party, Tea and Coffee (Day 1) Morning and Afternoon Tea, Lunch, Pre Drinks and Gala Dinner (Day 2) Prizes from each Sponsors to be drawn Complimentary Undercover Conference Parking Accommodation discount at Conference Venue (delegates to book direct)

Exhibition and Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available Contact: Bev Allen (AIHE QLD Secretary) Phone: 0411 114 942

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AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING INC

UPDATE CONFERENCE 2019 DELEGATE BOOKING FORM DETAILS Name: Hotel/Company: AIHE Membership #:

State:

Address: Town/City:

State:

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Mobile:

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Email:

Dietary Requirements / Special Requests:

BOOKING PER PERSON

FULL CONFERENCE

TOTAL

Member

$450.00

$_____________________

Non Member

$500.00

$_____________________

Membership - Partner

$260.00

$_____________________ TOTAL$_____________________

PAYMENT DETAILS Cheque - Made payable to the order of Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering Electronic Funds Transfer into Account: BSB: 084 462 Account No: 205126424 Visa

American Express

Bank: National Bank Australia

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Reference (Invoice Number or Company Name)

Credit Card surcharge will be absorbed by AIHE

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Cardholder’s Signature: ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

SUBMIT FORM To post or email your form, or for further details, please contact:

DELEGATE BOOKINGS Bev Allen - AIHE Qld Secretary PO Box 5118, GCMC QLD 9726 Phone: 0411 114 942 Email: admin@aihe.com.au

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45

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Minibars

Why hotels should embrace

DIGITAL KEY TECHNOLOGY

BRENDON GRANGER I DIRECTOR, TECHNOLOGY4HOTELS

Self-service is becoming increasingly valued by a generation of travellers seeking greater convenience and flexibility. At many global airports, self-service check-in and automated passport control kiosks are commonplace. Technology is now helping to reduce queues and speed up transit, removing the need for a once long-winded administrative process.

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et for some reason, the technology hasn’t been widely rolled out in the hotel industry, despite the fact that demand is there. Research by Hotels.com revealed that 44% of US travellers would be happy using a mobile for hotel self-check-in.

The desire for self-service was found to be even greater in a study of business travellers in North America and Europe. The study found that travellers in the US (78%), Italy (77%), Canada (74%), Spain (73%), the Nordic countries (60%) and Germany (56%) preferred self-service technology to manage their travel.

As the demand for self-service grows, it’s worth looking at the considerable benefits that digital keys offer both guests and hotels.

BENEFITS TO GUESTS Using just their smartphone, guests can use a digital key to skip the check-in procedure and gain instant access to their room.

Offering this hassle-free alternative is something that can have a direct impact on levels of customer satisfaction.

Since Hilton launched their own Digital Key, Hilton guests using the technology are more likely to rate their “efficiency of arrival” nearly 10 percentage points higher than those using traditional check-in.

A mobile key also allows guests to access other areas of a hotel, such as the car park, elevator, or fitness centre. Additionally, a whole host of service requests can be made from anywhere in the hotel.

For instance, a digital key can be used to ask for housekeeping, issue a ‘do not disturb request’, or reserve a parking space at the hotel before arrival.

Activities and amenities no longer need to be booked through the front desk, either. A smartphone with a digital key can be used to book everything from a massage or spa treatment to a session on the hotel tennis court.

With this kind of technology at their fingertips, the whole guest experience is elevated to another level of freedom and convenience.

BENEFITS TO HOTELS The demands on a front desk are considerable during busy check-in periods. But with more guests checking in themselves, this burden is relieved.

It’s fair to say the check-in process represents an important opportunity for building guest rapport. For that reason, diminishing its role might seem counterproductive. But in reality, the administrative process of form filling and fact checking doesn’t really lend itself to moments of genuine interaction. If we are honest, front desk staff generally spend most of the check-in procedure looking at their computer screen rather than the guests.

However, freed up from the formalities of the check-in procedure, a front desk can spend more quality time on the moments that really matter.

This might involve offering helpful recommendations to guests as they head out for the day. It could mean having the chance to handle customer queries over the phone with greater care and attention, creating more opportunities to influence booking decisions and provide an all-round better service.

Self-service also provides greater upsell opportunities. A hectic front desk might not have the time to tempt a guest with room upgrades or promote in-house amenities and services. In contrast, digital keys can be used as powerful marketing tools to increase sales.

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Hotel services and special offers can be promoted via an app, with customised offers targeting specific customer segments.

In turn, hotels can track uptake rates to see which deals and amenities guests are really interested in, further helping to refine the amenities and offers they deliver to match personal preferences and buying habits.

From an operational perspective, life becomes easier too. For instance, a hotel can check when a room has been vacated and carry out cleaning to ensure a quicker turnaround time.

The hotel restaurant can also be notified about the number of current and future guests to help better plan in advance.

Ultimately, digital keys provide hotels with the ability to improve efficiency, push relevant deals, market more effectively, and provide an all-round better experience to guests.

IN CONCLUSION Self check-in services are now becoming highly valued by a generation that craves flexibility and freedom when they travel.

While increasingly expected, this certainly doesn’t mean that hotels should do away with the traditional check-in process.

Plenty of travellers still value a formal greeting on arrival.

However, by not offering a self check-in option, it restricts those who do want to bypass the front desk in order to reach their

room more quickly. It also limits the wealth of other benefits they can receive beyond a streamlined arrival.

The ultimate goal for any hotel is to leave every guest feeling completely satisfied with the service they’ve received. By complementing the front desk with self-service technology, hotels can strike a balance and ensure the preferences of all are met.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR With a great passion for all things hotels, but in particular technology and a desire to help others his role as director at Technology4Hotels allows him to do both.

Brendon has worked with hundreds of hotels to help them with their in-room technology. In the last few years he has helped them to increase guest satisfaction, strengthen guest loyalty and encourage repeat bookings as well as win awards such as the best business hotel, best city hotel, best upscale hotel and best luxury hotel in Australasia.

Always going the extra mile, Brendon began his hospitality career over twenty five years ago working in 5 star hotels whilst completing his Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management. He has held various management positions within 5 star hotels, worked as a consultant in both hotel feasibility and technology and has an extensive background in hotel technology.

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KITCHEN EXHAUST CLEANING in Australia

JEREMY KRONK I MANAGING DIRECTOR, SHEPHERD FILTERS (MEMBER OF IKECA & AIRAH)

The kitchen is an important part of a hotel’s operations. Keeping it running and reducing the risk of fire is therefore not something that should be taken lightly. Hotel engineers certainly have a lot of tasks to cover in order to ensure they have done all that they can to reduce risk and comply with the legislated standards.

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mongst these tasks is kitchen exhaust cleaning, which involves managing grease accumulation in filters, the hoods/canopies and all through the ducts to the fan.

It can be an ongoing and expensive part of the maintenance program for any hotel. Failure to do these well can lead to a fire, voided insurance and other potential maintenance issues.

Both the Australian Standards and insurance policies determine the requirements and frequency for such tasks. AS1851 is the standard most people look to and it outlines both monthly and yearly tasks, but the open (or even ambiguous) definitions and inconsistent enforcement can lead to some taking shortcuts to save time and money.

Insurance policies may require more frequent activities (i.e. 6 or even 1-4 monthly regular cleans). In addition, policies may also require the insured to mitigate as much risk as possible if they could be reasonably aware of such risk.

The hotel engineer should know and understand the above requirements and ensure all work is completed properly. They should ensure they receive the correct documentation and certificates to confirm who did the cleaning work and when and to what quality is important. Checking their work personally is also strongly recommended.

Every kitchen has varying hours of operation with different styles of cooking generating different levels of grease. This is where understanding what is needed is prudent.

Excerpt from AS1851: • Monthly kitchen grease filters and hoods and plenums must be inspected for grease accumulation and cleaned – note more frequent than this can be subject to assessment; and • Yearly to monthly tasks must have all been completed and the ducts to fan checked and cleaned – note again more frequently can be subject to assessment.

Hiring a professional kitchen filter and/or duct cleaning contactor is thought of as the best way to manage this task but it can have its own risks. Anyone can be an exhaust cleaning contractor, however at this time, no formal qualification is required in Australia. Staff doing the work are sometimes unaware of, or not trained to do the quality required to maintain safe kitchen exhaust systems. Vague reports and cleaning certificates should not be relied upon and certainly companies performing insufficient quality of works can leave a hotel at substantial risk.

Memberships to duct cleaning organisations can be bought for a couple of hundred dollars and will hold no value for suitable work.

Body corporates and insurance companies may require certain documentation for compliance, however, in the event of a fire and an insurance claim, they may not help if the document has disclaimers to limit liability.

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LOW OR POOR STANDARD OF CLEANS – HAVE YOU GOT WHAT YOU PAID FOR AND IS YOUR SYSTEM AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE? All too frequently, systems are not cleaned properly nor entirely. This can be due to: • improper quoting • n ot understanding the requirements • l imited access levels; and/or • t he customer not understanding what they have been quoted and paid for (the contractor may have set exclusions and “subject to” conditions).

Sometimes it’s just a simple matter of looking up, inside and not just through a filter hole.

Sometimes access panels are required to get the job done.

Sometimes contractors are doing just enough to get the right photos for reports. Moreover, the first time they might do a good job to impress but subsequent clean standards are sometimes lower.

The photo below is an example of how an inspection panel was removed and enough area has ben cleaned to get the photo for the report:

Whatever the reasons, the risk can be great for both persons and property when not addressed. Here are examples of systems that appear to have been untouched for more than 12 months: Frequently, systems are cleaned by either independent operators or large reputable companies. Some provide reports and certificates that on the face of it seem legitimate but may have hidden clauses such as “cleaned where accessible” or “canopy clean only”, indicating that they were not responsible for the duct etc.

Checking your contractors reports and also undertaking a physical inspection is very important.

There are many ways for the contractor to limit their liability, and below are just a sample of some used in Australia: • O nly stating the hood (canopy) and fan clean on invoice and report/certificate. Duct clean is not referenced • C leaned where accessible in fine print – only cleaned as far as arm’s reach • R eports and certificates dated incorrectly • I ncorrect standard on certificate – not relevant to kitchen exhausts • W rong company name, address and ABN of contractor or using another company name and ABN • N o customer name or date on certificate or reports

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• Using the same before and after photos on reports for the last three (3) years when the cleans are done every six months • Work done by company with no liability insurance and no value in company • Photos of another customers fan and ductwork for report purposes • Invoice for access panels installed when none have been installed • Certificate issued but cash payments only accepted or bundled with other works (HVAC) • Full exhaust cleaned in one part of the hotel and leaving other exhausts untouched but charged for all.

With the help of AIRAH members trying to establish better guidelines and means to ensure that better quality work is done, Australia is slowly heading in the right direction.

The USA and UK has implemented much more stringent definitions of what is required and who the works should be performed by and who should be checking for the compliance of these works.

PROBLEMS FROM GETTING IT WRONG Maintenance issues can range from leaking ducts and roof damage to odour complaints due to reduced airflow from kitchens or fan failures.

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One hotel experienced a fan failure on a Friday due to grease build-up and improper cleaning. After rectification, the fan took four (4) days and the exhaust needed cleaning properly at considerable emergency expense plus staff wages, food wasted and lost income for the restaurant. A $30,000 issue was not insured due to problem deemed from improper maintenance.

Fires are however undoubtedly the worst problem that a hotel can encounter.

Sometimes it can be very difficult to understand as to how and the damage can affect a lot more than just the kitchen. Recovering from such an event can take some time, and includes the loss of restaurant and hotel income, inconvenience to hotel guests, loss of staff (e.g. chef etc.) during repair works, or staff wages and much more.

With lots at risk, it’s simply just a matter of seeking out the right advice from reputable companies and checking works performed. Engaging or seeking advice from consultants and keeping up to date with new products and innovations entering the market can also assist with the burdens or managing kitchen exhaust grease.

Kitchen grease in the exhaust system is costly to clean and a constant fire risk.

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WHAT IS A HEAT PUMP DR PAUL BANNISTER

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heat pump is just a refrigerator in reverse. In a refrigerator, we extract heat from something we want to cool and reject that heat to the environment. In a heat pump we extract heat from the environment and add that heat to something we want to heat. The components required to do this are identical; two heat exchangers (called an evaporator and a condenser), a compressor and an expansion valve as shown in Figure 1.

Heat pumps have been around for as long as we have had refrigeration. If you have an air-conditioner that you use for heating in winter – also known as a reverse-cycle air-conditioner – then you are using a heat pump: The airconditioner is extracting heat from the cool outside air and bringing it into the house via the heat pump cycle.

Key applications for heat pumps include: • Air-conditioning: As noted above, an air-conditioner working reverse cycle mode is just a heat pump.

• Water heating: Heat pumps can be used for heating water for space heating or for domestic hot water heating.

In Europe, the use of heat pumps to heat water for in-slab heating is very popular; some of these use the ground, rather than the air, as the heat source.

Heat pump driven domestic hot water has been available in Australia for over 30 years.

• Industrial heat recovery: In industrial processes, heat pumps can be used to recycle lower temperature waste heat up to useful, higher temperature heat.

Heat pumps can also be used in drying processes.

In this series of articles we’ll explore heat pump technology in more detail

Figure 1. The heat pump cycle

with a particular focus on carbon dioxide heat pumps, which are set to have a revolutionary impact on heat pump applications.

This article series is kindly contributed

by Dr Paul Bannister, a thought leader and public speaker on energy and energy efficiency issues in Australia.

Nerd Space: What happens inside a heat pump?

Let’s start at the evaporator. The evaporator is typically a heat exchanger between the outside air and the refrigerant. The refrigerant enters the evaporator as a low pressure liquid.

The boiling point of this liquid is cooler than the temperature of whatever we are extracting heat from – typically outside air. So as the outside air passes through the heat exchanger it makes the refrigerant evaporate. The energy required to evaporate the refrigerant is known as latent heat, and is all absorbed at one temperature, being the boiling point temperature – just like water boils at a fixed temperature of 100°C under normal conditions.

The refrigerant leaves the evaporator as a low pressure gas.

This low pressure gas enters the compressor where – as the name suggests – it is compressed. The compression process turns the cool, low pressure gas from the evaporator into a hot, high pressure gas. This gas enters the condenser.

The condenser is a heat exchanger between whatever it is we want to heat (which might be water or air) and the refrigerant. Because the refrigerant is under pressure, its boiling point

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temperature is higher than it was in the evaporator. Meantime, the water or air that we are heating is cooler than the refrigerant boiling point. This causes the refrigerant to condense and become liquid, releasing the latent energy to whatever we are heating.

The ratio of electrical energy input to heat output is called the coefficient of performance or COP; the higher the COP, the more efficient the heat pump. For the heat pump in Figure 2, the COP is 4 units of heat output divided by one unit of electricity input, i.e. a COP of 4.

The refrigerant leaves the condenser as a warm liquid. It then passes through the expansion valve where the pressure drops and as a result the refrigerant vaporises.

The COP can be maximised by careful design of the heat pump (efficient compressor, fans) and the use of a thermodynamically appropriate refrigerant.

The magic of this process is that we transfer heat from a cold object to a hotter – something that can only happen because of the mechanical work input at the compressor.

The key external factor affecting both the COP and capacity of a heat pump is the temperature difference between the evaporator and the condenser. The narrower this temperature difference, the easier it is to transfer the heat and so the more heat we can transfer for every unit of energy input. This means that in a space heating application, for instance, the heat pump will be very efficient at mild temperatures but less efficient when it’s really cold.

HEAT PUMP EFFICIENCY Normally when we think of efficiency, we think of a percentage, i.e. of the energy we put into an appliance, only some of it provides a useful output and some is wasted. Thus we talk about a boiler being 90% efficient – because only 90% of the fuel energy input ends up as useful output heat, with the rest being lost via the flue or via radiant and convective losses from the boiler.

By contrast, heat pumps seemingly undertake the impossible: you get more heating out than the energy you put in.

This is possible because we are using energy to move heat – rather than converting the energy directly to heat. As a result the apparent efficiency in terms of heat output is greater than 100%. This is shown in Figure 2.

Nerd Space: What’s so good about CO2 in heating?

is both useful and limiting, particularly if you want to generate very high condensing temperatures. CO2 has a particular property that at high (but achievable) pressures it enters a state known as “supercritical” which means that it no longer has a phase change between gas and liquid and thus has no fixed temperature latent heat transfer.

This means that instead of transferring a large amount of heat at, say, 50°C, it transfers a comparable amount of heat, but across a wide range of temperatures from 90°C down to 10-20°C (and lower).

This normal “sensible” heat transfer matches exactly the sort of heat transfer we want to achieve when heating water from cold to hot. As a result, supercritical CO2 pumps are perfectly matched to high temperature rise heating applications like domestic hot water.

Note that because the CO2 doesn’t condense when it transfers heat, the heat exchanger normally known as the condenser is called a gas cooler in CO2 heat pump systems.

The conventional refrigeration cycle operates between two phase-change processes: An evaporator in which liquid refrigerant evaporates, creating a cooling effect, and a condenser where gaseous refrigerant condenses, creating a heating effect. In each case what is transferred is known as latent heat. Just as water boils at a fixed temperature of 100degC and ice melts at a fixed temperature of 0°C – both phase change processes occur at fixed temperature. This characteristic

Figure 2. The heat pump cycle.

Eco-Cute CO2 Heat Pump installed at Brown Brothers Milawa Winery

ALL CHANGE: NEW REFRIGERANTS IN HEAT PUMPS The refrigerant market has been subject to significant changes over the past 40 years because of concern about the environmental impacts of refrigerants.

The Montreal Protocol (1987) initiated the phase out of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) refrigerants such

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as R11 and R12 because of the massive damage these were doing to the ozone layer in the atmosphere.

The second phase of this phase out is drawing to a close currently, removing many of the refrigerants that were brought in to replace CFCs, being the HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) such as R22 and R123. These chemicals, while of far lesser ozone depletion potential than the CFCs, still damage the ozone layer. Production of these refrigerants has essentially ceased, and it will become harder over the next few years to source replacement refrigerant for systems using these chemicals.

In 2016 the international community agreed to phase down the next group of refrigerants, being the HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) such as R134a.

These refrigerants have zero ozone depletion potential but unfortunately are significant contributors to global warming – one kg of R134a has the global warming potential of 1,430kg of CO2; a massive impact. The phase down is scheduled to occur between 2018 and 2036 by which Australia has committed to reduce its production and imports of bottled HFCs by 85% by 2036, as shown in Figure 3.

While 2036 may seem a long way away, the fairly linear nature of the phase down means that refrigerant equipment being specified today is already at risk of a reduced lifespan due to the reduced

availability and doubtless increased cost of HFC refrigerants in 10-15 years’ time: HFC imports and production will be over 60% lower in 2028 than in 2018.

In the final article in this series, we will look at the Eco-Cute CO2 heat pumps as an example of how these performance and can be applied in practice.

It is one of the truisms of refrigeration that every phase of new refrigerants has been accompanied by a boost of innovation that expands the efficiency and applications of the technology in new and often not entirely expected ways.

The current wave of new refrigerants in response to the phase down of HFCs – and the need to develop refrigerants with low global warming potential – has propelled CO2 into the fray as a major new refrigerant. CO2 has zero ozone depletion potential and, by definition, a global warming potential of 1.

Nerd Space: Maximum efficiency of a heat pump

The thermodynamic characteristics of CO2 make it particularly suitable for use in heat pump applications, operating at far higher temperatures than has been feasible with HFC heat pump technology.

A second aspect of CO2 as a heat pump is that it works best where the heating process occurs over a large temperature range, such as is the case with domestic hot water, where water has to be heated from below 20°C to above 60°C. Converse this means that CO2 heat pumps are not a natural fit for conventional space heating hot water systems operating across a 20°C temperature difference, unless the water entering the heat pump is quite cool, i.e. 20-30°C.

Figure 3. Australia’s HFC phase down schedule. Source: www.environment.gov.au

Heat pumps have so many counterintuitive features – an apparent efficiency greater than one, transferring heat from a cold object to a hot object – because they are playing with the second law of thermodynamics. Most sensible people don’t want spend much time thinking about the second law of thermodynamics, and it is generally the preserve of bespectacled, crazy-haired physicists (like the author). For those interested, the maximum efficiency of a conventional heat pump is described using the Carnot efficiency equation: COPmax = Tcond (K)

Tcond (K) – Tevap (K) It can be seen from the format of the equation that the larger the temperature difference is between evaporator and condenser, the lower the maximum COP. If we take an evaporator at 10°C (283K) and a condenser at 60°C (333K) the theoretical maximum COP is 6.7, which is well ahead of anything we are achieving today, so there is clearly scope for the technology to become even more efficient in the future.

CO2 HEAT PUMPS IN PRACTICE CO2 heat pumps are rapidly becoming available is a wide variety of configurations and from a wide range of suppliers. In this final article, we use the Eco-Cute CO2 heat pumps available from Automatic Heating to demonstrate the key performance features of CO2 heat pumps.

Efficiency The COP of CO2 heat pumps is higher than for HFC heat pumps in applications where a high temperature difference is required between the inlet and outlet of the water being heated. This is illustrated in Figure 4.

The figure demonstrates a number of generic features of CO2 heat pumps:

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1. The efficiency is routinely higher than equivalent HFC heat pumps in domestic hot water application.

2. The increase in COP is roughly fixed across non-freezing ambient temperatures. This means that the relative efficiency benefit increases as the ambient temperature drops towards zero.

Figure 4. Efficiency of CO2 heat pump as a function of ambient temperature (domestic hot water application).

3. The maximum hot water temperature achieved by the CO2 system is higher than that for the HFC system.

Capacity Similar effects are visible in the capacity curve of CO2 heat pumps as a function of ambient temperature, as illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Heating capacity of CO2 heat pump as a function of ambient temperature (domestic hot water application)

For Australian conditions, one is typically designing for minimum ambient temperatures between minus 2째C and 10째C. Looking at the figures, it can be seen that the oversizing required for the CO2 heat pump to compensate for the low temperature performance is far smaller than it is for the HFC heat pump.

Outlet temperatures HFC heat pump technologies are generally limited to maximum temperatures in the region of 4555째C. CO2 heat pumps can work at temperatures of up to 90째C, while maintaining a high COP, as shown in Figure 6.

Greenhouse Gas Benefits

Figure 6. Effect of outlet temperature on CO2 heat pump performance (domestic hot water application)

Comparing a heat pump to a condensing boiler, the degree of greenhouse gas benefits depends on the ratio of the greenhouse gas coefficients of electricity and gas. Using the current greenhouse gas coefficients for Australia, the threshold COPs for a greenhouse benefit are as shown in Figure 7. It can be seen that in domestic hot water applications, a CO2 heat pump at a notional COP of 4 is beneficial in all states other than Victoria; as the grid decarbonises, this situation will improve further.

Refer to our CO2 Heat Pump Packages page for more information how CO2 Heat Pumps can save on energy costs.

This article was courtesy of Automatic Heating www.automaticheating.com.au

Figure 7. Threshold COPs for greenhouse emissions benefit for heat pumps (2017 Emission factors used)

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BACK OF HOUSE

July 2019

NEIL WEENINK

It was a huge water wheel. At least 30 feet in diameter, with some 32 metal cups swinging from the metal pipe frame, itself spliced together like a – like a huge water wheel! Which it was, and no doubt Mavis still is. The metal cups, each of over 4 Litre capacity, when topped up had the ability to move the whole she-bobble around slowly in a circular motion.

E

ach metal cup gently emptying on the down travel when tripped by a friendly spike so placed. Lovely to watch, as we did each and every day of school term. But how did it work? There was seemingly no mechanical or other input. There was, to be sure, a primitive reciprocating pump operated by way of some kind of ancient Archimedian device, [no Mavis, not the screw used to raise water.] And this gave sufficient water to just fill the metal buckets; sufficient to just turn the wheel around, and just fill the buckets, but surely there is something missing here?? Just filling, just turning, just operating the pump?

Was this indeed the dreaded Perpetual Motion – which they said "couldn't be done?"

The history of perpetual motion machines dates at least back to the Middle Ages. For millennia, it was not clear whether perpetual motion devices were possible or not, but modern theories of thermodynamics have shown that they indeed are impossible. [Ho Mavis, so much for our after dinner chats.... ] The fellow Stevinus in 1583 demonstrated the impossibility of at least one variety of perpetual motion. He used for this purpose an endless chain around two inclined planes, joined in a triangle, and showed geometrically that the chain would have to remain motionless. Got it???

By the by, he was the fellow who performed the key experiment of dropping two different weights simultaneously, and observed that they struck the ground at the same time. Ho!!

Perpetual motion is motion of bodies that continues indefinitely. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work indefinitely without an energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, as it would violate the first or second law of thermodynamics.

As it turns out, the moon is very nearly a perpetual motion machine. It goes around the earth every month and has been doing so at almost constant speed for a very long time. Even so, with advanced instruments and careful measurements, we can determine that the moon’s motion is changing: it gets farther away from the earth on average by about two centimetres each year. Why? Because even in space there are unbalanced external forces. For objects here on earth, the forces are relatively large and tend to slow motions down after a short period of time. For objects like the moon, the unbalanced forces are small compared to what would be needed to slow down such a large object, so the changes are very slow.

Meantime, the high school girls had to be entertained by the lads perched along the fence. And you may imagine the raz mataz that went on. E.g. Tom told me that an invisible force was set up, and this force can not be stopped. Truly. There have been simply oodles of boys trying to stop the machine, AND trying to start it as well Mavis.

I do think it is time to admit defeat, be it over-unity or not. Don't you??

Despite these events, many attempts have been made to construct such machines, continuing into modern times.

Modern designers and proponents sometimes use other terms, such as "overunity", to describe their inventions.

And yet and yet... what about the paddle driven screw itself of wooden sprockets, and yes!! The Tesla battery and the almost infinite charge er did you say almost Neil? Did you hint at motion limitation???

Like that water-wheel we began with. Gee babers, why and if not why was the thing working?? er by itself and continually?

Which is the all-governing question. So we hung out over the fence and watched the wretched wheel gather water to its cups, by virtue of the dribbling water fed by the wretched recip pump itself energised by the centrally activated crank, and marvelled.........

Oh drat. Mavis. Clearly the notion wins. While we 'overunities' must slink away into a forgotten abyss!

Keep your powder dry!

Neil Weenink.

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY and swimming pool heating MARK CROWTHER I RHEEM THERMAL

More than ever before, Australian businesses, hotels, consumers are becoming far more conscious of the energy impact of their behaviour and purchases both in terms of the potential cost of operation but also in terms of environmental impact. As Mark Crowther of Rheem Australia explains, the implications for the swimming pool industry are obvious as fundamentally, pools carry a high energy footprint.

“

Data released by the Department of the Environment and Energy nominates that with a typical home with an in-ground pool, the energy and water use can be as much as 30 per cent of the household’s energy bill,” he explains. “Likewise, a pool pump can be the largest use of electricity in a home.”

Hotels, like all businesses, are always looking to reduce costs.

Whilst your pool energy and water consumption won’t be the largest of your property’s outgoings, poor performance within this area, like inefficient pool pumps, will have an impact on your bottom line.

These factors make the swimming pool industry a prime target for Government regulation and reform.

“The focus on energy use extends further when a pool or spa is heated and the concern relates not only to the added cost and environmental impact but also to the protection of purchasers in the sense that their product choices provide the level of efficiency which is expected,” says Mark.

Clearly, the heating of water requires high volumes of energy. Of the two powered forms of heating, being electric heat pump and gas, the most contentious in the current market is the heat pump.

“Heat pumps are gaining strong popularity with consumers as their ‘real’ price has fallen substantially over the last ten years and they pair perfectly with solar-PV,” he explains. “The high energy efficiency of the heat pump which comes from its ability to capture heat value from air means that this is an attractive approach, with the potential to achieve zero heating cost under certain conditions and a greatly reduced reliance on grid supplied power across the heating season.”

MEASURING A POOL HEAT PUMP’S ‘COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE’ The energy efficiency of a heat pump – measured by its Coefficient of Performance, or COP – then becomes a critical

part of the equation for consumers and it is the potential for this aspect to be misunderstood and misrepresented that is a great concern to Rheem.

“The COP is the ratio of heat value produced by the heat pump relative to its electrical input,” explains Mark. “That is, if a heat pump produces five (5) kWs of heat but in turn only consumes 1 KW of input, then it has a COP of 5. Higher COPs equate to lowered energy use and lower running costs.”

“Given that the COP is potentially such an important measure in the purchase decision, it is vital that consumer’s are given easily understandable, comparable and genuine information on efficiency. In my view, this is not the case now in the Australian market. Understandably, many many consumers are simply bewildered at the variance in information which is presented to them.”

As a former ministerial advisor in energy policy, the prior past President of the Australian Heat Pump Association, with 30 years experience in heat pump design and manufacture and access to Rheem’s Psychometric Test Laboratory where Rheem has tested both its own Australian-manufactured hot water and swimming pool heat pumps but also imported units, Mark is in a unique position to provide commentary.

“My concern is firstly, there is no standard approach to COP either in terms of the definition itself (that is, the point of measurement or the “rating condition”), or in terms of the methodology of measurement. Secondly, and more importantly, there is no direct restraint on how product sellers then portray how the COP characteristics of their heat pump provide savings for the pool owner. If was to be generous, I may say that some of the information evident in sales literature is at best misleading. Some of it is simply wrong.”

“The aspect of COP which opens the door for a disconnect between the efficiency claim and this how then translates to savings in heating costs is that the COP is a variable.”

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“The COP reflects efficiency at one point in time, at the specific conditions applying at that moment. That is, it reflects the efficiency of the heat pump at a specific air temperature to the evaporator, at a specific relative humidity and at a specific entering water temperature (from the pool). Once these variables change, the COP changes.”

“The value of the inverter technology comes with the modulation of the compressor output. The compressor modulates from low to full capacity, with the electrical demand and output varying accordingly. The benefit of this in air conditioning is obvious. The output of the compressor lowers as the heating/cooling demand lowers as zones are switched off.”

“The need to understand COP in terms of all that I have said previously (specifically in relationship of COP to heating cost) is multiplied ten-fold by the introduction of compressor inverter technology to swimming pool heating.”

“The high efficiencies of inverter technology are made when the compressor is operating below full capacity. The unit operates at high efficiency as the compressor is effectively derated. The compressor input and heating output reduces but the COP is increased as the evaporator and heat exchanger effectively become over-sized.”

“The inverter was introduced for multiple head split or ducted air conditioning. It uses an external variable frequency drive to control the speed of the compressor. The turndown ratio depends on the system configuration but typically, the inverter modulates from 15 or 25% up to 100% at full capacity.

Prior to the release of the inverter, air conditioners regulated temperature by using a compressor that was periodically either working at maximum capacity or switched off entirely. As a reference, let’s call this an on/off type.”

“The transition of inverter technology from air conditioning to hot water and swimming pool heating is driven largely by overseas air conditioning manufactures whose base production is based on an air conditioner platform but the heating of water as opposed to air is a very different application.”

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“With the on/off heat pump, the full capacity of heater is immediately put to the task of heating.

Typically, in heat pump sizing there is a close relationship between the heater’s capacity and the heating needs of the pool (which we call the heat load). In responding immediately with its full nominal heating capacity, the on/off heat pump should be able to restore the pool temperature but this is a slow, gradual, process even at full capacity and may take hours.”

“This aspect is the crux of the matter in relation for the potential for consumers to misinterpret high COPs into new substantive savings in heating costs comparative to the inverter compressor vis a vis the on/off unit. The higher COPs occur when the inverter heat pump is operating at less than full capacity and possibly, as low as 10% of its nominal heating capacity. If a pool owner has been recommended a 20kW (heating output) heat pump for their pool, I think it is pretty clear how little potential there is for the inverter heat pump to operate at 10% when it’s heat transfer will be something like 2-3kW. Yet it is the derated operation at high efficiency which can be the focus of the sales literature. The creation of an expectation that these periods of high efficiency will lead to substantial running cost savings over the total heating season is wrong.”

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“This aspect of comparative sizing is very important. The heat pump capacity needed for any project is typically recommended following detailed heat load analysis. The heat pump model offered is based on the unit being able to meet the maximum rate of heat loss, that is, the loss of pool temperature on the coldest/windiest day of the intended season. Air conditioners

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When a pool heat pump receives a call to run, this means that the pool temperature has fallen. The expectation is that the water temperature is returned to temperature as quickly as possible.”

“The alternative scenario with an inverter heat pump is that the unit first responds to the loss of pool water temperature at part capacity or “unloaded”. Unless the heat load is slight, the risk becomes that the heating provided is less than the heat loss and the pool temperature continues to fall.”

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“At first glance, the increased COPs achieved with part load operation of the inverter compressor are attractive but the key aspect is to understand that the high efficiency is made as a trade-off to capacity.

8/7/19 4:30 pm

are likewise sized to meet maximum load but in a multi-head system, this assumes that all parts (zones) are occupied. If only one or two zones of a home are occupied, the potential for the inverter AC unit is clear. But a pool is very different. The large mass of water carries high inertia and when the pool heater is called to run by a 0.5∞C or 1.0∞C drop in water temperature, this represents a large volume of heat energy which must be met while the losses continue.”

“The majority of the heating cost of a swimming pool is incurred in the coldest months of the intended season. These are the months for which your heat pump has been sized. In these months, the unit must operate at 100% for the pool temperature to be maintained.”

“A further aspect of the use of inverter technology for water heating is the pumping load which goes hand-in-hand with the operation of the pool heater. Operation at less than 100% must by definition lead to longer total run-hours. The COP figure ignores this but given the small kW input of a typical inverter pool heat pump, the load of the recirculating pump is significant.”

“A key characteristic of inverter systems in air conditioning is their ability to achieve a balanced load so that the unit is working incrementally to maintain space temperature, with the compressor working for long periods at less than full capacity, whilst holding the space temperature within a close band.

Whilst this approach is perfect for air conditioning, it is not suited to pool heating. If the programming of the inverter pool heat pump likewise looks for this energy balance, the plateau effect is again substantial excess pump load.”

“The need to provide a more realistic and complete picture of performance saw the USA and Europe move to a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER/ESEER). The USA standard is defined in AHRI 210/240.

SEER ratings more accurately reflect overall system efficiency on a seasonal basis.”

does not, then such change will be taken out of its hands and directed by Government.”

“Until a new regulatory framework applies, consumers need to carefully assess sales claims. COP is important but should be considered in the context of the issues that I hope I have now hoped to explain.”

“In essence, the comparative efficiency of the inverter compressor heat pump and the on/off (fixed speed) compressor heat pump comes back to their basic refrigeration design. In pool heating, the focus cannot be on the part load performance of the inverter. Nor can it be assumed that either the inverter or the on/off heat pump is more efficient than the other. The real comparison is of the relative evaporator, compressor and heat exchanger capacity.”

As a footnote to Mark’s comments about emerging regulation, the swimming pool industry is indeed active and seeking to lead reform in energy efficiency. Specifically, in relation to heat pumps, SPASA Australia has created a think tank of industry professionals to work on what it hopes will ultimately see a submission made to Standards Australia for the creation of an Australian Standard for swimming pool heat pumps. In the period prior to the formalisation and issue of such a standard, SPASA Australia also intends to develop and release a Pool Heat Pump Best Practice Industry Guide.

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“The benefit of the introduction of this type of standard for the Australian pool heating industry is obvious. Unfortunately, there are no such standards for performance rating applying for pool heat pumps sold in Australia, nor any need for certification or independent validation of performance claims.”

“At some stage, the regulatory environment which applies in air conditioning and for many white goods will be extended to pool heat pumps. The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Act 2012 sets a framework for product energy efficiency. GEMS applies an Annualised Energy Efficiency Ratio (AEER) and an Annualised COP as a more accurate representation of system efficiency. Energy Rating Labelling undertaken as part of the Government’s Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) Program is also a central part of ensuring informed purchaser decisions on the relative energy efficiency of appliances.”

“In my view, it is important that the Australian Pool Industry is proactive in leading discussion and reform because if it

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What hotel engineers and administrators need to know about

WELL

STEPHEN P. ASHKIN I PRESIDENT, THE ASHKIN GROUP

Several buildings in both Australia and New Zealand have been LEED certified over the years, many of which are hotels. As a result, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development is relatively well known. Further, it is a fairly old program, having started back in 1989. Its age adds to its familiarity.

H

owever, a new program that parallels LEED in many ways has been introduced. While its impact in parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand, has so far been minimal, expect that to change in years to come. It’s a relatively new program, having started in 2014, and while it parallels LEED as we just mentioned, it differs in many significant ways as well.

For instance: • Like LEED, WELL is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment and how they impact human health, productivity, and comfort.

• WELL uses medical and related data that explore the connection between buildings and the people who work at, learn in, and use those buildings. LEED is more focused on the building itself and how it is operated.

• Both organisations contract with Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) to certify facilities. This is an independent, third-party organisation, not affiliated with either of the organisations.

• LEED-certified buildings are found around the world, and WELL is steadfast in pursuit of becoming an international organisation as well. As of this writing, WELL has certified nearly 300 facilities: more than 125 in the U.S. and about 50 in China.

• Neither LEED nor WELL are government operated. WELL, however, is operated by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), a “public benefit” corporation. This means it has shareholders who expect the corporation to make a profit. However, unlike a traditional corporation, a public benefit corporation has a specific social purpose, which in this case is to make the indoor environment healthier for people.

• When evaluating a property, WELL has seven "categories" or concepts they are most concerned with, some of which overlap with LEED. These are indoor air quality, water quality, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and what they refer to as "mind," relating to the overall well-being of building users.

• Many LEED-certified facilities including hotels now use what are called sustainability dashboard tools to continuously measure and monitor their use of fuel, water, energy, and other metrics. These dashboard tools help reduce operating costs. However, they are also very valuable in helping to reduce consumption and waste as well. While a WELL certified facility certainly can benefit from these systems if for no other reason than to lower operating costs, they are more building-focused, lending themselves to LEED certification.

Just so it is not overlooked, the bottom-line difference between LEED and well is the following:

CATEGORIES AND CONCEPTS

The LEED focuses on buildings.

The WELL focuses on people.

Possibly, this will become clearer by reviewing the certification process involving the seven categories just referenced.

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Air. Typically, what WELL is looking for is that windows are operable, meaning they can be manually opened and closed; there is no smoking allowed in the facility; Green cleaning solutions are used to help reduce the number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air; interior furnishings, carpet, and related items have been selected which have minimal off-gassing after installation.

Water. The WELL program requires that filtering systems be installed to make sure that potable (drinking) water used in the facility is not hard,* and does not contain any suspended soils, dissolved materials, chlorine, of fluoride.

Nourishment. If you are reading this article in a hotel property and near a vending machine, take a quick look at the offerings in that machine. If they include candy, chocolates, crackers with cheese, and similar items, that will not pass if the property wants to be WELL certified. Those items will need to be replaced with 100 percent organic fruits and vegetables and hormone-and antibiotic-free meats.

Light. Most LEED-certified facilities are designed to take advantage of natural light. WELL takes this a step further.

The WELL program requires that natural light complement our circadian systems (our internal clock) and sleep cycles. To accomplish this, furnishings must be designed to help reflect light, and lighting systems tested to ensure they address required light levels throughout the day.

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Fitness. Most hotel properties now have a hotel gym.

However, in order to be WELL certified, that gym or something comparable must also be available to all hotel staff. If not a gym, there must be walking and biking paths near the property or other options that staff to exercise.

Comfort. As this applies to hotel engineering staff, WELL requires that personal humidifiers be available, along with fans, standing desks if requested, and adjustable chairs.

Mind. Satisfying this category in a hotel property would be possible, for instance, by providing engineers access to credible and current "best practices," regarding hotel, operations. WELL also requires that this information be easily accessible.

WELL IN HOTELS? At this time, few hotels in the world are WELL certified.

While LEED-certified hotels are now fairly common, the big question is will more hotel properties decided to seek WELL certification as well. To answer that, we need to go back to the late 1990s and examine the growth of Green Engineers.

Initially, many hotel properties were reluctant to select Green Engineers solutions because they tended to be more expensive and there quality and performance were not always comparable to traditional engineers products.

However, their customers, primarily corporate customers, had other ideas. They started selecting hotel properties for their travelling staffers based on if the hotel is cleaned using environmentally preferable cleaning products. When that happened, the movement to Green Cleaning solutions accelerated considerably.

Similarly, hotel properties became LEED certified. Not only did this help promote their marketing value, most LEEDcertified properties soon realised they were able to reduce operating costs, a benefit many initially had not expected.

While we cannot say for sure that WELL will follow the same path as Green Cleaning and LEED, as more office buildings, schools, and universities become WELL certified, the program and its benefits are likely to grow. As this happens, we are likely to see WELL in more hotels around the globe.

Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specialising in Green cleaning and sustainability, and CEO of Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC, for measuring and monitoring sustainability with the goal of protecting natural resources and reducing facility operating costs. He has been directly involved with the LEED program since its beginning, is on the Board of the Green Sports Alliance, and has been inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame (IGIHOF). He can be reached at steveashkin@ashkingroup.com *Hard water is potable, however, it contains high amounts of natural mineral minerals, calcium, and magnesium. While health risks are minimal, in a hotel, hard water could cause guests to experience dry, itchy skin and hard to manage hair.

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REDUCING WATER CONSUMPTION in the testing of fire protection systems GEOFF FLOWER I SENIOR ENGINEER (FIRE) A.G. COOMBS ADVISORY

With heightened concerns around water usage, rising costs and environmental awareness there is an increased community consciousness in relation to unnecessary water consumption. While water-based fire protection systems are designed to be operated only when there is a fire, these need to be regularly inspected and tested to help ensure they will operate when needed.

Inspection and testing regimes confirm both the operation and performance of the systems and although necessary, this generally consumes potable water.

T

here are a number of worthwhile initiatives that can be considered to reduce water consumption when testing or altering operational fire sprinkler systems or other water-based fire protection systems, such as fire hydrant & fire hose reel systems.

PRESSURE SETTING ADJUSTMENT This initiative is applicable to systems that have booster pumps to achieve the required system performance. Over time it has been found that many fire pump pressure relief valves aren’t set properly, operating too early and unnecessarily discharging water during regular weekly/ monthly testing. There are four main areas of focus for this initiative: 1. Optimising the pressure relief valve setting.

2. Increasing pressure relief valve setting in diesel pump raw water-cooling lines to minimise discharge to drain.

3. Adjusting pump start pressures in multi-pump installations so that the 2 pumps do not start together.

4. Provision of a pressure schedule.

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MONTHLY TESTING The 2005 revision to the Australian Standard AS1851 Fire System Maintenance series of standards provided an option to adopt monthly testing in lieu of weekly frequency, as traditionally has been required. Further, the 2012 revision now does not refer to weekly testing at all. Adopting monthly testing in lieu of weekly testing has the obvious water saving advantage of conducting only 12 monthly tests in lieu of 52 weekly tests saving around 75% of the water used in this component of the maintenance regime.

PRESSURE REDUCTION Similar to pressure setting adjustment the objective of this initiative is aimed at avoiding operation of pressure relief valves by reducing the operating pressure of the pump where the pump duty significantly exceeds the system requirement.

RECIRCULATION This initiative comprises installation of a recirculation system to capture water discharged during a test and re-circulate it back into the system. This initiative is applicable to pump boosted systems which are suitable for pressure setting adjustment or pressure reduction initiatives.

CAPTURE AND RE-USE

DRAIN-DOWN MANAGEMENT

Water from testing activities can be captured and re-used for other purposes including as:

This is a non-physical initiative using management principles to plan, monitor and review system modifications to reduce the need for system drain-down. Strategies include:

• Toilets and sanitary fittings • Urban irrigation • Donated to municipal councils for street cleaning.

IMPROVED DRAIN-DOWN ZONING Alterations to fire sprinkler systems normally require the water in the system to be drained down. For buildings that undergo regular changes this can result in a significant quantity of water use when draining and refilling the system.

By installing subsidiary stop valves and/or check valves to zone the system, coupled with local drain valves in each zone, this avoids the need to drain the entire system when work is to be undertaken in only one part of the building. It also has an increased safety benefit in minimising the area of the system that is impaired.

• Use of impairment notice system to justify need to drain the system.

• Consideration of alternatives to drain down.

• Programming and consolidation of works to minimise frequency of drain-downs.

The suitability of each of these initiatives will vary from site to site and from system to system, however the first three initiatives are likely to be the most cost effective to implement for a majority of buildings.

Further insights are available from the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) “Practice Note” titled; PN 2007 – 61 Water Saving Options Available When testing Fire Safety. It can be downloaded from the Plumbing Industry section of the VBA website, www.vba.vic.gov.au.

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Water analysis no longer has to rely on time consuming tests and clean-up procedures. It’s very easy and simple to use with no vials to fill, no prep time or guessing involved. The test results are available quickly and with the release of the testing of potable and industrial water is now made just as easy as pool and spa water.

All the user has to do is fill a sealed reagent disc which contains the precise amount of reagent needed to run a complete series of tests. The user places the disc in the meter, taps “start” and all results are shown via the touch screen. All that is needed is less than 3 ml of water and the vital tests are done automatically—in just 60 seconds!

With a built in lithium ion battery, there’s no need for a power connection, either, The meter is truly portable for out in the field Test results are displayed on the touch screen, which can also be transferred via Bluetooth to mobile apps and then to WaterLink Solutions for instant analysis, with step-by-step treatment instructions supplied. Test history is then stored via Cloud database for real time monitoring.

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Reagent discs have up to 11 test parameters per disc.

Parameters cover Chlorine/Bromine, Chlorine/Bromine plus Phosphate, Chlorine/Bromine plus Borate and Biguanide plus Borate, as well as pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, Calcium hardness, Cyanuric Acid, Copper and Iron. The new industrial discs also test for total iron, ferrous and ferric iron, nitrate and nitrite.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE TIME POOR FACILITIES MANAGER The WaterLink Spin Touch™ coupled to the free application WaterLink Solutions is going to save you money, you can quickly and easily make sure your assets are being maintained. It allows you to easily check that the water feeding into your boiler isn’t corrosive or scale forming, that the cooling towers are being sanitised from legionella correctly and that your swimming pool is clean and health for your guests.

Coupled to the WaterLink Solutions means that you can get your results and recommendations plant/pool side and the data is recorded and transferable via email or file to others in the group. Others have the ability to see the results and third parties can respond to help ensure reduced breakdowns and extend the life of the onsite plant and equipment.

WaterLink

Sp nTouch with SOFTWARE

Do You Need To Test Cooling Towers, Swimming Pool or Boiler Feed Water Protect your facility in

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Seconds!

LaMotte Pacific Pty Ltd p (02) 9624 8842 • f (02) 9674 5115 e sales@lamottepacific.com www.lamottepacific.com.au

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Why the hospitality industry needs to be ready for

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NOW MATTHEW GOSS I MANAGING DIRECTOR, ANZ, SAP CONCUR

Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been the stuff of science fiction books and films but, in 2019, AI is already a fact of life for many businesses. More than that, it’s delivering significant efficiencies and cost savings for those businesses.

A

I covers a number of different technologies such as machine learning and bots (or ‘robots’) that can impact everything from how businesses engage with customers to how they replenish stocks. Machine learning happens when computers learn from data and apply statistical algorithms to make decisions. Bots are often used in the form of chatbots, providing a seemingly-personalised customer service experience via online chat applications. As people interact with these bots, many of them have no idea they’re actually talking to a machine powered by AI. They’ve become so successful at imitating human interactions that some can even make simple jokes or comment on the weather.

Hospitality businesses can use chatbots to simplify the reservation process. Travellers can interact with the bot online to set the parameters of their stay and make any special requests. The bot will respond as a human would, based on the rules that have been set out. For example, if the traveller requests additional bedding for a second guest, that can be added to the booking automatically. At the hotel end, if that additional bedding requires changes to the laundry schedule, for example, that change can also be automatically logged and facilitated.

Machine learning can also make it easier for business travellers to book their trips. One of the most important aspects of decision-making for business travellers is recommendations. Using machine learning, a travel app can provide recommendations during the travel booking process based on the traveller’s activities and the activities of other travellers with similar habits.

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This makes it even more important for businesses to build a strong reputation as a provider of choice, bumping up its recommendations. In the United States, there are already virtual travel assistants that combine bots with recommendation engines to let travellers search for flights and hotels without leaving the apps they use every day.

For example, Hello Hipmunk can help book travel directly from within emails. Users simply copy the Hello Hipmunk address on emails to colleagues or spouses regarding travel plans. The system figures out where the traveller is going and when, then emails back with flight and hotel services.

If it needs more information, it just asks for it. The system can also monitor calendars and automatically send travel recommendations accordingly.

AI can also be used to measure ratings and reviews of hospitality providers so they can improve customer satisfaction. It uses natural language processing to convert written opinions about the hotel into numerical sentiment ratings. This makes it possible to automate the analysis process, including monitoring satisfaction trends over time.

The more positive the general sentiment towards a hotel, the more likely that hotel will be to pop up in recommendations by chatbots and other apps.

Sentiment analysis will let hospitality professionals aggregate and assess ratings and reviews to identify key areas for improvement. By targeting those areas and avoiding wasting resources on areas that aren’t important, hospitality businesses can potentially significantly improve guest satisfaction and, therefore, recommendations. Doing this manually could prove challenging, not to mention time-

consuming. Automating the process with AI gives a potential competitive edge.

This changes the game when it comes to how people book their trips and choose their flights and accommodation providers.

By orchestrating a better customer experience from the initial booking through to check-out, hotels can capture more of the market, especially the lucrative business travel market.

Although at first glance it seems like AI would provide an undifferentiated approach, it’s already sophisticated enough to deliver an exceptionally individualised experience that keeps guests coming back for more.

As an AI system builds up a history of customer interactions, its decision-making capabilities become more refined. This potentially makes it an even more reliable point of contact for guests than a human would be, since most humans don’t have the same instant and perfect recall of all previous interactions.

As AI becomes even more tightly ingrained in the travel industry, travellers will continue to become

savvier, increasing their purchasing power. They’ll have unprecedented amounts of information available to them, making it easy for them to switch providers based on who provides the best deal. Consequently hospitality businesses need to become more flexible and attuned to what customers want so they can deliver accordingly.

AI could also affect the hospitality industry in noncustomer facing ways. For example, self-driving cars could eventually replace valet parking services. An AI-powered concierge could handle most guest requests, freeing up human concierges to deal with higher-value guests or more complex requests. And AI sensors can help reduce energy consumption by turning off lights and air conditioning in parts of the property that aren’t being used, or even reducing the number of elevators in use during off-peak hours.

AI is no longer science fiction; it’s a proven business tool that can help hospitality businesses run better, more efficient businesses that attract and retail more loyal and valuable customers.

2018 CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF BUSINESS e: info@eds-solutions.com.au

p: 08 9483 6364

w: www.eds-solutions.com.au

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How hotels can benefit from

SELF CHECK-IN KIOSKS BRENDON GRANGER I DIRECTOR, TECHNOLOGY4HOTELS

In the age of convenience, self-service kiosks have become commonplace in fast food restaurants, retail outlets, international airports, and increasingly at hotels.

T

he hospitality industry prides itself on providing personal service, so it’s understandable that some hoteliers believe installing self-service check-in kiosks might erode that experience. In truth, a growing number of travellers value the independence, flexibility and freedom that self-service technology offers them during a hotel stay.

With that in mind, here are five ways your hotel can benefit by implementing self-service check-in kiosks at your property.

All of these interactions allow your hotel to build rapport and offer helpful assistance to enhance the overall experience of staying with you.

1. SAY GOODBYE TO QUEUES

3. MORE UPSELL OPPORTUNITIES

The most obvious benefit of a self-service kiosk is that guests can start enjoying their holiday sooner. During the traditional check-in process, they have to stand in line and fill out paperwork that often involves information already supplied during the booking. With a self-service kiosk, they can check-in by simply looking up their name, email, booking number, or by scanning their passport.

Automated check-in solutions also increase upsell opportunities. Using a kiosk, guests can upgrade their room, redeem special offers and purchase additional extras, all in a leisurely and effortless way.

Kiosks such as Enzosystems hospitality kiosks also let guests select their room and create their own room keys. Suffice to say, this scenario is a huge advantage for weary travellers looking for a hassle-free experience on arrival.

There are obvious benefits to providing an automated checkout process too. For instance, cruise ship guests or anyone running late for a flight can depart quickly without worrying about getting caught up in a long queue.

2. EASIER TO INTERACT WITH GUESTS There’s a misconception that self-service takes away from face-to-face human contact. On the contrary, it actually frees up staff so they can have more personal and meaningful interactions with guests.

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With an automated check-in kiosk, your hotel team have more time to focus on the moments that matter. That might include providing advice to a guest as they head out for a day trip, attending to an urgent service issue, or simply taking the time to engage with guests through friendly conversation.

Of course, because your front desk staff are freed up, they can step in and suggest upgrades and additional services in a more natural manner. If guests are approached when they’re more relaxed and settled in, they’ll feel less pressured and be more likely to make a purchase.

In addition, guests can find information about hotel amenities and services at their own convenience, which creates more opportunities for impulse purchases. In contrast, a hectic front desk team might simply not have the time to provide all the relevant hotel information on arrival.

4. INCREASED PERSONALISATION Self-service kiosks are able to collect a wealth of invaluable guest data, such as room preferences, past purchase decisions, and special requirements. Because the kiosk is connected to the hotel PMS, this data can be quickly accessed to help hotels provide more personalised experiences.

This stored information can also be used to devise personalised marketing emails, featuring enticing offers that appeal to the preferences and needs of different guests. Hotels can also ensure previous requests are catered for ahead of time to enhance the guest experience and exceed their expectations.

5. ENHANCED CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

You can view more here: https:// technology4hotels.com.au/wp-content/ uploads/2019/05/giphy-1.mp4 Kiosk can also reduce labour costs, not only at the front desk but also in the back office. The automation that kiosk’s provide eliminates much of the behind the scenes processing of data, reducing the workload for the night audit and finance teams.

Of course, many guests value personal interaction and the traditional checkin process still has its place. Selfservice kiosks shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for old fashioned service, but as a way to enhance the modern-day hospitality experience.

An increasing number of people want to interact with companies and services on their own terms. In fact, research has found that 66% of customers prefer self-service over traditional interactions with retail sales associates.

Providing the option to checkin via kiosk simply meets the expectations of consumers who are used to flexibility, endless choice and instant gratification in their digital lives. Put simply, providing guests with the degree of control they have elsewhere can only help to improve overall satisfaction levels.

Some kiosks also have the option to select multiple languages, so anyone travelling from overseas will have a much smoother experience when they check-in at your property.

THE ROLE OF THE SELFSERVICE KIOSK Self-service kiosks allow hotels to enhance the guest experience in numerous ways. A frictionless check-in experience means more convenience, more control and the elimination of frustrating queues.

In addition, hotel staff have more time for face-to-face interaction where it matters most — from making a great first impression on arrival, to encouraging upgrade and additional purchases in a timely manner.

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SUPPLY•SERVICE•SAFETY

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WE MAKE IT OUR BUSINESS TO MAKE THE SUPPLY OF LPG AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.



MEMBERSHIP FORM PLEASE CHOOSE THE STATE: NSW 

QLD 

VIC 

WA 

I WISH TO APPLY FOR: Renewal of my Membership 

Membership Number (if known):

I WISH TO BECOME A NEW MEMBER VIA: (a) Fellow – a member of at least 10 years standing who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of hotel engineering (as determined by the management committee) or this association may be advanced by the management committee to the grade of Fellow.

This membership class is a life membership of the institute. (b) Honorary Fellow – any person who has rendered conspicuous service to the hotel industry (as determined by the management committee), or any person prominently connected with but not necessarily in the hotel industry who may be approved by the management committee, shall be eligible as an Honorary Fellow. This membership class is a life membership of the institute. (c) Member – a person shall be eligible as a Member if the applicant holds a certificate, degree or diploma or such other qualification in engineering approved by the management committee, and has at least 5 years experience in a head of engineering position and shall be directly engaged in hotel engineering. (d) A ssociate Member – a person shall be eligible as an Associate Member if the applicant holds a qualification in engineering approved by the management committee and is directly engaged in hotel engineering and his/her qualifications and/or experience do not in the opinion of the management committee entitle him/her to admission as a Member. (e) Student Member – a person who is attending an appropriate course of instruction at an Institution approved by the management committee shall be eligible as a Student Member (f) Affiliate Member – shall be a person of 21 or more of age who is associated with the Hotel Industry and whose, qualification or experience do not in the opinion of Council entitle them to admission as a Member or Associate member. (f) Corporate Member – entitles applicants endorsed by the Council to be eligible for Corporate Membership, which will carry those rights and entitlements of an Affiliate Members, with a maximum of (5) members of the corporation being eligible to attend monthly meetings. In addition, this membership will entitle the Corporation to receive all specialised material sourced and published by the Institute for overall benefit of the Hotel Industry.

All applicants’ membership classification shall be determined by Council in accordance with the above guidelines.

Membership  Corporate Membership  Associate Membership  Student Membership  Affiliate Membership  Honorary Fellow Membership (no fee)  Fellow Membership (no fee)  SURNAME: GIVEN NAME(S): COMPANY NAME: POSITION: POSTAL WORK ADDRESS: WORK TELEPHONE: WORK FAX: WORK EMAIL: WORK MOBILE: HOME POSTAL ADDRESS: HOME TELEPHONE: HOME FAX: HOME EMAIL: PERSONAL MOBILE: Please send all my correspondence to my:

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FEES: Membership/Associate Membership:

New Member AUD$130

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New Member AUD$90

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PAYMENT CAN BE MADE BY: NSW Chapter: Cheque payable to:

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BSB: 013 403 Account Number: 4988 69693 ANZ Ringwood Nth

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EFT Transfer/Direct Deposit to:

BSB: 086 006 Account Number: 518 190 216 National Australia Bank

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MAIL COMPLETED FORMS TO: NSW Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE NSW Chapter, PO Box H263, Australia Square NSW 1215 QLD Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE QLD Chapter, PO Box 5118, Gold Coast Mail Centre 9726 VIC Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE VIC Chapter, PO Box 2136, Caulfield Junction VIC 3161 WA Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE WA Chapter, PO Box 6191, East Perth WA 6892 Your membership application will be processed, which includes the following:: o Certificate of membership

o Membership number

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* Note: Allow up to four weeks for processing.

I have read, understood and agreed to conform to the Institute’s Code of Ethics as set out, conditional upon acceptance of my application for membership.

Note: your membership includes receiving ‘Hotel Engineer’ quarterly. As the AIHE is a non-profit organisation, GST is not applicable.

Signed: Date:

FOR INSTITUTE USE ONLY Date received: Fee received: Grading: Cheque #: Entered:

With Chromecast built-in Vibrant picture quality is only the begining.

Chromecast built-in and easy access to the Google Play Store gives you the edge when it comes to engaging guests

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Sometimes the best assets are the ones we sit on Who would have thought that a guests experience with a toilet seat could affect your hotel?

Doesn’t matter which it is, a wobbly seat that doesn’t know it’s place or a crack in the surface, both give a reason to feel genuinely disappointed when using the toilet.

Then there is the hygiene topic, stained toilet seats, or hinge fittings that have obvious signs of dark black gunk growing

on it, don’t make you rush to rest yourself on such an object for any period of time.

Now there’s always a direct line to the headperson who governs hotel maintenance, with many conversations about toilet seats needing attention repeated daily. Send a tradie to fix a badly designed, low quality toilet seat in a hospital, and watch the dollars burn.

Ineffective repair to problematic issues like broken hinges or seats coming away

from the toilet, are common place. Maybe the motto is, use a well know brand that’s got a good track record and make sure you can quickly get your hands on spare parts from a local source.

Use your head, look for a brand with commercial history who give no less than a 10 year warranty, multiple seat and hinge options, as well as direct representation on the ground Australia wide: www.pressalit.com

Reliable Controls® Releases RC-Hospitality™ history of significant events that have occurred.

BACnet Protocol

Reliable Controls is pleased to announce the release of RC-Hospitality™, a simple, flexible, and sustainable guest-room integration solution. RC-Hospitality automatically assigns the HVAC/lighting occupancy setting for any room upon guest check-in, enabling the MACHSystem™ to improve guest-room comfort and operational efficiency, while delivering analytics for the entire facility.

Features of RC-Hospitality include: Property Management System Integration Provides custom integration into OPERA Property Management Systems (PMS).

Networks into existing PMS using TCP/IP (Ethernet).

Accommodates up to 2,000 rooms.

Supports the international standard BACnet protocol (ISO16484-7 and ANSI/ASHRAE 135-2012). Integrates into existing BACnet HVAC and lighting controllers using BACnet/IP (B/IP).

Supports writing room status to a variety of BACnet objects.

Intuitive Interface Includes main window containing Menu Bar, Room List, Log List, and Status Bar. Includes Menu Bar containing the Exit, View, Help, PMS connection status, and language.

Includes a Room List screen, which shows the current configuration of rooms and their occupancy status according to the PMS. Shows the BACnet Object Properties for each room, in addition to the communication status of the BACnet device controlling the room.

Shows a Log List screen with a running

With RC-Hospitality and the Reliable Controls MACH-System, integrating guestroom control, saving energy, and demonstrating greenhouse gas reductions has never been easier.

Learn more about RC-Hospitality: https://www.reliablecontrols.com/RCH/

The World is becoming Smarter. Welcome, Smart Toilet.

Smartphones, smart cars, smartwatches, smart cities….In the era of smartness, Roca combines technology and avantgarde design in a unique experience of hygiene and well-being with the launch of its Smart Toilet, In-Wash® Inspira.

In-Wash® Inspira is an innovative toilet with technology for personal hygiene that provides a total cleaning, comfort and care with its integrated nozzle.

Rediscover the feeling of cleaning yourself with water. There is nothing as intelligent and natural.

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In-Wash® Inspira features adjustable water and air pressure, LED night light, auto cleaning nozzle, user detection and so much more. The future of toilets is here. And it is smart. www.roca.com.au

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Welcome, Smart Toilet Your life is becoming smarter. It’s time for your bathroom to join the flow. The new Roca In-Wash® Inspira is the smartest choice for your daily hygiene. Its universal design and userfriendly customisable settings make the latest technology accessible to everyone.

In-Wash® Inspira. The Smart Toilet.

Join the smart flow at: roca.com.au

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