Towards Low Carbon Hotels in the Pacific Region: A Study of Energy Consumption and Efficiency in Hotels Using Models Based on Energy Performance Indicators

Abstract

Low carbon tourism is becoming an increasingly important feature in the sustainable development of the tourism industry, within the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). This growing interest is due at least in part to the desire for these nations to contribute meaningfully to the fight against climate change. One way of reducing carbon emissions is through energy efficiency in hotels. This requires the study of the energy consumption of hotels via modeling techniques involving energy audits. While such studies have been carried out extensively for European and other hotels in the Northern Hemisphere, the PICs have not received similar attention. Because of the differences in the heating/cooling requirements, hotels in temperate regions will have energy consumption characteristics that may be quite different from those of the tropics. This chapter reports an analysis of the energy consumption characteristics of Pacific Island hotels using Fijian hotels as a case study. The study employs the results of detailed energy audits and modeling based on Energy Performance Indicators (EPIs) that permit the prediction of the energy consumption of hotels within specific architectural groupings and star ratings. The models allow the investigation of energy savings possible through retrofitting and other energy-saving techniques.