Gas Natural SDG : Fenosa Foundation visits Santiago de Compostela to examine how to boost energy efficiency improvements in hotels and tourism

• A group of experts gathered in Santiago today to discuss the importance of finding solutions for improving energy efficiency in hotels and reducing the environmental impact of energy consumption.

• Representatives from Meliá Hotels International, Balneario de Mondariz and Hotel Spa A Quinta da Agua presented their experiences with real-world case studies of energy efficiency in hotels.

Earlier today in Santiago de Compostela, General Manager of the Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation Martí Solà and the Director-General of Energy and Mines of the Economic Affairs, Entrepreneurship and Industry Council of the Regional Government of Galicia, Ángel Bernardo Tahoces, officially opened the seminar entitled 'Energy Efficiency in Hotels and Tourism' to highlight potential energy efficiency and energy saving improvements in the tourism sector and hotels. The seminar was attended by over 100 professionals and sector associations, tourism companies, air conditioning and lighting installation companies and other energy service companies, as well as organisations, university lecturers and students, and organisations involved with energy and the environment.

The PwC Energy Partner Oscar Barrero presented the conclusions reached in the study entitled 'How to Encourage Energy Efficiency in the Spanish Hotel Sector,' which was jointly conducted by PwC Spain and the Energy Efficiency Technology Platform. The hotel sector was chosen because it is one of the sectors that is best dealing with the economic crisis and one of the pillars of growth in the Spanish economy (Spain is the fourth-largest tourist destination in the world and second in terms of revenue from international tourism, with tourism also accounting for 15% of Spanish GDP). Oscar Barrero explained that 20 specific actions were identified by the study as being the most effective given their greater return on investment, greater impact on consumption, and simplicity of implementation. They mostly relate to awareness raising, efficient lighting, and heat and cooling systems.

The technician from the Quality and European Projects Department of the Galician Tourism Agency of the Regional Government of Galicia, Enrique Pérez Etcheverría, explained the overall situation in the Galician hotel and tourism sector and welcomed the incorporation of efficiency and environmental sustainability criteria into hotel management, with its significant competitive challenge for the sub-sector of tourist accommodation. Enrique Pérez Etcheverría presented some of the most relevant issues for the tourism sector, such as growing environmental awareness in tourism demand, legal requirements, and the need to implement management tools and new technologies to reduce energy costs.

Aiguasol Commercial Manager Roger Marcos explained that any service building has an energy bill of between €10 and €25/m per year, it being the second-highest operating expense for hotels after staffing costs. According to a number of recognised studies, there is significant potential to reduce this amount by around 30% (between €3 and €7/m) by undertaking reasonable investments in both the passive part of the building (enclosures, façades and roofs) and the active part of the building (lighting, hot water, climate control (cooling and heating) and other consumptions.

Assistant VP to the CEO & RSC of Melià Hotels International Lourdes Ripoll de Oleza and Technical Services Manager Ingrid de la Fuente explained the SAVE Project: a cutting-edge Meliá model that has been focused on energy and water efficiency for the last 10 years by integrating sustainable standards into its design and construction projects. In the last five years, they have managed to lower CO emissions by 11.4% and the their global carbon footprint by 1.8%.

Chief Financial Officer of Balneario de Mondariz Ricardo Fuciños explained the importance of implementing energy efficiency and price stability measures in the hotel sector, and reported on the annual energy and consumption needs of the spa, which translate into a cost of some €500,000 per year on average, or 15% of the total operating cost.

Baxi Head of Training and Technical Support Alberto Jiménez explained that the current Technical Building Code requires the installation of solar energy to cover part of the hot water needs of new buildings. However, there are often drawbacks in terms of aesthetics, structure or architecture that could be replaced or complemented by other systems that reduce CO emissions from the building in the same way, such as micro-cogeneration. Alberto Jiménez presented numerous real-world cases in which both technologies operate perfectly in the same installation, such as the Hotel Balneario A Quinta Da Agua, with two micro-cogeneration machines, operating since 2009, that produce an average of 18 hours/day of thermal energy and electricity.

The Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation

Set up in 1992, the Gas Natural Fenosa Foundation focuses its activities around promoting information, training and increased public awareness on improving energy efficiency and technological innovation in the field of energy while respecting the environment. It also promotes cultural activities through its Gas Museum aimed at preserving and spreading knowledge about the historical and cultural heritage of the sector while leading an export support programme aimed at small- and medium-sized enterprises. Its international activities are carried out in Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Morocco, Italy, Moldova and South Africa.

Santiago, 17 January 2017.

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