NIANTIC, CONN.—INNCOM International Inc. announced that its automated guestroom systems played a lead role in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification of the Yountville, Calif.-based Bardessono Hotel, Restaurant and Spa.
LEED Platinum, the highest designation of its kind by the U.S. Green Building Council, recognizes sustainable and environmentally friendly building designs, including hotels. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in six key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design. The 62-room Bardessono, a luxury boutique hotel distinguished by lavish spa amenities, is just the third hotel in the world to receive the Platinum certification.
John Tavares, vice president sales and marketing, said INNCOM brought energy management and integrated guestroom automation to the design mix of Bardessono.
“We’ve underscored the potential of green technology in the hotel industry: to provide a superior guest experience using energy that is managed appropriately and not wastefully,” Tavares said. “It’s a great honor for INNCOM to be associated with setting the pace and taking a leadership position in what these systems can do. LEED Platinum is a prestigious award for a property, and the end result has more than one benefit. It isn’t just energy management. It isn’t just a luxurious stay. It is the combination of both of them.”
Destined for LEED Certification
Designed by Irvine, Calif.-based architects WATG, developed by Phil Sherburne and operated by Kirkland, Wash.-based MTM Luxury Lodging, Bardessono was destined for LEED certification at its blueprints. Its design, construction and operation follow LEED’s Green Building Rating System guidelines. It uses solar and geothermal energy, sustainable building materials, organic landscape-management practices and energy management systems.
“INNCOM provides three vital parts of energy management in the guestroom,” said Chuck Marratt, vice president of information technology for MTM Luxury Lodging. “It controls the lights in the room, the thermostat in the room, and introduces automated “solar shades”—highly technical Venetian-like blinds placed on the exterior of guestroom windows to keep heat in or out when unoccupied or empty. All cogs operate in an automated environment in the guestroom.”
Marratt described a walk-through of the INNCOM technology in use at Bardessono, noting the property has a unique design. Each guestroom has an entrance space that leads to two large areas: the living area and the bathroom. The bathroom area is notably larger than normal as it includes luxury spa amenities.
“INNCOM’s automated guestroom system features a magnetic strip at the guestroom door, which signals entrance and exit activity,” Marratt said. “In the entrance corridor is the thermostat, which senses motion and, therefore, signals when a guest is in the room. There also are motion detectors in the living and bath areas.
“The system is fully aware of when a guest is in the room,” he added. “When occupied, the system sets the lights and thermostat to predetermined levels. Also at this juncture, the solar shades outside the windows automatically are lifted, almost invisible to the guest.”
PMS Interface Included
INNCOM’s guestroom automation system interfaces with the hotel’s property-management system. That means guest-history information plays a factor in the desired room settings. “The system knows if a guest desires a room at 72 degrees,” Marratt said. “And upon check-in and entrance to the room, it sets the temperature at exactly 72 degrees. And the same goes for lighting levels.”
An occupied but empty room is detected when the door’s magnetic strip detects door activity, but no motion in the room—meaning the guest has left the room. If so, then the lights are turned off, the temperature is set to conservation levels, and the solar shades are dropped to enhance energy management. It’s what Marratt called the room’s “cocoon state.”
Finally, the system recognizes check-in and check-out status. If a room is unoccupied (or “checked out”) and the motion sensors detect entrance and movement (from housekeeping staff, for example), then the room remains in energy management stasis, Marratt said. “The system provides for manual overrides of lighting and temperature settings during occupancy, meaning the guest has the final say on all lighting and thermostat settings when inside the room,” he added.
Bardessono was the first application of INNCOM’s solar shades, which were a prototype as the hotel was designed. The company didn’t roll them out until Bardessono opened in February 2009. One year later, the hotel earned its LEED Platinum certification.
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