Sustainability in hospitality has come a long way. Energy use, water savings, and green certifications are now standard parts of hotel development. But there’s one system that still surprisingly gets far less attention than it deserves. Often overlooked, yet one of the most influential systems affecting guest comfort, wellness, and energy performance is the in-room HVAC system.
For most hotel guests, the room is where sustainability becomes personal. It’s where they sleep, breathe, and recover. And no matter how much lobbies and public spaces showcase a property’s green credentials, guests will remember (and will comment on) if the room is stuffy, loud, or swings between hot and cold.
In working closely with hotel owners, operators, and engineers, I keep seeing this disconnect. Sustainability ambitions continue to rise, yet many properties still rely on legacy PTAC and VTAC systems. Here’s the problem—these systems quietly undermine wellness goals, inflate operational costs, and complicate long-term sustainability strategies, not because they were chosen poorly, but because they are rarely reexamined once installed.
Comfort Doesn’t Come Second to Sustainability
To curate the guest experience, the hospitality industry has felt the need to embrace wellness as a differentiator. But two of the most fundamental drivers of human wellbeing—thermal comfort and indoor air quality—rarely receive the same level of scrutiny as lighting quality or other aesthetic considerations.
ASHRAE Standard 55 and 62.1 has long established the relationship between temperature stability, sleep quality, cognitive function, and overall health. In a hotel setting, where guests are already sleeping in unfamiliar environments, even small disruptions—temperature swings, drafts, or mechanical noise—can have dramatic effects. Despite this, in-room HVAC systems are often treated as a commodity decision rather than a wellness decision.
Noise, Sleep & the Systems We Ignore
What consistently ranks among the top drivers of guest dissatisfaction? Noise. While exterior noise and neighbor noise get most of the attention, mechanical noise from in-room HVAC systems is a frequent and avoidable culprit. Even moderate nighttime noise exposure can fragment sleep without fully awakening the guest, leading to reduced sleep quality, elevated stress levels and fatigue.
Standard PTAC and VTAC units can generate noise levels ranging from 50 to 60 decibels (dB) or more. By comparison, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that continuous background noise in bedrooms should not exceed 30 dB for a good night’s sleep.
If that alone isn’t convincing, consider this: J.D. Power’s 2025 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index continues to note noise (including excessive noise) as a top complaint among guests. While hotels spend fortunes soundproofing walls and installing double-glazed windows to block street noise, they often install a seemingly invisible, but impossible to miss, noise generator—the HVAC unit—right inside the room, often inches from the bed.
From a sustainability perspective, this matters. A system that saves energy on paper but degrades the guest experience ultimately fails to support long-term performance or trust.
It’s All About the Air We Breathe
Air quality presents a similar challenge. Many legacy in-room systems were designed decades ago, without considering fresh air introduction or filtration.
The COVID-19 pandemic heightened awareness of ventilation, but in many hotels, in-room systems were never designed to support meaningful air exchange or real-time performance verification.
Guests may not articulate these issues directly. Instead, they show up as vague complaints, “the room felt stuffy,” “I didn’t sleep well,” or “the AC was loud”, or simply as a decision not to return.
Guests Notice More than We Think
The sustainability impact of in-room HVAC systems extends well beyond energy use.
Many traditional systems operate at fixed speeds, cycling on and off in ways that waste energy and accelerate wear. HVAC systems already account for a significant share of commercial buildings energy consumption, and room-level inefficiencies.
Maintenance is another hidden burden. Service calls related to mechanical failures, condensate issues, and component degradation are common, particularly in coastal or humid environments. These costs rarely appear in sustainability reports, yet they directly impact a property’s environmental footprint through replacement parts, labor, and shortened equipment lifespans.
I’ve seen properties invest heavily in envelope improvements or renewable energy while leaving room-level HVAC untouched, effectively limiting the return on their broader sustainability investments.
Lab Specs are Not Enough
One of the most persistent challenges in “green” HVAC discussions is the gap between claimed performance and real-world outcomes.
Efficiency ratings, lab-tested sound levels, and manufacturer specifications are useful—but they are not sufficient. Real hotel environments introduce variables that testing chambers cannot replicate: inconsistent maintenance, diverse occupancy patterns, and varying climate conditions.
Sustainability organizations increasingly emphasize measured performance over modeled assumptions. Without verifiable data (energy use, sound levels, air changes, and system stability) it becomes difficult for owners and sustainability leaders to make informed decisions or avoid unintended greenwashing.
Equally important is equipment sourcing. The HVAC market is crowded with private-label products and rebranded equipment. It’s up to hotel operators to ensure that performance claims are supported by accredited laboratory testing, recognized certifications, and transparent documentation. Verified, authentic systems—not just well-designed spec sheets—are what ultimately protect long-term operational performance and sustainability goals.
Properties that insist on transparent, third party-validated performance data are better positioned to align comfort, efficiency, and sustainability over the long term.
Reframing the Conversation
For hotel owners and operators considering HVAC upgrades, the conversation should start with questions, rather than products.
- How does the system sound in a furnished room at night?
- How does it perform in extreme weather?
- What maintenance will it realistically need over the next decade?
At Ephoca, we recommend evaluating HVAC through a sustainability lens and would like to suggest this framework.
- Listen, before you buy. Don’t just pay attention to the dB rating listed on the promotional material. Run a trial with a unit in a furnished room. If you can hear the compressor, your guests will hear it too. A gentle humming sound may easily be ignored at 2 p.m., but may keep a guest awake at 2 a.m.
- Size does matter. If you’re swapping out a legacy PTAC with a new unit, then the replacement should not protrude and be aesthetically pleasing. Modern solutions—like decentralized climate systems or advanced VRF systems—are engineered to be lower profile. For new builds, consider systems with no outdoor units; it adds to aesthetic appeal and frees up space.
- Maintenance is a sustainability metric. Consider the maintenance required over 10 to 15 years. It’s not only about longevity. A unit that requires constant maintenance could be easily neglected, which could lead to inefficiency and early disposal. Systems with self-cleaning capabilities reduce burdens on your facility teams.
- Third-Party Verification. Look for certifications beyond the standard safety stickers. Are the performance claims verified by bodies like AHRI (Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute), Neep (Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships) or PHI (Passive House Institute). Verified performance data is the only defense against the gap between marketing and reality.
Bringing the Guest Back into the Sustainability Conversation
If guests don’t sleep well, none of the sustainability efforts matter. A room that looks sustainable but feels uncomfortable creates a disconnect that guests notice, even if they can’t name it.
By bringing in-room climate systems into the sustainability conversation, hotels have an opportunity to close that gap. Keep noise, fresh air and temperature stability as priorities. They don’t just improve energy metrics; they improve how guests feel, sleep, and remember a property.
From where I sit, the future of focusing on sustainability in housing is about adding new initiatives and reexamining the systems we’ve long taken for granted. HVAC may not be visible, but its impact is profound. Treating it as a core element of wellness and sustainability, rather than a commodity, is one of the most practical steps the industry can take.
About the Author
Yohai West is Vice President of Product at Ephoca, bringing over a decade of experience developing high-performance HVAC systems for hospitality and residential buildings, focusing on efficiency, comfort, and verified performance. For more information about Ephoca, each out to media@ephoca.com.
