Marriott International is partnering with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to help it reach its goal of reducing energy and water consumption (on an intensity basis) by 20 percent throughout its approximately 1,200 managed properties by 2020.
Through the new partnership, UTSA will help Marriott improve its hotels’ ability to collect and analyze utility data in real-time and in turn make immediate energy-saving adjustments on-site.
UTSA assistant professor of mechanical engineering Bing Dong (pictured center) has developed a proprietary software to capture, model and analyze real-time occupant behavior and energy consumption data. Using these findings, Dong and his graduate student team will evaluate Marriott’s current energy systems and processes and recommend a method to capture data from multiple sources into a single database that provides timely and detailed performance feedback through visualization. They will also create a communication strategy to help motivate hotel employees to conserve energy.
Photo by Deborah Silliman Wolfe
