Where energy meets aesthetic

• Keen to meet EU Ecolabel specifications, a hotel replaces its lighting with efficient bulbs, cuts 7 % its off power bill
• Finding efficient bulbs that matched the hotel's aesthetic needs poses a challenge at first

The 76-room Best Western Masqhotel (LaRochelle, France) was opened in 2006 and, since that time, has been implementing a range of energy saving measures.

Some simple behavioural shifts in the way a hotel is operated can deliver energy saving benefits, but sometimes it takes investment and changes in some infrastructure to yield the most verifiable results.

Among the main measures introduced by Masqhotel were a new heat pump and air pump, additional building insulation, etc. But to go further and achieve the EU Ecolabel requirements for tourist accommodation, the hotel realised it would need to retrofit its lighting system with more energy efficient light bulbs.

Key results

The challenge for the hotel was to find class A efficient lightbulbs that would still fit its strict aesthetic guidelines. After some searching, management found a suitable model available on the market.

With the new lighting fully implemented, the hotel experienced a 7 % energy saving in the first year. The cost of the changeover was recuperated in around two years.