A solid investment all round

• Hotel invests € 660 in energy management optimisation and an environmental management system and saves € 3 500 a year
• Efforts are also aimed at meeting EU energy requirements for tourism services

Hotel Arena di Serdica lies in the heart of Sofia. Its equipment and installations are modern and well maintained. For their guests, they have 64 spacious and comfortable rooms and suites and two restaurants, a lobby bar, wellness club, and conference services. In 2004, a wall dating back to Roman times was uncovered during the construction of the hotel. Further excavations revealed parts of the Serdika amphitheater, which was transformed into a feature within the hotel that everyone can visit.

Management is continuously looking for new opportunities and measures to improve the hotel's services, reduce resource and energy costs, and hence the impact on the environment. The hotel uses the management system ISO 9001 and HACEP. A number of organisational measures for energy monitoring and elements of an environmental management system were explored to achieve the hotel's goals.

Key results

After a detailed audit, the following measures were chosen, costing the hotel only € 660:

• Key elements of an environmental management system were introduced to boost guest awareness of water and energy consumption, and other environmental issues to support sustainable tourism
• Use of chiller heat pump mode during transitional periods (seasons) that led to less energy use and reduced CO2 emissions
• Optimisation of lighting which reduced electricity use and CO2 emissions