Hotel Engineer Volume 20 Number 3

THE

HOTEL ENGINEER OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING

PP 319986/101

Volume 20 Number 3 October 2015

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The Hotel Engineer The Official Publication of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering

PUBLISHER’S

MESSAGE

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elcome once again to Hotel Engineer. Before I start, I must acknowledge how tricky it is to write this introduction. Usually in each issue we seem to go by some sort of theme, but this time you’ve got more chance of picking a Prime Minister than a direction for this issue.

So let’s start with our front cover – we look at the six star NABERS energy rating from Alto Hotel on Bourke in Melbourne. Francis Roberson from the Office of Environment and Heritage tells us how the hotel got its top tier energy rating, and how other hotel engineers can learn from this example.

We then turn to lighting. Green Earth Lighting and Megaman spill the beans on LED lighting first up, then Enlighten give us a BOH case study. There are a few tips in here on how to cut your hotel’s energy bill.

From the top of a hotel room to the bottom – we look at what you can do if water floods your hotel. One of the best, Jeremy Stamkos, answers what can be done if this happens. One of those things you think won’t happen to your hotel, but you don’t want to be caught off guard!

ADBOURNE PUBLISHING 18/69 Acacia Road Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156 PO Box 735, Belgrave, VIC 3160 www.adbourne.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Enquiries: (03) 9758 1431 Fax: (03) 9758 1432 Email: admin@adbourne.com

ADVERTISING Melbourne: Neil Muir T: (03) 9758 1433 F: (03) 9758 1432 E: neil@adbourne.com Adelaide: Robert Spowart T: 0488 390 039 E: robert@adbourne.com

Our focus turns to HVAC optimisation. Anwar from Enman writes about the technologies that can make real differences to your hotel’s energy efficiency. But that’s just part one – our contributor Travis Tassey looks at the maintenance of HVAC systems. Tassey discusses HVAC standards, then the best ways to inspect and maintain these systems.

To add more to the mix, we have a discussion on one way of stopping bed bugs, reduce unwanted odours in a hotel, and carpet cleaning. For the later, Col Nation focuses on the technology of encapsulation cleaning to get your carpets as clean and dry as possible.

And to finish, we keep with the subject of diverse topics when we speak with Mohammed Sharif of the Sofitel Brisbane Central. From seeing cyclones rip through his hotel, to helping staff convert from hand tools to electric tools, and then again to refurbishing entire hotels – Mohammed has seen it all. An eye-opening interview about the range of experiences a hotel engineer can enjoy.

Regards, Neil Muir Publisher

PRODUCTION Emily Wallis T: (03) 9758 1436 E: production@adbourne.com ADMINISTRATION Robyn Fantin T: (03) 9758 1431 E: admin@adbourne.com MARKETING Susan Moore E: susanmoore@y7mail.com

AIHE STATE PRESIDENTS Paul Truman, QLD (Interim) E: pault@watermarkhotelgc.com.au Anura Yapa, NSW E: Anura.Yapa@shangri-la.com David Zammit,VIC E: david.zammit@hyatt.com Tony Fioraso, WA E: tony.fioraso@burswood.com.au

Adbourne Publishing cannot ensure that the advertisers appearing in The Hotel Engineer comply absolutely with the Trades Practices Act and other consumer legislation.

The responsibility is therefore on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement(s) for publication.

Adbourne Publishing reserves the right to refuse any advertisement without stating the reason. No responsibility is accepted for incorrect information contained in advertisements or editorial.The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or otherwise alter articles for publication.

All original material produced in this magazine remains the property of the publisher and cannot be reproduced without authority. The views of the contributors and all submitted editorial are the author’s views and are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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CELEBRATING OVER

2015

Air Conditioning Range

The Comfortable Choice

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IN AUS TRAL

IA

CONTENTS 39

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AIHE State news

12 VALE. Dear colleague Carl Van den Heever 14 Water ingress & flooding in hotels Back of house lighting savings 18 21 Mohammed Sharif profile 26 How safe is your Building Management System from a cyber attack?

29 LEDs and low power factor 32 Breath of fresh air HVAC optimisation 35 39 Australia’s most energy efficient hotel 44 Hotel Engineer double award winner!

Odour management 47 50 Quantifying cost saving potentials for mobile room key deployments in the hotel industry 55 Managing resilient buildings for a changing climate 57 Encapsulation cleaning 61 Choosing LED Lights for your hotel 64 Smart meters Full steam ahead to beat the bedbugs 68

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71 People, Profit, Planet: The benefits of sustainable hospitality 74 Back of house 76 The real time for New Year’s resolutions 81 News

THE

HOTEL ENGINEER

64

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING

Front cover shows: Alto Hotel on Bourke, Melbourne

PP 319986/101

Volume 20 Number 3 October 2015

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AIHE STATE

NEWS NEW SOUTH WALES It is the spring air, which makes us feel so alive and wonderful!

Flowers blooming, birds chirping... ...Warm greetings for the season from the NSW Chapter.

Although everyone was busy over the past months we had some fantastic evenings.

After the June meeting held at the Grace Hotel we had a break in July. In August we had our monthly meeting at the Holiday Inn Potts Point. Andrew Packness of Whitefield Rose Elevator Consultants did a presentation on “Vertical Transportation – Common Lift Problems and Pitfalls”.Thanks for a very enlightening presentation, what a great way to discuss one of our real day to day engineering issues, it left us feeling enthused by what Andrew said and gave some very useful ideas. Further it was an opportunity to briefly outline the topics (e.g: Waste management, Carbon Foot print etc.,) of the World Engineer’s Summit 2015 – Singapore which I attended in July. We also discussed arrangements for Carl’s family benefit fundraising night.There were over twenty five attendees including fifteen Hotel Engineers.

The September meeting was at Pullman Quay Grand. Mr Kit Man Chan of Clean Energy Corporation presented on Solar PV design & Embedded Networks. We had the opportunity to enjoy delicious food and drinks at the bar overlooking Circular Quay at Pullman Quay Grand Suites, a fabulous spot to have an enjoyable evening. My sincere thanks to the Hotel Maintenance Manager Troy Croft, for organising the event.

Welcome Peter Pedryc of Harbour Rocks Hotel, a new member who joined the chapter recently as a Hotel Engineer.

In October we are planning our last site visit for the year, site tour to New Telstra Technology Centre will be a possible venue.

TAA and HM, two Annual Accommodation Industry Awards for Excellence 2015 were held in July and in September. It has been my distinguished honour to receive the ‘Engineer of the year award’ at the TAA awards whilst receiving the second award ‘Hotel Engineer’ at HM awards night.There were two winners at the HM Awards, congratulations to my colleague Doug Smith, Ex-President of AIHE NSW chapter.

Spencer Tracy says “It is up to us to give ourselves recognition. If we wait for it to come from others, we feel resentful when it doesn’t, and when it does, we may well reject it”. Well, we all work hard, we all spend so many hours at work, I feel like everyone whom work with the right attitude is a winner... congratulations to all finalists and winners of all categories.

In closing, I would like to thank all Engineers and our Corporate Members for their support over the past quarter and look forward to working with all in the future for the betterment of the industry.

Best Wishes.

Anura Yapa JP President – AIHE NSW chapter

www.aihe.com.au

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Andrew Packness of Whitfield Rose Pty Ltd presenting his presentation at the August meeting at Holiday Inn Potts Point.

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AIHE STATE

NEWS VICTORIA With the AFL season over for another year, we now head into spring, as Melbourne embraces the racing carnival, along with the race that stops the nation, our Melbourne Cup. We finished up our winter months with a few great meetings as follows. Our July meeting was held at our iconic Melbourne town hall, and hosted by the The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Rober t Doyle. The Mayor’s presentation was focused on initiatives and trends both effecting and strengthening tourism in our great city, whilst touching on the impor tance that each of our hotel’s play in achieving this outcome. Rober t Doyle delivered an invigorating speech, which was both light hear ted but yet informative, as he addressed an audience of Hotel Engineers, GM’s and our corporate members. Our attendance that evening topped 60 pax, cer tainly an enjoyable night that we will all remember.

Again, a great credit to our VP & meeting

organiser Stephen Docher ty, in securing such a high calibre presenter and venue for this meeting.

Our August meeting was held at Park Hyatt Melbourne, hosted by Engineering Manager Rolando Nuesca.

Bob Hetherington from the MFB was our guest presenter. Bob is Acting Senior Station Officer/Building Inspection and Compliance Unit, Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Service. With Bob’s wealth of knowledge, he shared with us a variety of topics in regards to what is expected from us as hotel engineers, along with the current standards and safety measures we are required to meet.

With over 35 years of experience with the MFB, it was a privilege and a rare oppor tunity to have Bob present to us that evening. He cited many known examples of incidents that have occurred within Victoria over the past decades that he personally attended, giving us some great insight, through the eyes of this veteran fire fighter. Bob, we commend what you and your colleagues of the fire services do to serve our community, not only at a time of need, but proactively to protect our homes and businesses.

the scenes tour of the site. Many thanks to Craig Morris, General Manager Proper ty Services and Executive Assistant, Jo Sainato, for organising this special event in suppor t of the institute. Although positions for the tour were limited to 30 pax, Crown delivered a great event in showcasing their site and vast knowledge of the integral plant and systems that make this world class complex tick. It was a fitting meeting and occasion to welcome Crown back as an active member of our chapter.

With only a few remaining months of the year, we look forward to closing on a high, and continue to welcome all of our current and any new members, to our next few meetings.

So on that note, if you are wishing to become a member or need fur ther information about our meetings, feel free to drop me an email, david.zammit@hyatt.com Regards David Zammit President AIHE Victoria Chapter

Our first spring September meeting was hosted by The Crown Entertainment Complex, which incorporated a behind

View The Hotel Engineer online now!

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AIHE STATE

NEWS QUEENSLAND Greetings from Queensland.

It has been a busy period since our last news brief.

Attendance to our monthly committee meetings has been encouraging, (thanks to our Corporate and affiliated members), and the input from all, especially as we are doing what we can in relation to a concerted membership drive, and even more awareness of the advantages and scope of joining the AIHE. As mentioned in the previous edition news brief, we had arranged a site visit to the Griffith University and Health Centre, situated in Southport.

The area is a fast developing Precinct in tune with the ramping up of projects contemplated to tie in with the Commonwealth Games here on the Gold Coast.This complex certainly adds to and helps the growth of the Coast’s infrastructure.

The evening was hosted by the Griffith University Maintenance and Project Team headed by the Project Manager – Sean Power and Maintenance Manager – Lex Hayes, many thanks to them both for an interesting evening.

We were able to discuss the universities growth, facilities and maintenance structure, delve into the consolidated contracts, building system, smart energy metering, the main health building, lecture auditoriums, plant and general walk through.We were able to look on the other side, so to speak, in relation to project management as Sean has been involved from inception of the project, to completion and commissioning.

Fundamentally not unlike running the engineering departments of hotels, so in that way, held our interest and some “food“ for thought.

In the month of July, we hosted an evening presentation being, a tailored session titled:

The presenter, Scott Harris of Workforce Resilience certainly was informative.The basic message being, is our workplace prepared for an armed person, active shooter or lone actor incident and being able to deal with individuals who are disruptive or under the influence, this being particularly pertinent to some recent very publicised events.We want to ensure front line staff and for that matter all staff, are aware of how to react and actions to take and how to deal with these situations.

This presentation was at the Gold Coast and another is set for early October in Brisbane.

In relation to the AIHE Conference, which will be in August in 2016 on the Gold Coast, preparation and bookings for the event are well underway. A sterling effort to date from Bev.The venue has been locked in and social events are under discussion.We are now into finalising Exhibitor bookings and urge everyone whom are interested to contact Bev Allen – AIHE Qld Secretary (admin@aihe.com.au) or myself (pault@watermarkhotelgc.com.au) for an exhibitor prospectus, and costs compared to booth status.To those of our wonderful supporters who have committed, thank you and we do envisage a very rewarding and successful conference for all. I do suggest, if you are contemplating as an Exhibitor, contact us as soon as possible, as interest is already building.

The Institute aims to provide all members and the industry with all the latest developments in engineering, construction and technology.

Our national membership comprises of all state chapters, which ensures well attended Conferences.

All the very best for now.

Kind regards from Queensland.

Paul Truman Queensland Chapter President

“Critical Incident Information Session” directed to hotel employees.

Visit www.adbourne.com and click Hotel Engineer

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AIHE STATE

NEWS

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Greetings from Western Australia, We held our AGM in July at the Hyatt Regency Perth with all positions declared open.

The committee was elected and voted in as follows: President Tony Fioraso Secretary Lee Binsted Treasurer Viran Yapa Social Coordinators Doug Stemp Barry Haydinger Meetings Coordinator John Rodden Well done to everyone and I look forward to working with you for the rest of 2016 and 2016.

Our meeting in August was held at Crown Perth with two guest presenters and a site visit through the newly refurbished Promenade Hotel.

The presentations were as follows:

ECOCENTRIC: Ecocentric Energy is a technology innovator in the energy sector operating from the Innovation Centre,Technology Park, Bentley WA. In conjunction with our business partners CSIRO and IBM, we have developed the Numen energy analytical tool that can seamlessly, and in real-time, assess the energy efficiency of every electrical device down to a circuit level. Using state-of-the-art cognitive metering technology developed by CSIRO and by sampling at a rate of 16,000 htz the system can distinguish and evaluate individual electronic devices on a circuit.

HONEYWELL: The Future Of Travel Will Be High-tech & High-touch Exploring: • Challenging the Emerging traveller trends • Delivering a Connected Hotel now • Integration of services and systems • Crown Promenade walk through

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In September our social coordinators organised our annual partners function which was a progressive dinner starting at Crown and then on to three separate venues on the party bus.

We had over 40 members with their partners attend and everyone had a great time finishing into the early hours at the Merrywell.

Many thanks to my team for a well-organised event.

Regards Tony Fioraso President – AIHE Western Australia

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VALE. DEAR COLLEAGUE

CARL VAN DEN HEEVER I had gone across to the soon to be ANA Gold Coast Hotel, just a couple of blocks between his Hotel and mine. Mine being the very new just coming out of the clay Gold Coast International Hotel. And his was still the Holiday Inn, just. And it was here that I first met Carl in September of 1986.

I

nstant bonhomie tempered by a few small drams, had us almost speaking in our Dutch mother tongue, and with reciprocal marine engineering, what more does it take?

But there we were, like many before us, old salts keen to lay track in the best of worlds. And we did. Both of us as Chiefs or above in the burgeoning hotel industry of the eighties. Both of us mad keen to shake up the established view of The Black Gang as seen by the majority.

Carl did the best Hand-Over I have ever been privileged to witness between hotels. And as I had an urge to take his place, I needed the nod. Which to this day I can recall was drawn out with delicious tongue in cheek by my old mate. So I said to him, Carl what about a drive in my 1948 MG to get your thinking a mite clearer? So he agreed, and the rest as they say, is history.

We headed north on the old highway and I planted the foot.

Now Carl as many would know, was never a slightly built person to behold, and in climbing into the MG had severely exerted his segments. This of course I had anticipated, so the foot went down a wee little bit further.

Carl, I said as the speedo touched 60 mph and the old machine began to seek rarefied air, what do you say to me having your job at the Inn? But it was all a foregone conclusion. His muffled maybes became pleas for mercy as the foot went further down, until he finally cried OK OK have it but for heavens sake slow this thing down wont you...

Dear Carl, we miss you. They were grand days setting up the Institute. And having endless discussion on how we would revolutionise the role of the Hotel Engineer.

May we still work towards those goals Carl, and remember with pride the input from you and the many colleagues who have gone before.

NEIL WEENINK

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The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive. In one word, Carl was a man who gave. He has done much to his family as his prime responsibility. He gave much to his work especially to the Hotel Engineering Industry.

He was a big man, with a big heart and a big smile.

I

have known Carl for over 7 years; my first meeting with him was at the AIHE chapter meeting in 2009. We became friends within a short period of time.

Carl, an ex-navy person with a background of Electrical Technology from South Africa, moved to Australia in the early nineteen eighties.

After working for some time in the Industrial Engineering sector, Carl joined the Hotel Engineering Industry. He has worked for so many hotels in Qld and NSW. Carlton Crest,The Holiday Inn, Marriot and Accor Hotel chains in Australia to name a few. At one stage Carl held the Regional responsibility for sixteen Mirvac Hotels in NSW. Carl had also worked as a Hotel Engineer in Hayman Island,Thailand and Lhasa in Tibet.

Carl’s last employment was in Pan Pacific, Perth which unfortunately took him away from his family, and he often expressed to me how he missed them, but he remained positive, and took every opportunity to get together with the family.

I had the pleasure of knowing and working with Carl in his role as Vice President of the NSW chapter of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering Inc. for six years. I also worked with him as a supplier at a number of hotels including the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, Pullman Sydney Hyde Park and the Pan Pacific Perth.

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arl’s passing is a loss to everyone that knew him. He was a man so many looked up to. He was astute and wise, approachable and humble; a Hotel Engineer of the highest standard. He was a true gentleman, always prepared to contribute to our industry, having worked in hotels for the majority of his career.

Carl, generously gave his knowledge, expertise and skill to so many he worked with over the years. He was great leader, mentor and coach. He will be sadly missed, but never forgotten.

Yours in Hospitality

BRENDON GRANGER

In his career as a Hotel Engineer he worked with passion, integrity and energy. By his death all the people who knew him will miss a highly intelligent, vibrant individual with a rare friendliness and charm of personality.

Carl was a strategic thinker, a visionary who was brilliant, innovative and creative. He generously gave us his knowledge, his expertise and his skills. Carl always stood by his principles.

He was a good boss to the people in his charge, a loving husband to his wife Mrs. Xi Ling Van Den Heever and a devoted father to his children Lily, Steven, Carol and Tim. He was also a good friend to many of us and a great colleague.

On behalf of all four chapters of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Carl Van Den Heever who will be sorely missed by his many colleagues, by his friends and especially by his loving family.

Goodbye Carl, may you rest in peace.

ANURA YAPA JP

President, Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering Inc., NSW chapter.

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WATER INGRESS

& FLOODING IN HOTELS JEREMY STAMKOS

Many buildings experience a number water ingress events over their life but hotels, by the very nature of their use, tend to get more than most.

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ommon water ingress events include bathroom overflow, airconditioning condensate drain blockages, general leaks from plumbing and storm water ingress.

The likelihood or frequency of water ingress events or flooding can depend on the age of the hotel’s plumbing, building design (wet area fit out), geographical location and even the nationality of the guests that frequent the hotel.

The amount of water ingress can be minor and cleaned up in a few minutes by hotel staff or an entire section of a building that require specialist drying or restoration contractors.

Regardless of the water ingress event, failing to properly determine the cause of the water ingress and extent of water affected materials can lead to reoccurrences, extensive property damage and a range of other issues including microbial contamination, nuisance odours, etc.

As important as determining the cause and extent of the water ingress, it is extremely important to know if the water is contaminated as this can greatly change the clean-up approach required.

Water leaks from potable water supply generally don’t pose much of an immediate risk to health unless the water has come in contact with some kind of contamination.

Although the water may have left the water supply as “clean” water, it is often best treated as though it is “grey” water.

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The simplest way to explain grey water is basically potable water that you would no longer drink. Examples of grey water may include clean water from taps or toilet cisterns that has contacted the ground.

Any water that may contain sewage, chemicals or any other type of hazardous contamination is referred to as black water.

Grey water will most likely become black water if it is left for too long.

Even though storm water may be considered grey water, depending on what path it has taken before it entered the building, it has often become black water.

Once the cause of the water ingress has been identified and rectified, consideration should be given to whether hotel staff have the capabilities, appropriate equipment and experience to conduct the clean-up.

Most hotels will have wet vacuums capable of extracting water from floors and carpets as well as high volume “air movers” that can be used to help dry wet floors, underlay and carpets.

When a significant amount of water has entered the property and affected numerous building materials, consideration should be given to engaging specialist flood restoration contractors to conduct the works. This is especially the case where there is black water ingress, extensive water ingress or simply if a rapid turnaround time is required.

With all water ingress events, the key to preventing or limiting property damage

and microbial contamination is to dry the affected materials as quickly as possible. It is recommended that when possible, to return affected materials back to normal moisture content within 48 hours to avoid significant microbial contamination.

Whilst some carpet cleaning companies provide water extraction services, they may not have completed the required training and acquired the knowledge to fully determine the extent of the water ingress and how to effectively dry the structure.

As such, it is highly recommended that flood restoration specialists are engaged that have undertaken specific industry training and certification.

Many of these flood restoration companies have specialised drying equipment and know how to use it in order to quickly dry affected materials and structures. Examples of such equipment include Low Grain or Desiccant Dehumidifiers, centrifugal or axial fans and a range of specialised equipment.

Although specialised drying equipment such as dehumidifiers can be hired, if hotel staff do not know how to use the equipment properly, it can be a pointless exercise and drying may not be achieved in a timely manner.

Knowing what types of equipment will be required and how to configure that equipment to achieve the most affective drying is somewhat of a science and can prove highly valuable in mitigating losses.

Regardless of who does the drying, all affected materials need to be dried to the level of having “normal” moisture content to prevent water damage and microbial contamination.

As all building materials have a certain amount of moisture, drying to the point where there is no moisture content is not required and will most often cause significant damage to the building materials, content and surfaces.

As this is the case, it is highly recommended to conduct moisture testing of the water affected materials and establish what the desired moisture content of those materials should be. This is commonly referred to as determining a “dry standard” and can be done by measuring the moisture levels in unaffected materials in the same building.

There are various moisture meters available on the market designed for measuring the moisture content of building materials including some that can only measure moisture close to the surface and others that have penetrating probes to measure moisture deep within the affected materials.

Hidden mould on plasterboard

One of the most often overlooked structural elements that requires increased levels of drying after a flood event is concrete slabs. Due to the porosity of concrete, it can hold a significant amount of water.

If the flooding was minor, the moisture may readily spread or equalise throughout

the slab and dry out without too much concern. If however the amount of water was significant, the need to properly dry the slab is crucial. It is rare that in these circumstances that running a number of high volume air movers will be adequate to dry the concrete back to an acceptable level and dehumidifiers along with heat will be required.

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Drymatic heat drying system

Also, in circumstances where a concrete slab has been affected by significant water ingress, the drying of the slab should be verified by industry accepted procedures and standards.

Reinstating flooring materials on wet slabs can lead to significant microbial damage to the new materials as well as create a significant health risk.

In fact, failure to properly dry all water affected materials can lead to significant microbial contamination.

If mould has already started to grow on water-affected materials, care needs be taken not to do anything that will spread the mould. Whilst minor mould can be Mould growing under smooth edge (hold carpet down)

cleaned up without too much fuss, any significant mould contamination should only be cleaned up by professional trained and certified mould remediation contractors.

For cases where there has been significant sewage overflow, mould contamination or other hazardous contamination suspected, it is recommended that an Indoor Environmental Professional (IEP) be engaged to evaluate the success of the clean-up process.

NOTE: Following a flood or water ingress event, particular attention must be given to any fire rated plasterboard. Some of the largest mould related property losses and litigation cases have been directly related to mould contamination occurring in multi layered fire rated plasterboard in hotels after major flooding events.

Fire rated walls often have multiple layers of plasterboard which can be difficult to identify without the use of moisture meters that have insulated pins that can penetrate the multiple layers and measure the moisture content as different depths.

Also, due to the density and thickness of fire rated walls, they can be difficult to dry without specialised drying equipment used in a way that will fully extract the excess moisture.

In cases where fire rated plasterboard has been significantly impacted by water, it is highly recommended that specialist drying contractors (restorers) are engaged to conduct the drying.

Ultimately, the key to successfully cleaning up after a flood or water ingress event is undertake the works promptly and professionally including but not limited to the following factors; • Identify and rectify the original cause of water ingress • Fully determine the extent of water affected materials • Dry materials to acceptable levels • Verify that all materials have been dried adequately, in a timely manner and that no mould contamination has occurred.

Addressing water ingress in a timely, professional manner can prevent significant property damage and remediation costs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeremy Stamkos is Principal Indoor Environmental Consultant for Eronmor, a consultancy firm specialising in Indoor Air Quality with an emphasis on Moisture & Mould Investigation. Prior to becoming a consultant in 2014, Jeremy spent more than twenty years in specialised decontamination of commercial buildings and HVAC systems including many hotels around Australia. Jeremy is also the founder of the Victorian chapter of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering.

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BACK OF HOUSE LIGHTING SAVINGS

FOR SURFERS PARADISE MARRIOTT Energy savings, product quality and maintenance ease drives back of house LED lighting upgrade rollout of car park, fire stairs & service corridors for the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort.

Project scope

Retrofit of standard & emergency T8 36W fluorescent battens with Chamaeleon LED light & Tauro Blu LED low bay light

Date

Aug 2014 –Jan 2015

Energy savings

87 % (300,767 KwH pa)

Project payback

2.7 years

F

ollowing the successful retrofit of T8 fluorescent batten fire stair lighting at the Courtyard by Marriott North Ryde in Sydney in 2014, Country Director of Engineering for Marriott Hotels, Stephen Coombs, liaised with Engineering Manager Salvatore di Pietro before committing to the back of house lighting upgrade rollout at the 329 room Queensland Resort.

PROJECT DRIVERS The Surfers Paradise hotel had already completed successful LED lighting upgrades in guest rooms and lobby areas.

Stephen was looking to reduce the high lamp & emergency battery replacement costs in back of house areas. His team assessed T8 to T5 adaptors but chose to replace the aging fluorescent lighting infrastructure and dated technology with LED, which offered lower repair and maintenance costs.

Stephen tested a sample Chamaeleon fitting and was impressed with the quality of manufacturing and serviceability features such as the externally accessible battery drawer, which allowed for simple changeover of the emergency battery without having to isolate the power.

CAPEX funding for the back of house lighting upgrade was secured in conjunction with other air conditioning related works under a combined electricity reduction project bid.

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PROJECT SCOPE 336 fluorescent batten fittings (T8 36W 1200mm single & double) were replaced by 312 chamaeleon standard and emergency fittings in the fire stairs, back of house corridors, car park driveways & parking bays. enLighten’s 90w 2 module Tauro Blu LED low bay lights replaced double fluorescent battens in the undercover car park entries.

The 87% energy savings were achieved through the Chamaeleon light’s award winning & patented dual circuit design. The light operates on a standby level of light output, consuming 7-8W. Once movement is detected, the light instantly switches to full light output (31-2W) via the integral microwave motion sensor.

Average consumption of a 24 hour period is under 10 watts in low occupancy spaces.

Fig 1: Fire stair egress lighting

A competitive project payback of 2.7 years including installation costs was achieved due to the hotel’s extended 24/7 operating hours.

This result also included a highly competitive electricity tariff rate.

CONTROL SETTINGS CUSTOMISATION enLighten Australia’s QLD Sales Executive, Tony Arhanic, assisted with a lighting audit & specification of the Chamaeleon light models, according to the specific lighting needs of the space A range of standard, permanently on & emergency Chamaeleon lights were specified with the ability to customise the reach & timer settings of the integrated microwave motion sensor within each light fitting.

Fig 2: The light output automatically adjusts to follow the occupant

In the undercover car park parking bays, the detection range was reduced from the standard 8m down to 2m, so that passing cars would not trigger the parking bay lights to switch to full light output.

The timer settings were also increased from standard 15 seconds up to 2 minutes to allow car park visitors ample time to park, load or unload luggage and make their way to the carpark lift.

In the service corridor areas, timer settings were also increased to 2 minutes as these areas were high use.

INDUSTRY OUTREACH Since installation was completed in early 2015, the level of interest in the project has been high. Stephen has hosted many colleague visits as well as the April meeting of the Queensland Chapter of the Institute of Hotel Engineers.

The back of house lighting upgrade results will form part of the hotel’s Sustainability Award submission for the 2015 Queensland Tourism Awards, which will be awarded in November. Good luck to the Marriott team, we look forward to hearing the results.

Fig 3: Chamaeleon light in full light output (31-2W)

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK “We were able to upgrade our aging fluorescent lighting for over 80% energy savings and reduced maintenance within a competitive payback period. I’m particularly impressed with the Chamaeleon light’s plug in / plug out feature which allows for a simple same day swap over without having to isolate the power.” Stephen Coombs, Country Director of Engineering , Marriott Hotels For more information visit www.enlighten.com.au

Fig 4: Chamaeleon light in standby light output (7-8W)

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PROFILE

FROM CYCLONES TO THE WORLD LEADERS: MOHAMMED SHARIF BRINGS MORE THAN JUST EXPERIENCE

M

ohammed Sharif has seen it all.

The Chief Engineer of the 433room Sofitel Brisbane Central has witnessed cyclones rip through his hotels, converted staff from using hand tools to electric tools, and has been an integral part of refurbishments and certifications.

Given this, choosing just one highlight of his career was always going to be a difficult

task however, Mohammed can pick out one event which stands above all others.

“One of the biggest highlights of my career, and probably never to be repeated, was the hosting of six world leaders at our hotel during the G20 Summit,” Mohammed said.

“This was the largest contingent in one hotel. It was a 24 hour operation and we were working around the clock with power

naps in between to ensure everything was seamless. There was quite an extensive planning process, liaising with various government agencies and emergency services both prior to the event and during the event.

“During the Summit, our hotel had three circles of security. Apart from our accredited staff, getting anywhere close to

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the property needed multiple rounds of checks. We were fortunate in that we did not require any external contractors during the week of the summit. There were many challenging occasions and last minute requests from the different delegations. The leadership from our General Manager and support of all the staff made it a very memorable experience.”

It was a long rise to the top for Mohammed. His career started working in three sugar mills in Fiji. He served as an electrical apprentice before working his way to Electrical and Controls Maintenance Engineer. Mohammed later joined Sheraton Fiji Resort as an Assistant Chief Engineer and later as Acting Chief Engineer. But Mohammed’s plans to leave Fiji didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

“Just prior to leaving Sheraton Fiji in 1992, there was a major cyclone that caused extensive damage to the landscape and some buildings. I was asked to delay my trip to Australia and assist in the rebuilding process. My local knowledge and contacts were of great assistance in getting the resort back to full operation in the shortest possible time.”

Always looking for new opportunities, Mohammed decided to bring his family to Australia and settled in Melbourne. It was here he became Assistant Chief Engineer and Acting Chief Engineer at Sheraton Melbourne (now Langham Melbourne). Mohammed was part of the post opening team and was instrumental in managing the defects and setting up the operating systems at the hotel. Whilst in Melbourne, Mohammed was seconded for six months to the flagship Sheraton Imperial Hotel. However, Mohammed chased the sun by moving to Queensland in 1988 as Chief Engineer of the then Sheraton Brisbane Hotel and Towers, which became the Sofitel Brisbane Central in 2005.

Mohammed recounts an interesting story from his career when he was asked to set up an engineering department in Kuala Lumpur: “We had the carpenter shop with new modern electric tools, but staff were reluctant to open it and use it. In those days, the workers all preferred their hand tools. When the workshop was set up with all the new equipment, and after a bit of training, you could see their eyes light up and they gradually embraced the new technology.”

Mohammed has an impressive line of projects to his name. For starters, we was given the responsibility of getting the Sofitel Brisbane Central certified to ISO14001 in March last year. He led a team of dedicated staff through this certification, and an external audit in July 2014 confirmed a high level of compliance. In 2012, Mohammed oversaw the refurbishment of the Sofitel Brisbane Central. He has undertaken a number of capital projects including a new Club Lounge, Lobby, brand new SOFIT Gym the top floor of the hotel gym, and an upgrade to the Thyme2 restaurant. He implemented the Accor Environmental Charter and assisted in setting up the laundry operations at the hotel when the Laundry Manager departed.

Before the rebranding of the hotel from the Sheraton Brisbane to the Sofitel Brisbane Central, Mohammed managed and helped to design the upgrade of the banquet floor, oversaw a 420-room refurbishment in 2002/03, and revamped the hotel’s engineering operations following an internal audit. In the last few years,

22

Mohammed has been integral towards restructuring the engineering department and achieving positive employee satisfaction.

Mohammed recalls the day in February 2005 when the Sheraton branding of the hotel was removed and Sofitel branding was implemented. Prior to the change Mohammed had been approached by the new owners representative that they would like him to stay and continue managing the engineering operations.

At 2pm on this day he was to have a change of ownership and remove all Sheraton related signage and install SOFITEL elements.

It was a nostalgic moment for many at the hotel.

In a hotel the size of the Sofitel Brisbane Central, savings to electricity, gas, and water usage are crucial. Thankfully, Mohammed is responsible for savings across the board. In 2013, the hotel reduced its electricity consumption by more than 1,000,000kwh from the previous year. This was achieved by installing 27 new Variable Speed Drives to the air handling and pumping units, installing CO2 sensors for the air conditioning controls in the ballrooms, and upgrading the Building Automation System. The hotel also retrofitted the back of house lighting to 800 luminaries, put in lighting controls in the car park, installed four 40kw heat pumps for domestic hot water heating, and installed LED lighting across the hotel. Another way these savings were achieved was by installing EDGE energy monitoring systems, which consisted of over 30 sub metres for electricity. These were monitored online by the hotel and an external company, EP&T. Mohammed is always on the look out to push that extra bit into technology and saving. When selecting a heat pump for hot water production, Mohammed worked with a manufacturer and installer, who came up with a heat pump that could instantly heat up hot water from mains temperature to 60 degrees centigrade. The cooling cycle of the heat pump was used to cool the main plant room in summer and in another area to cool the lift motor room that always had a cooling load present 24/7. The selected heat pumps satisfy the hot water heating for the whole hotel.

They say that necessity is the mother of creations. Another area that Mohammed is proud of is his input in the replacement of the hotels old R11 Carrier chillers to TurboCorp variable speed oilless chiller.

He looked at the various options in replacing the chiller which was located on the rooftop plant room. The difficulty was getting the condenser and evaporator vessels up there. Due to Turbot Street being a “bridge” there were issues with the weight of the large crane that could lift to a height of over 90 metres. A helicopter lift was the next option. This presented a problem that Turbot Street would need closure, top four floors would need to be empty, and if there was unfavourable wind conditions (which can happen in the city tunnel type voids) then operation would be aborted.

Faced with this dilemma Mohammed met with the Managing Director of Powerpax (TurboCorp) and raised the issue of “split vessel” for condenser and evaporator. This concept was taken up and Sofitel Brisbane was the first hotel that had split vessels. The chiller was manufactured, assembled and checked in Melbourne.

It was then disassembled and brought to Brisbane. The large parts were checked for weights, placed in service lifts and lift operated

by Lift engineers from lift plant room.

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“I must admit that we did have some teething problems and had a water leak. The hotel worked closely with Powerpax and the install team – Inter Chillers/Four Seasons to resolve issues.”

Mohammed says even some simple changes can make a big difference: “Light usage is a major consideration for a hotel the size of Sofitel.

During low occupancy, vacant floors are blocked and all lighting and air conditioning are switched off on those levels. The hotel has also installed energy efficient lamps and dimmer controls to various areas to reduce electricity and lighting usage.”

Mohammed was instrumental in reducing the hotel’s consumption of gas. In 2012, the hotel saved 1,825GJ. This was achieved by installing heat pumps for domestic hot water heating, upgrading the Building Automation System to improve the cycling of the steam boiler, and encouraging the kitchen and hotel ambassadors to turn off gas equipment when not in use.

And with this wealth of experience behind him, Mohammed has some key pieces of advice for new hotel engineers in the industry: “Get to know your hotel well when you first start. Spend some time on different shifts and weekends. This is because, once you get

24

into the day to day running of the department and get involved in projects, you may find it harder to find time to work out how your chilled water system works or whatever is involved in the hot water reticulation or how the various air system work. So learn all this early on.

“When installing, Variable Frequency Drives a lot of thought needs to given into the algorithms of the control process that vary the frequency of the motor. This will ensure that maximum energy efficiency is obtained whilst still maintaining required comfort conditions and processes.

“Staff are your best assets, so involve them in problem solving and when finding solutions. Also, get involved in energy management.

Ensure your chiller plant is well tuned and that you are able to monitor COP of the full chiller plant.”

Mohammed’s long and distinguished career in the industry has been characterised by positive reforms and a drive to improve. He is an asset to the hotel, but a man who is loyal, too. With 16 years of service so far at the Sofitel Brisbane Central, it’s only a matter of time before Mohammed finds another way to improve the hotel for guests, staff and management alike.

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HOW SAFE IS YOUR BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FROM A

CYBER ATTACK?

GREGORY STRASS I BUILDING SYSTEMS IT CYBERSECURITY LEAD, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

JON WILLIAMSON I SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC BUILDING SYSTEMS COMMUNICATION OFFICER

“Cyber crime is a $400 billion criminal enterprise worldwide – making it bigger than global drug trafficking.”

T

he last two decades have seen tremendous growth in the integration of building management systems. With networked information systems becoming more commonplace, facilities managers of buildings that often include access points to corporate or organisational networks must be vigilant of the risk of cyber attacks on their Building Management Systems (BMS). BMS that were once proprietary and stand-alone now are integrated with other systems.

Today’s intelligent building management systems (iBMS) are networked with IT data centres, remote access servers, and utilities through open protocols. While these iBMS provide significant benefits, they also open companies up to greater cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Avoid becoming a victim of cyber criminals by employing five best practices to improve cybersecurity in BMS. One international law enforcement agency estimates that victims look at a loss of about $400 billion each year worldwide – making cyber crime a bigger criminal enterprise than the global trade in cannabis, cocaine, and heroin combined. Another report states that globally, the cost of malicious cyber activity ranges from $300 billion to $1 trillion.

Financial impact on companies varies from country to country, with the average cost

26

of cyber crime to companies in Australia averaging $3.67 million.

The financial consequences of a cybersecurity attack include direct costs — forensic investigation into the breach, technical support, lost revenue, upgrading cybersecurity technologies and activities — and indirect costs such as loss of productivity, regulatory noncompliance, loss of intellectual property, service or product quality degradations, and, harder to quantify but perhaps most costly of all, the damage to the company’s reputation and/or customer desertion.

The white paper ‘Five Best Practices to Improve Building Management Systems (BMS) Cybersecurity’ discusses in depth, practices and procedures, that will lead to more secure iBMS in the field. Areas covered include:

PASSWORD MANAGEMENT While it is a given that changing default passwords on devices is mandatory, there are many out there who overlook this vulnerability. Properly managing users and passwords is critical to securing any BMS. Most attacks on BMS devices are successful because a password has been compromised. There are many passwordrelated subjects that could be covered. This paper addresses the two most important: changing default passwords, and ensuring password complexity.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT Once all devices have adequately secure credentials, the next step is to safeguard other places and ways a hacker could get into the system. Such other points of entry include the Web interface, USB ports, open IP ports, and building automation devices communicating over open protocols.

USER MANAGEMENT Once the BMS has been cyber-secured from external threats, the next issue to address is safeguarding the system from within. Over the past several years, BMS have evolved from “single user – command line” systems to full-blown, multi-user GUI systems. Along with this expansion in functionality has been a significant increase in the types of operations a user can

perform. In order to secure systems from within several steps must be taken such as limited privileges and giving each user only enough access privileges to allow them to do their job. User accounts must also be managed and for devices without services to automate this process there are several practices that need to be implemented such as auto-expiring all accounts, disabling accounts immediately for employees who leave, and changing accounts when employees switch roles.

SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT While it is common sense to ensure systems are up-to-date with the latest security updates, this is an area that sometimes is overlooked. Hackers, when attacking a device, first determine if all security patches have been installed. When these features are not up-to-date, there are usually areas that can be exploited to compromise vulnerable devices. Another good practice to put in place is to ensure only authorised users deploy software. This means that only highly trusted users will be

able to install software, thus reducing the risk of attacks.

VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT Patching devices with vulnerabilities requires planning. Different companies have different policies for performing BMS updates. It is important to understand these requirements as well as to determine any operational impact caused by the temporary service outage needed to complete the update process. A Vulnerability Management Plan takes into consideration all aspects of the vulnerability update.

It is an established fact that hackers are more likely to attack weakly defended systems, ignoring systems that require too much effort to crack.

Learn the ‘best practices’ to thwart such attacks, or at least make things significantly more difficult for hackers. Some are simple, commonsense tactics while other measures will require more sophisticated technical IT skills. Effective and regular cybersecurity

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training makes everyone aware of vulnerabilities. Ultimately, the level of cybersecurity is directly related to the effort expended in making it difficult for hackers to access valuable systems. Download the white paper ‘Five Best Practices to Improve Building Management Systems (BMS) Cybersecurity’ from Schneider Electric here: www.fmmagazine.com.au/datawallcontent This article has also featured in FM magazine.

Gregory Strass is the Building Systems IT Cybersecurity Lead at Schneider Electric. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois in Urbana. Additionally he holds CISSP and CEH certifications. He has worked in the embedded field for over 35 years.

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LEDS AND LOW POWER FACTOR…

YOU MAY NOT BE SAVING AS MUCH AS YOU THINK GREEN EARTH LIGHTING AUSTRALIA

Now that LED has been accepted into the marketplace and is widely distributed and used throughout Australia and Internationally, Utilities companies are moving to create standards to control and regulate the impact of LED lighting on the national power grid.

O

ur old Incandescent lighting has a power factor of 1.0 and used one hundred percent of the electrical energy supplied to it but as we have shifted into using capacitive devices such as LED lighting we have also shifted the power factor of our sites.

While installing LED lamps is significantly reducing our overall carbon footprint, the use of LOW power factor LEDs has led to a much higher power level required than is actually needed.

This extra power needed is not being efficiently used and you are inadvertently paying for it or being fined on your electricity bill.

SO WHAT IS POWER FACTOR? Power factor is the ratio between the power that is actually used (kW) by a premises and the power that is actually supplied (kVA) to the premises. To put it simply it’s the measure of how efficiently electrical energy is being used. Power actually used in electrical equipment is known as ‘real power’. Power that is drawn to site that is not directly used is known as ‘reactive power’. The combination of the two is known as ‘apparent power’. Power factor is the relationship between ‘real’ and ‘apparent’ power.

When the current and volts in an electrical circuit are in phase with each other the power factor is in ‘unity’ and has a power factor

29

value of 1.0. This means amongst other things that power stations have an easier task to supply electrical energy efficiently. If there is reactance in the circuit it will cause the voltage and the current to be out of phase and will result in parts of each cycle where the current is negative and the voltage is positive resulting in a lower power factor.

Power factor is calculated by dividing the real power used (watts) by the apparent power drawn from the power grid (VA). A unit-less number between 0.0 and 1.0 is used, with 1.0 representing 100% unity (i.e. 1 volt-amp = 1 watt)

WHY SHOULD WE INSTALL HIGH POWER FACTOR DEVICES? Ensuring your site power factor is as close to 1.0 as possible will provide the lowest possible energy bills and eliminate low power factor penalties from electricity suppliers. Installation of high power factor equipment (including lighting) can: • Further decrease greenhouse gas emissions • Decrease current and losses in transmission lines • Decrease in load on infrastructure such as transformers • Extended life of equipment • Reduce KVA demand • Reduced onsite system harmonics • Construction and extensions without having to upgrade mains supply • Increased number of LED fittings installable on a lighting circuit • Ensure present and future compliance with regulatory codes Possibly the biggest reason for larger sites to install high power factor LED lighting is to save money.

If an LED has a low power factor of say 0.5 there are significant losses associated, whereas an LED having a power factor of 0.9 or greater uses electrical energy much more efficiently and will cost less to operate.

Knowing that a power factor of 1.0 means no power is wasted, then a power factor of 0.8 means that 25% more current is required by the bulb to do the same amount of real work. As electrical losses are related to the square of the current, if you need 25% more current then you have 1.5 times the losses.

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With an even lower power factor of say 0.7 you will need 40% more current required to do the same work and you have about 2x the losses and so on.

Knowing the number of LEDs you already have on site or are about to install puts this into perspective when the total losses are added up when using low power factor lamps.

Up to now for most decision makers when it came to choosing LED the focus has been only on things like wattage, colour temperature, CRI, output, lumens per watt or how warm or cool the light should look which are all very important factors when choosing lighting to ensure your customers comfort. But with the push more and more for better efficiencies in our equipment and further reductions in power costs we also need to ensure the equipment we purchase is running at optimum and we are not paying more for electricity with an electrically inefficient lighting product that has low power factor.

All LED manufacturers have the option to design high power factor product but because of circuit design, product housing restrictions and the added cost of a power factor correction circuit it is quite often overlooked and the LED circuit design doesn’t genuinely represent green technology.

The aim is to make sure your lighting, lamps, transformers and drivers are high power factor or your electricity provider has to supply more kVA for each kW you are using and will charge or fine you and you may not even be aware of it.

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The vast majority of our globes have a power factor of 0.9 including our range of ‘Chip on Cord’ globes. Chip on cord LED globes are a direct replica of Incandescent globes. With a power factor rating of 0.9 and up to 125 Lumens per watt, these next generation LED globes are the most efficient LED’s in available in Australia.

That means up to 90% energy saving compared to it’s Incandescent cousin.

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BREATH OF FRESH AIR

CLEANING A SYSTEM THAT IS OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND TRAVIS TASSEY

As a specialty cleaning contractor, people often ask why I’ve chosen to clean air conveyance systems (systems that move air from one place to another); particularly air conditioning systems. Most people figure that since there are filters installed, the systems never need to be cleaned. While in a perfect world, this would seemingly be true, the fact is that any and all air conveyance systems need maintenance.

The filters need to be changed, the fan drive systems need adjusting and portions of the system need to be inspected.

O

ne of the primary reasons that particulates (dirt) get into a system at all is that they are able to get past the filtration system. There are a variety of reasons for this – the filters aren’t efficient enough for the type of environment, they aren’t changed often enough or they don’t fit properly, etc.

Most of the public wouldn’t have any idea that these things are happening to the systems that deliver the air they breathe. So why do these systems ever get looked at in the first place? The catalyst for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) inspections is generally due to an occupant complaint.

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Safety Act 1984 (Section 5), Australian Standard 3666.2 (Section 2.3.5), AIRAH HVAC Hygiene Best Practise Guidelines (Section 1.10.1) and NADCA ACR-2013 (Section 1.5.1).

The spirit and intent of these documents is to provide the public and workers with a clean and healthy indoor environment. Since a great deal of the public spends 35 percent of their daily lives inside of a public building, the HVAC systems play a large part in their potential exposure to harmful contaminants. It is for all the reasons stated above that we are compelled to maintain and clean the HVAC systems in our buildings.

Such complaints are: dust/dirt is being discharged into the spaces they occupy, musty odours coming from the HVAC system when it’s running or reduced airflow from the system; which prevents it from achieving thermal comfort for the occupants. There’s also the mechanical services contractor discovers unwanted contaminants during routine maintenance of the air handling unit (AHU) or in Indoor air quality (IAQ) survey reveals mould or other contaminants within the HVAC system.

Now that we’ve established the reasons why we need to clean the HVAC systems, we must look at the correct way of how to clean them. Most of the references internationally calling for the cleaning of HVAC systems (including the ones above), refer back to the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA).

Secondarily, the systems get looked at and/or inspected due the legislated requirements in Australia. There are several requirements and guidelines that describe the necessity for HVAC inspections and cleaning. These documents are specifically focused on public buildings; such as commercial office buildings, hospitality venues, health care buildings, etc. Some of these mandates are Australian General Duty of Care 2005, Australian Occupational Health and

In section 4 the Standard calls out very specific requirements for the proper methodology of cleaning HVAC systems.

The most current Standard is called ACR-2013. This is the NADCA Standard for Assessment, Cleaning & Restoration of HVAC Systems.

The purpose for having standards in any service industry serves two important purposes. It establishes minimum performance levels and methodologies for the service, and it sets the expectations the public should have when purchasing the services.

ACR-2013 is a living document; meaning that NADCA constantly reviews its content to keep up with new technologies and proven methodologies. The first standard was released in 1992. The basics of cleaning HVAC systems have largely remained the same – clean the HVAC system without contaminating the surrounding areas while doing it.

Over the past 20 years, the industry has evaluated and included new equipment and methodologies that allow us to clean better and deal with global cleanliness issues found within HVAC systems.

“The standard establishes minimum performance requirements for assessing new and existing HVAC systems, evaluating the cleanliness of HVAC system components, determining the need to clean and cleaning and restoring systems to a verifiable cleanliness level. The Standard also focuses on preventing job-related hazards, such as exposure to workers and occupants, and cross-contamination to the indoor environment. “

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The standard calls for a few, very important methods that must be followed to effectively conduct a proper cleaning. Firstly, any cleaning equipment that exhausts inside the building must be HEPA filtered. Second, the HVAC system being cleaned must be placed under negative pressure (suction) during the cleaning process.

While there are many different types of tools and equipment to dislodge, capture and entrain the dust/dirt from within any given HVAC system; the most important function is to clean without contaminating the occupied space.

The standard also defines what is considered ‘clean’ and three different methods of determining clean. These are: visual inspection, surface comparison testing and gravimetric analysis. These are to ensure that the client and contractor can agree that the system has been properly cleaned.

Finally, the standard sets job documentation as part of the project.

“It is recommended that documentation showing compliance with this standard is provided for all work performed. Documentation can include organised and legible written and visual records.”

This statement requires the contractor to show evidence that the system has been cleaned to the standard. This can be done by showing photographic or robotic video, along with project reports/ drawings, that the system has been properly cleaned.

In closing, all HVAC systems will get dirty over time. The Government has made it clear that it expects building owners and operators to inspect and maintain these systems. As an industry, we have supplied cleaning standards to ensure that duct cleaning projects are done correctly and to the client’s satisfaction. We owe it to ourselves, and to our clients, to perform cleaning works to an internationally recognised standard so they know they are receiving quality service.

To download a free copy of the standard go to www.nadca.com Travis is the National Quality Assurance Manager for Steamatic Australia and the Australasia Regional Coordinator for NADCA (National Air Duct Cleaners Association). www.steamatic.com.au CLEAN AIR SOLUTIONS

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Kitchen Exhaust Systems When is Cleaning Required?

Background The Australian Standard for Maintenance of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment (AS 1851:2005) requires certain components of Kitchen Exhaust systems (hoods and filters) to be periodically inspected and cleaned (refer table 18.4.1.11 in AS 1851:2005).

The Standard also requires that the associated ducts, plenums and fans to be inspected annually by competent persons for excessive grease accumulation and is to be cleaned as required. As the standard does not define what constitutes “excessive”, the application of this standard relies on the competency of the inspector to make a professional evaluation. In order to overcome the lack guidance around “excessive” it is necessary to reference international best practice standards such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 96:2014.

Depth Gauge Comb Overview

Reading Depth Gauge

As identified by the NFPA 96:2014 the most comprehensive way to identify if there is a build-up of grease is to measure the grease throughout an extraction system to determine if cleaning is required.

As per the internal best practice this is done by way of a depth gauge comb. A depth gauge comb is used to measure the grease deposit from within the exhaust system as shown below.

The depth gauge has three depth measurements which are highlighted on the gauge in three colours, which identify different depth measurements as per the NFPA 96:2014. After the depth comb is scaped across the surface the comb is reviewed to confirm the level of grease build-up on the surface.

maximum duct deposition - clean measurement acceptable cleaned surface

DEPTH GAUGE COMB

GREEN Verify cleanliness .05mm

ORANGE Cleaning required 2mm

RED Critical depth 3.174mm

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location or point measurement: maximum deposit - cleaning required

The green section is to be used to verify that the system has been cleaned to an acceptable level. After cleaning the surface should not contain any grease that would mark the green section of the depth gauge when scraped across the surface.

If grease marks the orange section of the depth gauge then this confirms that cleaning is required. Schedule cleaning to be done as soon as practicable.

Overview for Use of a Depth Gauge Comb: 1. Access exhaust system in areas that require inspection; canopy gutters (external edges of canopy), internals of hood (area before filters), exhaust plenum (area located behind filters), ductwork (horizontal and vertical) and exhaust fan.

2. Select areas that appear to have a visual build-up.

Place depth gauge on surface of the canopy/duct ensuring that gauge is held in an upright position.

3. Scrape the depth gauge over the surface in one motion 20cm to 30cm (preferred measurement but not always practicable) 4. Review reading on depth gauge.

5. Clean depth gauge and repeat process to other areas throughout the extraction system.

Please contact TVH to purchase your set of grease gauge combs or to organise a dedicate information session about how to maintain your kitchen exhaust systems to comply with the applicable Australian Standards.

If grease marks the red section of the depth gauge then this confirms that urgent cleaning is required. Cleaning of the area to be undertaken as soon as possible.

1300 557 999 www.tvhs.com.au

HOTEL ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND

HVAC OPTIMISATION

ANWAR AHMED B SC ENG., BE, M ENG. SC, ME (HONS) I CHARTERED ENGINEER, MAIRAH PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, ENMAN PTY LTD

A. ABSTRACT

- Chilled water pumps

nergy is a significant cost to hotel operators. Energy saving is always welcomed so long as it stacks up against the economic justification. Hotel owners are also interested in improving their environmental image to be green. Energy star rating improvement also adds up increasing the real estate value of the hotel. Heating ventilation and air-conditioning, commonly abbreviated as HVAC, is the foremost energy user in the building. Higher star rating hotels use more energy for the HVAC system, providing more facilities and increased comfort levels.

- Condenser water pumps

E

HVAC systems in a hotel can use more than 60% of the hotel’s electrical energy consumption. Today’s state of the art, cutting edge technology can substantially reduce energy use by 50% to 60% of the HVAC system. It is now possible to reduce your overall energy cost of the hotel by 25%.

These savings are now so real that the suppliers are willing to provide guarantees on their estimated saving targets.

The major energy use in a HVAC system in a hotel is by; • Chiller System: This is one of the primary energy consumers in a HVAC system.

Around 15% to 25% of the hotel electrical energy use is common for a central chiller plant in a city hotel. This can consume substantially more when using an alternative air cooled DX system.

• Pumps: Pumps are used for the chilled water system (CHWS) and heating hot water system (HHWS) and is a substantial energy user. Around 10% to 15% of the hotel electricity use is very common.

These pumps are:

- Heating hot water pumps • Fans: Fans are extensively used in hotels for air-conditioning and ventilation systems, consuming 15% to 30% of electricity.

These fans are: - AHU and FCU - Carpark ventilation - Kitchen exhaust - Toilet exhaust

B. ENERGY SAVING TECHNOLOGY 1. Plant Equipment Upgrade Chiller upgrade: The technology of chillers has significantly improved with the introduction of VSD control and the use of magnetic bearings. Also as the older refrigerants are environmentally unfriendly and currently being phased out, the chillers now use a more environmental friendly refrigerant. The old conventional Chillers behave and operate very differently than the modern chillers with VSD. The overall efficiency can improve more than 250% over the conventional design. The other benefit of modern chillers is the capability of running the chiller at a very low load condition, usually less than 10% of the chiller capacity, whilst maintaining good energy performance.

This also eliminates the need of maintaining a small chiller to provide winter or low load cooling to the hotel.

Chillers are normally replaced when they finish their lifecycle, however they can also be replaced for energy efficiency improvement, and providing a more environmentally friendly refrigerant option. The return

on investment based on energy saving is well over seven years which is normally considered uneconomical. If the chiller is to be replaced for other reasons then it is recommended to replace it with an energy efficient chiller which will be more expensive than the conventional chiller. The return on investment of utilising an energy efficient chiller with VSD compared with that of a conventional chiller is very attractive and is normally less than two years.

2. Control System Upgrade BMS: A building management system (BMS) is essential to provide effective comfort level, maintenance of HVAC equipment, and energy efficiency of the hotel.

Significant energy savings can be achieved by introducing a full blown BMS. Possible energy savings are in the order of 6 to 12 % of overall energy use of the hotel.

EMS: An energy management control system (EMS) will provide advanced and optimal control of the HVAC system, incorporating the use of VSD, primarily to save energy. The prerequisite of an EMS is to have a good BMS which can incorporate advanced control, monitoring, and a reporting facility. The functions of an EMS include; • Chiller Optimal Control – This is to optimise chiller operation to reduce energy usage and run hours of the chillers.

The energy management functions of this CHWS optimal control are as follows; - Optimal chilled water temperature reset for energy performance - Optimal condenser water temperature reset for energy performance - Optimal cooling tower fan speed control for energy performance

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-O ptimal condensing pressure control for air-cooled and evaporative condenser models

o Car Park area: Monitor CO to control fresh air for ventilation with fan VSD

- Optimal chiller selection, optimal start/stop and optimal loading of chiller to improve chiller energy performance

o Kitchen exhaust: Control exhaust fan based on demand with fan VSD

- Model based chiller interlocking for energy performance

- Economy cycle: Use of fresh air to cool the space with fan VSD

- Provide necessary display to tune and monitor the control system

- Use of VSD on AHU and FCU fans, car park ventilation fans, and kitchen exhaust fans

- Chiller KPI (Key Performance Index). Power usage per unit of cooling load against target estimated on weather condition - Chiller plant daily and monthly energy usage

• Demand management and control with daily and monthly energy (Electricity) usage and peak demand of the day and month

- Optimal variable volume pump speed control for energy performance

3. Field Equipment Upgrade

• Boiler Control Optimisation. The energy management functions of the HHWS control include; - Boiler selection - Hot water temperature reset - Optimal variable volume pump speed control for energy performance • HVAC Optimisation and Control. The functionality of the control includes; - Demand based ventilation in o Common area: Monitor CO2 to control fresh air to the space with fan VSD

As the hotel is ageing, not only the major plant equipment is required to be replaced, the control valves and dampers should be replaced as well. As control valves get older they can begin to leak or seize – creating the unwanted and inefficient situation of simultaneous heating and cooling whilst attempting to maintain the comfort level of the room. It is sometimes difficult to diagnose whether the valves are faulty or not. It is recommended to change all the control valves as the life cycle is finished. The payback time of replacing all valves is very short and economically viable, generally well within three years.

Temperature sensors as they finish their life cycle or are faulty should also be replaced. Otherwise they not only become a source of inefficient operation of the HVAC system, but also do not maintain desired comfort level of the space.

Call Shaun on 0450 069 965 or (02) 9231 3331

74 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD | commercial@sunlitecommercial.com.au | www.sunlitecommercial.com.au

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4. Room Management System It is very important to have some form of room management system in order to turn off the heating and cooling system and/ control occupied/unoccupied room temperature set points. This can be a simple key card system to a more sophisticated electronic room management system.

C. CASE STUDIES The Enman EMS has been installed in many hotels who have enjoyed the benefit of the system, including the following; • Shangri-la hotel Energy savings: over 15% of electricity use • Mercure hotel Energy savings: 25% of electricity use Demand reduction: over 10% • Holiday Inn Energy savings: 23% of electricity use Demand reduction: over 20% • Sheraton hotel Energy savings: over 22% of electricity use Demand reduction: over 10% • Marriott hotel Energy savings: 25% of electricity use Demand reduction: over 20%

Enman’s services • Energy audit and NABERS rating • Project engineering and management for major projects including turnkey supply for: - Chiller system upgrade - Boiler system upgrade - Control system upgrade BMS/HEMS - Variable speed drive, control and optimisation - HVAC Upgrade - LED lamps - Room management system - Co/Tri generation • Assist in government subsidies and funding • Assist in carbon trading

• Park Hyatt hotel Energy savings: 15% of electricity use Demand reduction: over 10% • There are many other hotels who have enjoyed the benefit of energy cost reduction through HVAC upgrade and optimisation.

D. CONCLUSION It is possible to improve energy efficiency of the hotel HVAC system by up to 60% with good economic benefit. The longest term economic benefit is always from major equipment upgrade such as chillers and boilers. The economic benefit from installing a BMS and EMS is much more favourable, usually within two to three years.

It is as important to replace old and faulty control valves as it is to upgrade/install a BMS and EMS. The typical energy saving through HVAC optimisation and an energy management system is normally 20% to 25%.

The return on investment is normally two to three years which is attractive and economically viable.

Enman has been developing and working on the HVAC optimisation and energy management control system for well over 30 years. During this time a large number of such projects have been implemented for hotels, shopping centres, and commercial and industrial buildings.

Enman’s promise: Energy reduction up to 50% depending upon current energy efficiency Benefit: Hotel Energy Management System • A higher Energy Saving up to 25% from the conventional control reducing your carbon footprint further • Demand reduction Enman’s product Hotel energy management system (HEMS) is the ultimate control, monitoring, reporting and housekeeping to reduce energy consumption of your hotel incorporating Enman’s cutting edge technology.

Features • Chiller optimal control and performance monitoring • Advanced optimal control of variable speed drives for all pumps, fans, plant and equipment • Advanced HVAC Control • Demand management and control • Energy performance

Phone: 03 9877 2266 • Website: www.enman.com.au

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“Being a manager of a Holiday building I see every day the unnecessary electricity usage from the air conditioners, Some guests set the temperature as low as possible on the control and leave it on 24/7 thinking nothing if they leave it on all day if they are out, or at Night time they put blankets on the bed as the rooms are so cold.The Ultima remote allows me to take some control over this, by setting the minimum Temperature at the recommended 24deg.This allows the air conditioner to quickly cool the apartment to be at a comfortable temp, Once there the compressor shuts down.Temperature settings lower than this create the compressor to work 24/7 to get the apartment at a lower temperature that it struggles to get to, or can never achieve. Some modern Inverter machines have features in them that shut down when they sense no movement in the rooms, (energy saving features) I can program the machine with the manufactures remote, then replace it with the Ultima remote, this gives me the control over the features so they can’t be de-programmed.Yes I am sold on the Ultima Remote as a great energy saving device”

Jack – Santa Anna by the Sea (Gold Coast)

AUSTRALIA’S MOST

ENERGY EFFICIENT HOTEL

FRANCIS ROBERSON I NABERS

A decade on from a pioneering redevelopment, the Alto Hotel at 636 Bourke Street Melbourne has the highest NABERS Energy rating in the country and is reaping the benefits of their market leading sustainability program.

THE BUILDING

O

riginally built in 1916, Unity Hall was designed by architect A.E.H. Carleton in a style described as ‘neo-Baroque’ or small scale ‘Palazzo.’ It was built mostly of brick, with a granite and bluestone façade and floors of New Zealand kauri pine.

It was bought by the current owners, Krauskopf Investments Pty Ltd, in 1999.

In 2005 (the same year it was placed on the Heritage Register) they commenced building a new six storey structure at the northern end of the building and redeveloped the original section on Bourke Street. It was officially opened as the Alto Hotel on Bourke in 2006.

Our NABERS Energy rating helps us to support our claims of being an environmentally responsible business by providing a third party independent assessment of our operations..

-Gary Stickland, General Manager

The building is six storeys high with a floor space of 2800 m2. High buildings on the eastern, western and northern sides protect the building. The southern façade utilises the original windows..

THE CHALLENGE When it was bought in 1999, the building had no environmental features. There were few sustainability experts available and efficient technologies were far less well established than they are today.

In addition, working with a heritage building brought specific challenges in regards to energy efficiency, as heritage buildings tend to have:

The owners were also keen to ensure that the works would minimise noise transfer in and around the building.

THE PROJECT The construction and redevelopment included: • extra insulation • double-glazing

• primitive air conditioning

• offset stud wall design, using Hebel bricks for load bearing walls

• high ceilings and large rooms that take a lot more energy to cool or heat

• two water tanks

• very minimal or no insulation, which is a major concern for hoteliers.

• instantaneous gas hot water heaters

• water efficient fittings

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• a layer of Regupol rubber between the floorboards and the carpet • six-star rated HVAC units with sensor controls • energy efficient LED and florescent lighting Many of these features like the Hebel bricks, the Regupol rubber and the double-glazing had dual benefits; ameliorating noise and reducing heat transfer. These made it easier for the air conditioning to maintain a constant temperature and improved guest comfort.

A DECADE ON Gary Stickland, General Manager of the Alto, explained that while the initial motivation for the environmental program came from the owners, it’s now something that’s driven by the whole team.

“Once the hotel began operating, the management team embraced the concept.

It was met with growing enthusiasm from hotel guests, which in turn invigorated staff.”

“We’ve established an ‘Alto Green Team’ to coordinate our green business program. It’s made up of seven members from different departments, who have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability.”

As well as NABERS, Gary and the team have commissioned audits on safety, waste, energy, water and carbon to help keep them on track.

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We set out to be the best 4 star hotel in Melbourne and to do so in a resource smart manner. That we have been able to be a leader in energy efficiency and not need to compromise on guest comfort or services is a significant achievement of which we are very proud.

-Gary Stickland, General Manager

“Energy efficiency is important to us, but our sustainability program is about more than that. There’s really so many things we’re doing: From selecting locally grown produce and using honey from our own rooftop beehive, to collecting our cooking oil for biodiesel and having a book exchange in our library. It’s a really extensive and holistic approach.”

GUEST RESPONSE “Initially we did not make a lot of information available to guests about our actions. But as we increased the amount of data published and began promoting our sustainability initiatives the response was overwhelmingly positive.

It reinforced to staff that even small environmental actions are important and appreciated.”

“But most importantly our guest surveys indicate that our sustainability program was one of the reasons that guests chose to stay at Alto Hotel. Seventy-six per cent say that the program would encourage them to stay at the hotel again.” He said..

FAST FACTS Building: The Alto on Bourke Hotel Building Owner: Krauskopf Investments Pty Ltd Building Operator: HANSFAP Pty Ltd Rooms: 50 Hotel STAR Rating: 4 Stars NABERS Energy Rating: 6 stars with GreenPower, 5 stars without GreenPower (Valid until 30 July 2016) GreenPower: 100% Estimated project costs: Overall $8 million, Construction $5 million Estimated annual savings: $50,000

The following hotels have proven their commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency by using Australia’s only independently assessed and government audited environmental rating system – NABERS.

A U S T R A L I A’ S T O P P E R F O R M E R S 6 STAR NABERS ENERGY RATING ALTO HOTEL ON BOURKE

636 Bourke Street, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 (valid until 30/07/2016)

4.5 STAR NABERS ENERGY RATING DOWNTOWNER ON LYGON

ABODE WODEN

66-88 Lygon Street

10 Bowes Street

CARLTON VIC 3053

PHILLIP ACT 2606

(valid until 19/03/2016)

(valid until 12/02/2016)

4 STAR NABERS ENERGY RATING THE VICTORIA HOTEL

MERCURE HOTEL SYDNEY

215 Little Collins Street

818-820 George Street

MELBOURNE VIC 3000

HAYMARKET NSW 2000

(valid until 17/06/2016)

(valid until 16/06/2016)

RYDGES WORLD SQUARE

DOUBLE TREE BY HILTON HOTEL

389 Pitt Street

82 Barrett Drive

SYDNEY NSW 2000

ALICE SPRINGS NT 870

(valid until 31/05/2016)

(valid until 13/03/2016)

HOLIDAY INN SYDNEY AIRPORT

Corner Of Bourke Rd & O’riordan St MASCOT NSW 2020 (valid until 06/11/2015)

TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN JOIN THESE INDUSTRY LEADERS GO TO WWW.NABERS.GOV.AU

NABERS is a national initiative managed by the New South Wales Government

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42

ADVERTORIAL

INTER-CHILLERS PROJECT TEAM LEADERS IN INSTALLATION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

DARREN PERRY I GENERAL MANAGER

With an enviable track record of over 200 new chiller and cooling tower installations over recent years Inter-Chillers enjoys continued invitations from most leading mechanical consulting companies, building owners and property management professionals.

W

e enjoy the reputation of successfully delivering and installing equipment into the most challenging and difficult to access plant rooms. This means thinking “outside the square� as testified by the collaborative efforts of Inter-Chillers and Smardt Chillers Pty Ltd in the development, manufacture and installation of the first PowerPax Split Vessel Chiller in Australia.

Inter-Chillers specialist projects team conducts turn-key capital equipment replacements and upgrades incorporating new chillers, D/X plants, cooling towers, pumps, boilers and other mechanical equipment.

Installation of BMCS and VSD drives including final balancing, commissioning and verification completes the package of quality services that we consistently deliver to our clients time after time.

Inter-Chillers is an authorised repairer for most OEMs for in-house disassembly and reassembly of new equipment utilising our own refrigeration specialists without the risk of voiding warranty to assist in equipment manoeuvrability.

Our experienced team is committed to providing in-house training for supervisors and technicians on subjects including engineering design, planning, logistics and contingency back up, always with a focus on energy efficient operation and reliability.

Completed projects are handed over to owners with the assurance of high quality service from Inter-Chillers provided by our factory trained and accredited service and maintenance technicians continuing throughout the warranty period and beyond.

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HOTEL ENGINEER

DOUBLE AWARD WINNER! The Shangri-La Sydney’s Mr Anura Yapa JP a prominent Hotel Engineer has been named the king of hotel engineering for 2015. After twenty years in the hotel game, Anura picked up two prestigious awards taking the title of the ‘Engineer of the Year’ award at the Tourism Accommodation Australia - NSW 2015 Awards for Excellence and ‘Hotel Engineer’ award at HM Awards 2015 – Aust-NZ and the South Pacific at the Annual Awards for Accommodation Excellence, which will sit highly on his mantelpiece.

A

nura received his two awards in two different occasions.

TAA awards night was at the Grand Ball Room, The Westin Sydney on 29th July 2015 while over 700 attendees celebrating for the industry gala which showcased the best of the tourism and accommodation industry.

The HM awards night was in front of a record 600 guests at The Sydney Town Hall on the 4th September 2015.

The awards like these represent more than a solid year of work – in fact, they represent a lifetime of effort and experiences that build a person’s character. And Anura is no exception. He migrated to Australia in the late 1990s with his family, learning the new culture and protocols of this country. He scored his first hotel engineering role in Australia 18 years ago, moving from Hilton on the Park Melbourne, to Novotel Langley Perth, to Menzies Sydney – each role giving Anura a new city and new skills to learn. His current role as Director of Engineering at the Shangri-La Hotel Sydney is where Anura has produced some of his finest work.

Mr Yapa is more than an employee – he is also an industry leader.

He remains the Presidents of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering Inc., in NSW – a role earning him much respect in the industry. His colleagues note Anura’s attention to detail, along with his mantra to deliver the best quality, every time.

Anura with Mr. Michael Cottan, Vice President, Shangri-la Hotels, just after receiving his Award. http://nsw.tourismaccommodation.com.au/ events/taa-nsw-awards-for-excellence/

44

However, Anura’s accomplishments have not come without sacrifice. After receiving his awards, he thanked his family for supporting him as he worked to the top of the industry. He said they were understanding of his commitments, and respected his need to work long hours.

Winners: Hotel Engineer 2015, Anura Yapa, Shangri-La Hotel Sydney, Doug Smith, Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley with Peter Whelan of Sealy Posturepedic Australia. http://hmevents.dphoto.com/#/album/cf726h

Humble as always, Anura also thanked colleagues and his General Manager Mr Michael Cottan.

The Vice President of Shangri-la Mr. Michael Cottan describes “ Anura has an extensive knowledge of both mechanical and electrical issues as well as an excellent ability to manage projects. He is methodical and tenacious, and will not let obstacles prevent him from succeeding.

He combines his very professional approach with a calm, friendly manner that makes him a respected member of our team and by his peers in the industry. The recognition and awards he has received this year from the industry are just reward for his tireless efforts both at the hotel and with Hotel Engineers Association in Sydney...”

Catriona Rowntree presenter for Australian Nine Network’s Getaway program was the Master of Ceremonies and the TAA, ‘Engineer of the year Award’ was sponsored by EP&T. There were a record 281 nominations from 67 venues in NSW. Thirty awards were given out on the night.

‘The Hotel Engineer’ HM award was sponsored by Sealy Posturepedic and hosted by television personality Lisa Wilkinson.

The awards are in their thirteenth year and recognise the best staff, properties, brands and chains across the accommodation industry.

Winners were from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

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ODOUR MANAGEMENT

ROSS STONE

Odour management is critical for any facility where patrons come to stay, relax, socialise or dine.

Creating an environment and ambience that suits everyone need not be challenging or costly.

A

nd the winner is... smelly.

Whilst the title may seem a paradox, welcome to the modern world where social media wields its influence upon us all and our future patronage is dictated by reviews of any and all aspects of our business.

The old adage of “satisfied clients suppor t sales” is now overshadowed by traumatised texting thumbs, keen to share stories and pictures of their cats, kids and out of house experiences. The last item often leans heavily to the negative and seems to relate to more personal preferences or distastes rather than an overall appraisal of a site.

Stinky and smelly are words I have entered into many search engines. I don’t do this from boredom or to escape reality (well, not too often); odour management is my profession and this helps me identify problem markets and areas where education and awareness is needed.

You might be surprised to learn that on just one popular hospitality review website, the word “stink’ yielded 1205 reviews while “smelly” came back with an amazing 5942 – and that is just in Australia folks! Now, even though I do get a laugh out of many of them, and some are not relevant to proper ty maintenance, it is apparent that the hospitality sector suffers whether by trying to be a saint or by being a sinner.

Sinners I relate to obvious posts with terms used to describe odours such as: mould, stale tobacco, burnt fat from the kitchen, urine, vomit etc. Most of these

are due to a lack of, or inefficient cleaning processes which care and attention can remedy.

The “Saint Smelly’s” I refer to are those whose properties expend vast amounts on fragranced products or services to keep their rooms/linen/public areas/dining areas fresh and clean or pay commercial cleaning and hygiene providers to ensure patrons enjoy their experience.

You would think the saints of the industry would gain from this provision of a perfumed paradise, though as you will see from the reviewers and as I hear from many others, imposing your own scent can be a sin.

Fragrance preference is a personal thing, often derived from our childhood or life experiences. Like when mum or dad used to bleach the toilet, ‘pine’ the floors, or scrub the tannin from the crockery with lemon juice. Fresh flowers on the table, talcum powder after the weekly bath (ok, so it’s not just the poms), the dentist, spor ts shoes and the list goes on, each evoking a cer tain memory, good or bad.

Debate continues over the true base of some components of fragrances used in domestic and commercial cleaning products and the long term health effects on all of us. Ar ticles in previous editions of this magazine have already highlighted this and with a multitude of websites now leading the charge there is a high focus on workplace environment and indoor air quality. We are all being, or soon going to be, held accountable for the actions we take and the products we use.

With a growing number of allergy and asthma sufferers (over 2,000,000 in Australia as of 2013) more and more facilities are removing products containing VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) and allergen inducing substances, most of which are in the fragrances we use in general cleaning products and for deodorising.

Leaving a fragrance does not make it clean and if it is an ingrained odour can actually make it smell worse. This is best evidenced by most public bathrooms where we see the downside of upsell.

Time for a quick poll around the office, or more importantly your guests; what is your favourite “clean” smell? Bleach (commonly misnamed in our industry as ammonia), pine, citrus, floral, bubblegum, maybe powder fresh? There are, of course, many other varieties on offer for you to choose.

For female washrooms we have scented sanitary bins, wall mounted fragrance dispensers, scented tissues and hand soaps. Males enjoy all of the above (yes we even have sanitary bins to cater for our ageing population) and so much more with cistern dosing, urinal tablets or mats (or both) and extra wall mounted dispensers to mask our errant aim.

So the question is; which fragrance would your clients like? Or perhaps more impor tantly – which one would they not like and maybe post it on a review?

Talk about overkill, all of these fragrances assault our senses, compete against one another and whilst the extra costs keeps your chemical company or hygiene

47

service provider happy, it will often still fail to mask the smell of the person who visited the bathroom two minutes after you cleaned it and you can guarantee they either had a seafood pizza or a curry last night.

So bringing in reality, we need to separate the issues of cleanliness and odour control as two very different issues. I don’t think there is a product around that can totally cover for bad or ineffective cleaning. Mind you over the years I have stayed in many an establishment where they have tried to.

Whether your cleaning systems be through microfibre systems, steaming or utilising high quality detergent or surfactant based cleansers, a programmed maintenance plan along with best practice procedures will always ensure cleanliness.

Ok so now we have it clean, lets tackle the odour issues. Hang on, if it is clean why would we have any odour?

Odours star t as many things spilt food, liquids, or charged airborne par ticulates that either emit from or attach to, build up and imbed into carpets, fabrics, paint, drywall, plastics, grouting and just about everything else that we cannot physically scrub clean every day. They are then also introduced adhoc by people or clothing or footwear onto surfaces as solids.

My favourite example to show how odours can quickly imbed is to picture that lovely new car smell, and then that night after a 30+degree day and your used gym bag is on the back seat. Milk spilled on the carpet you find two days later comes a close second.

Constant use of odour counteractants, deodorisers or re-odorant cleansers can also lead to build up of odours or residuals such as in the case of linen, drains and hard floors.

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Maintaining a constant odour free zone may sound daunting though this is where we now differentiate odour management against odour control or simply put, preventative rather than reactive. Having someone at your front door spraying all who enter is bad for business and not a preventative measure I would suggest (even though a lot offer that in bathrooms)!

Better utilised is Integrating odour eliminating products as par t of your cleaning routines, added to existing detergents or used with microfibre systems means you cover larger areas and offer full coverage to surfaces providing a residual effect. Rags, mops and the cleaners cart all benefit from this as well.

Adding to machinery such as carpet extractors, vacuums or auto scrubbers also works in this way and also make the machines smell better at the end of their shift. Adding eliminators to your laundry, applying to drapes and furniture all help to provide overall site protection.

There are a multitude of systems and products available to choose from in the market with varying claims of effectiveness and costs. After 28 years in the cleaning industry both selling and being sold to, I have always found proof works better than words, so make sure you get a demonstration.

In choosing your system of management consider the following: • Must work across the whole spectrum of odours • Be safe to use on all surfaces • Be safe enough to use by people • Not cause adverse effects to health of clients • Not damage furnishings and fittings.

• Be able to provide 24/7 coverage (not at 10-15 minute intervals) • Usable in food areas

• Fit to environmental policies • Eliminate the odour not cover it with a smell A true odour eliminator must work on; • Carpets • Drapes • Bedding • Benches • Washrooms • Floors • Furniture • Walls and doors • The air around us Different formats for delivery; • Atomisers for air or surface spraying/mopping • Laundry liquids • Carpet pre spray and post sprays • Passive air systems • Forced air systems (including submicron dispersing).

In the many facilities I visit, we see cost savings on current usage and you will find most supply companies will happily draft a plan to suit your specific needs.

So the choice is yours, perfume palace or fragrant free and friendly. To me the smell of clean means odour free and that gets my vote.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ross Stone, Cleaning industry since 1987.

Worked as representative and sales/national sales manager for chemical and machine manufacturers.

Sales manager for hospitality wholesaler.

State manager for janitorial products importer.

13 years as owner and director of national cleaning and facility maintenance company with 100+staff.

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QUANTIFYING COST SAVING POTENTIALS

FOR MOBILE ROOM KEY DEPLOYMENTS IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY OLIVER BURKE I VICE PRESIDENT CORPORATE PROJECTS, LEGIC IDENTSYSTEMS LTD

This article provides facts and figures to understand and calculate potential cost savings for the hotel industry.

WHERE ARE WE WITH MOBILE ROOM KEY DEPLOYMENTS TODAY?

S

martphones have entered most businesses across regions and markets.

In the hotel industry, smartphone usage started with loyalty apps. It was a welcomed device to reach out to guests, get closer to them and improve the overall experience for a stay. Whether browsing hotel photos, maps, city guides or making special requests for early check-in or a different pillow, apps entered the hotel

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market already and are used by guests today.

Guest convenience, branding and potential cost savings are usually key drivers for the chain’s decisions towards their own app.

With the introduction of hotel apps, chains continue their search for content and services to increase the usage of their apps.

It was therefore no surprise that hotels started to look for mobile room key deployments in order to enrich their apps. Receiving room keys directly onto smartphones allows guests to go straight to their room without queuing at the

reception to check in. The necessity of searching the key card when accessing the elevator or the room would belong to the past. Mobile room keys are therefore recognised as a significant improvement for guest experience.

To deploy room keys onto smartphones, smart watches etc., hotels need to align some of their existing systems and technologies: • Property management system must be able to process room reservations for remote check in procedures

• Hotel back-end system must be able to process and submit mobile key requests • A new system is needed to execute over the air deployments of room keys • Mobile app or existing loyalty app of the hotel needs to be able to receive a mobile room key and unlock a room • Hotel lock needs to be able to process a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) command next to a regular key card Usually, these steps are executed by the technology providers hotels are using today. This way, the actual integration for an individual hotel is fast and painless. Once the technology provider has integrated its back-end system with a mobile key delivery service and the chain has integrated a simple App SDK into their existing hotel app, any of the chain’s properties can start issuing mobile room keys, assuming that they have upgraded their room locks to BLE. Then, upgrading a property from RFID or magnetic stripe locks to BLE is only a matter of a few days.

Large chains like Hilton and Starwood have officially announced their commitment towards mobile room keys and started to

upgrade hotel after hotel. It is probably safe to say that all other chains are currently testing mobile solutions and soon announce their go to market plans for mobile room keys. LEGIC on its own is currently involved in a number of proof of concepts, trials and roll outs with several major and medium chains. The mobile topic is dominating the hospitality industry and we see a constantly increasing demand.

WHAT EXPLAINS THE MASSIVE DEMAND FOR MOBILE HOTEL SOLUTIONS? Besides branding possibilities through the hotel app and the improved guest experience, potential savings are significant and often encouraging the hotel to go for mobile solutions. Whereas everybody sees saving potentials, until now, no calculation model has been available to get a first impression about the possible saving aspects.

To calculate the potential cost savings through a mobile room key system, major cost saving items need to be considered.

Cost savings / benefits result out of…

1. less consumption of traditional room key cards 2. increased direct bookings without any online travel agent involved 3. staff savings at the reception 4. additional room bookings thanks to improved guest experience The benefit for an individual chain or hotel vary of course and depend on the hotel type. A luxury property with high average room costs and predominantly business guests can save more costs than a typical holiday hotel.

HOW MUCH MONEY COULD HOTEL CHAINS POSSIBLY SAVE? To calculate the potential individual cost savings, LEGIC provides a free calculator.

Interested parties can calculate their benefits (over three years) free of charge and anonymised. Please visit www.legic.com/hospitality/en.

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Cost savings can be significant: a hotel chain with 10,000 rooms worldwide, an utilisation of 70% and the assumption that only 15% of their guests would be using mobile keys in the first year could save around 1,2 million USD in the first year or 120 USD per lock and year. The annual lock saving costs will increase with the increased usage of mobile room keys. With a 20% usage in the following year and a 25% usage in the third year, cost savings would go up to 177 USD per lock in the second year and 258 USD in the third year.

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The LEGIC calculator also compares the cost savings for the use of alternative and more secure room key cards. Here the savings could be between 11 and 20 USD per lock and year. In a fairly conservative scenario, such a chain could save over 6 million USD in a three year period.

In most cases, the hotel could break even in the first year.

Of course, there will also be investments for the hotels, which are not considered in the calculation, but once a hotel understands how much it will be a able to safe, it is evident how much it can afford to spend for a solution.

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN MIGRATING TOWARDS MOBILE HOTEL SOLUTIONS?

Using the LEGIC online calculator allows you to generate a PDF with your numbers and discuss the relevance and likelihood of achieving such results internally.

We encourage hotels that decided towards a mobile solution to consider

other potential cost savings and system improvements that go with their mobile enablement. Keep in mind that a Bluetooth enablement for your hotel locks means changing the lock or adding a module. In both cases, you have to get an engineer in front of the lock. In many issues, you could possibly kill two birds with one stone and upgrade your lock with a reader that can read all Mifare cards (Classic, Plus and Desfire) and other key cards that could save you money.

We recommend to keep the following topics in mind: 1. Make sure a mobile solution scales up to 10 thousands of properties for different chains.

2. End-to-end security, a high availability design of the solution and professional hosting in a secure data centre are typical key success factors.

3. Easy upgrade of existing locks, e.g. magnetic stripe locks could be upgraded to BLE and RFID locks in one.

4. L ocks should not be restrained to only one technology. Hotels should be able to switch from a mifare card to another and save costs as well as improve security.

LEGIC’S ROLE IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY LEGIC Identsystems Ltd is an independent organisation that does not directly provide solutions to the hotels. We work together with over 250 partners in the contactless chip card industry. Some of these partners provide solutions to the hotel industry.

Every day, millions of people use technology that is designed around LEGIC components, standards and services. Just like a chip set in a computer, these components are usually invisible to the end user. End customers like the hotels benefit from LEGIC solutions as they are interoperable, secure, highly flexible and simple to deploy. As a provider of standards, base technology (transponder chips and reader chips) and trusted services, LEGIC works closely with these partners enabling them to deliver best in class technology. Through the work of many

partners, we gain industry expertise and market knowledge that was shared to some extent in this article.

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54

MANAGING RESILIENT BUILDINGS FOR

A CHANGING CLIMATE

BART TAYLOR I GENERAL MANAGER, A.G. COOMBS ADVISORY

As the effects of climate change become more evident, it is apparent that facilities and their operation need to adapt. Built environments must become more resilient and whilst designers are increasingly focused on this issue, facility management also has a significant role in identifying and implementing the appropriate changes to existing building infrastructure and management practices.

I

ncreased incidence of extreme storm events, rising temperatures, estuarine flooding, sea level rise and storm surges, and even smoke impact from bushfires, are some of the obvious direct impacts.These events can also lead to the increased likelihood of serious disruptions in the provision of energy, water, telecommunications, waste and transport utilities further affecting buildings and their occupants.

To produce improved facility resilience, an objective identification of the possible impacts and their likelihood, and subsequent impact to the facility and its operation, should be followed by the development of an appropriate plan for both enhancements to the building and its systems, and the establishment of business continuity plans for operation and management.

Objectives: at the outset it is important to have a clear definition of the objectives of the exercise.The safety of the facility’s occupants is usually the prime concern followed by some level of ‘essential’ business continuity. Compliance with legal obligations is also a basic requirement.

Potential Events: direct events can include the potential for storm damage and building leakage, localised flooding due to overwhelmed stormwater systems, extraordinary estuarine flooding or coastal storm surges and extended periods of extraordinary heat. In some facilities the impact of smoke from large bushfires or dust from extreme dust storms may be a concern. Events caused by failure of external infrastructure can include prolonged electrical power, gas, water and even sewage disruption; telecommunication failures may affect landline, mobile and data services. Transport failure whether the road system or public networks are also a consideration.

Impacts and Risks: scenario planning can be used to ascertain the possible impacts to the facility from the identified events, their likelihood, and the consequent assessment of risk. Judgement can be applied to determine the level of investment and preparation that may be prudent to address the perceived risk to the building, the business operations therein and the occupants. For example, higher likelihood of extreme rain or hail events can increase the risk of localised flooding or building leakage; increasing incidence of high temperature days may compromise the building’s ability to maintain

An extreme hailstorm followed by very heavy rain on Christmas Day 2011 in Melbourne caused very significant damage to rooftop plant and blocked gutters resulting in extensive building leakage, internal damage and substantial business disruption. Image provided by A.G. Coombs.

internal temperatures; prolonged electricity supply failure will deem buildings requiring mechanical ventilation to be non-habitable.

Building and System Enhancements: what can be done to modify the building and its systems to reduce the impact of events deemed to be tangible? Bunding and stormwater diversion works to protect infrastructure such as substations and switchboards; review of and modification to guttering; protection of storm-exposed rooftop plant; review of mechanical plant capacity and its controls to address consecutive high temperature days; alternative ventilation strategies where possible.

Facility Management and Operation: the management of the facility, in pre-empting and preparing for an event, and during and immediately after an event, is critical. Pre-establishing, aligning and communicating situation management and response protocols to stakeholders, including facility occupants and service providers, agreeing event and post-event communications arrangements, and immediate physical response plans and post-event plans are all important elements in successfully achieving a more resilient facility.

Remembering also that for this planning to remain effective, it will require regular review and communication to ensure arrangements remain in place and up-to-date.

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ADVERTORIAL

PROGRAMMED PROPERTY SERVICES

O

ver a decade ago, Novotel Twin Waters Resort moved away from internally managing the maintenance of their property to outsourcing the provision of painting and grounds. It allowed the Resort’s management to focus more on their core business while ensuring specialists were looking after certain maintenance aspects.

Programmed took over the provision of long-term maintenance painting. Carried out on a quarterly basis, the painting work involves washing of exterior walls and repainting certain areas (both internally and externally) as required. The Resort’s expansive grounds are taken care by Programmed grounds staff. Areas such as the property’s 8 lagoon beaches, 9-hole mini putt course, high profile lawn area that hosts weddings, and so forth, are all looked

after by a full-time grounds crew based on site.

Additionally, Twin Waters and Programmed staff work closely with each other to develop and improve initiatives that benefit all employees and hotel guests. One such initiative is the creation of a nursery at the resort to utilise its mature garden and create plants entirely from plant slips or cuttings. Such a move not only promotes sustainability, but also achieves significant cost savings for the Resort.

Simon Brown, General Manager of Twin Waters, is impressed with the standard of service received so far, “We have found the technical skill level of our landscape team to be of a very high quality and the 14 hectares of grounds exhibit a significant improvement in presentation since the contract commencement. We have been

delighted with the level of communication and flexibility that the team has exhibited throughout the work environment. The outsource solution has provided a highly efficient, professional and cost effective model for the Resort”.

Novotel Twin Waters Resort and Programmed Property Services will continue to work together to ensure the Resort will continue to stay looking its best for guests and staff alike.

Contact Programmed Property Services if you would like information on how we can help maintain and refurbish your hotel while you focus on your core business.

1800 620 911 marketing@programmed.com.au programmed.com.au

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27/08/2015 2:57:48 PM

ENCAPSULATION CLEANING

COL NATION

Is carpet one of your bug bears? It looks great when it is first laid doesn’t it? But then it can quickly lose it appearance when guests or patrons walk on it, or spill drinks on it or find a myriad of other ways to destroy the beautiful look and atmosphere that you have created.

I

t way too expensive to replace frequently, so it has to be maintained one way or another. There are so many suppliers telling you that this or that method is best for cleaning your carpet, and by the way, here is the chemical that you need to buy to use our method.

And then the next supplier comes in a sells you something completely different.

So, what is the best method and chemical for cleaning carpet? As someone independent, who has over 30 years of experience in the industry, I will let you in on a few industry secrets that will save you time and money.

I’ll quickly run through the four most common standard methods of cleaning carpet so you have a better understanding of the various systems.

1. H ot Water Extraction, sometimes called “Steam cleaning”, although no steam is used, it just uses hot water sprayed under pressure. The basic method is to put hot water and detergent into the machine and run the tool over the carpet. The water and detergent spray into the carpet and this is vacuumed out inside the head of the tool. A better way is to apply the detergent first by a pump up sprayer and then rinse this out with clean hot water. This leaves less residue so the carpet doesn’t resoil as much. This method requires considerable skill and knowledge as it has the potential to do a bit of damage in the wrong hands.

2. Absorbent Compound Cleaning. With this method a detergent soaked powder is applied to the carpet by sprinkling over the surface. The compound is then scrubbed into the carpet using a brushing machine. The powder is allowed to dry and it is then vacuumed from the carpet with a normal vacuum cleaner. This method is relatively easy to use but may require more frequent use to keep a carpet looking good.

3. R otary Bonnet Cleaning usually called “Dry Cleaning”. This method is popular with franchise groups as it requires nothing more than a vacuum cleaner and a slow speed floor polishing machine fitted with absorbent pads so it is cheap to set up. A water based detergent is sprayed onto the carpet and the pad is usually soaked in a second water based cleaning solution and this pad is spun around on the carpet to soak up the soil. So this method is not really “Dry Cleaning” as water based cleaning solutions are used. It requires a bit of skill but if you can operate a buffing machine you can “Dry Clean” carpet. It is not really noted for its ability to restore a dingy carpet.

4. E ncapsulation Cleaning. This is not so much a method as a detergent technology. It is similar to the very old shampoo method that scrubbed a detergent solution into the carpet which was vacuumed up using a vet and dry vacuum cleaner.

The old shampoo method was famous for causing rapid

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resoiling of carpet and took ages to dry, but some serious changes in chemistry technology have made this system a valuable addition to the carpet cleaning tool box. Encapsulation technology means that the oily soils are wrapped up into microscopic parcels as the crystallising solution dries into the carpet. The crystalline particles containing the soil are picked up over the next few regular vacuums. This method requires little experience, just a few minutes learning how to operate the machine and anyone becomes an expert. Carpets are dry and ready for use in a very short period of time and resoiling is simply not an issue, providing you have the right chemistry and not some ordinary detergent shampoo that dries out to just a dried out detergent.

There are quite a few genuine Encapsulation detergents in the market place but you do have to be careful when choosing your preferred product. This choice is made easy for you by choosing only WoolSafe Approved products. The WoolSafe testing program makes the choice easy for you as they have already done the extensive and thorough testing for you. To pass the WoolSafe testing the product must prove, by testing, that it is safe to use on wool, it will be effective at removing soil, is safe on dyes and the operator, and doesn’t leave harmful residues in the carpet that could cause faster resoiling.

Just about any scrubbing machine can be used, provided it is fitted with suitable carpet brushes or carpet pads. You can pre-spray the solution on or you can use a tank fed scrubbing machine to apply the cleaning solution. The solution is activated by the agitation and it wraps up the soils and dries into a brittle crystal form which is simply vacuumed out in the next programmed vacuuming. The method provides a great looking result straight up and with the right chemistry the result keeps getting better over the next few days as more and more soil is removed with subsequent vacuums.

So next time you need carpets cleaned give the encapsulation cleaning a go. There are contractors in most places who have this method available, or your own cleaning staff can do it if you have suitable equipment. I find the best machine for encapsulation is a triple brush, counter rotating machine like a Cimex 48 scrubber. These usually come fitted with the tank. You simply add warm water into the tank, add the Encapsulation detergent and start pushing it along like you would a lawn mower. One pass forward to lay down the solution and then one back to provide extra agitation and then move on to the next pass.

Other types of scrubbing equipment can do the job. The twin cylindrical brush machines can do an adequate job and there are a number of orbital or oscillating scrubbers that work quite well too.

The biggest advantages that make Encapsulation attractive in hospitality is that there is very little noise, when compared

to Hot Water Extraction. The noisiest part is usually the vacuuming. The Encapsulation system is very fast drying so rooms are back in service in a fraction of the time and they look great as well. If you don’t have the equipment or staff, then look for a WoolSafe Approved Service Provider in your area. You can look for one at www.woolsafe.org and ‘search’ for a carpet cleaner in your area. If you do decide to do the job yourself then check out the list of Approved cleaning products in the product search list.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Col Nation is a carpet cleaning industry veteran with over 30 years of experience. Colin is a WoolSafe instructor and a registered carpet inspector. He owns and operates Abbsolve Services on the Sunshine Coast and specialises in carpet stain removal and cleaning of upholstery and leather lounges.You can contact Colin for more information at www.abbsolve.com.au.

Check out his facebook page at facebook.com/ AbbsolveServices.

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CHOOSING LED LIGHTS FOR YOUR HOTEL

MEGAMAN LIGHTING AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

QUALITY OF LED’S

T

he Australian market has implemented many regulations when importing LED’s but still, unknown and unqualified products still end up in the market place. The Lighting Council of Australia has found indications of a wide variation in product safety, quality, effectiveness and compatibility of lamps that are currently brought into Australia. Some are of very low quality and can be unsafe, flicker, interview with other electrical devices such as your television, change colour over time and not fit into existing fittings.

Even though LED’s have improved dramatically since the initial influx into the Australian market, lighting designers, project managers and decision makers need to be aware of the dangers of choosing unknown and untrustworthy brands. Choosing a trustworthy brand would then be the initial and most imperative step when choosing a lamp.

be compared is the lumen output of an LED to the wattage of a Halogen. Lumen output or otherwise known as Luminous Flux, measures the amount of light projected out by the light source.

This is where LED lamps differ to Halogen lamps – Halogen lamps depend of the wattage to emit a stronger light whereas LED’s use less energy (and wattage) to produce the same or greater amount of light. For example, a 100W Incandescent lamp is equivalent to a 16W lamp with 1350 lumens. The same goes for a 40W halogen lamp, where the equivalent is a 6W LED with 420 lumens.

Although it is the same fitting, with both light modules consuming 7.5W, ‘fixture 2’ would be classified as a high output fixture due to the lamp efficacy and lumen output.

WHY LED AND NOT HALOGEN? The two positive attributes that a halogen lamp embodies are 1. Cheap to buy and 2. Emit a warm colour temperature that you previously could not find in an LED. These two attributes posed a large challenge for the LED market and some manufacturers have responded and exceeded in their developments. Whilst the initial investment in LED lamps is still higher then halogen lamps, Halogens need to constantly be replaced and consume more electricity than needed. LED’s offer a huge saving over the life of the lamp and can have a payback of less than one year of installation. Their long life span will generally last 15-20 times longer than a halogen lamp. In recent times, a select few LED manufacturers were able to recreate the warmth of a halogen lamp. This innovative and ground-breaking accomplishment means that the old perception of a strong blue undertone in LED’s should no longer exist.

LED manufacturers are always introducing new and innovative products that are combined with the technology of today. With enough research, one can see that technologies such as Bluetooth controlled lighting, motion sensors and dimming capabilities can all be integrated into LED lamps.

A GUIDE TO COMPARING HALOGEN AND LED LAMPS A common but critical mistake is comparing the wattage of an LED to the wattage of a Halogen lamp. Instead, what needs to

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Traditional Incandescent lamps (Wattage)

LED Lamps (Lumens)

100W

1350lm

75W

930lm

60W

720lm

40W

420lm

Downlight Lamps (MR16) – Halogen

Downlight Lamps (MR16) – LED

50W

700lm

35W

450lm

Downlight Lamps (GU10) – Halogen

Downlight Lamps (GU10) – LED

50W

350lm

Lamp efficiency can also be determined by the lumen efficacy of the lamp. Compare the below fixtures: Fixture 1

Fixture 2

500lm

650lm

67/W

87/W

7.5W light module

7.5W light module

Beam angles also have a heavy influence in the lumen output of a lamp. If you take the exact same lamp with an 8° beam angle and a 90° beam angle, the intensity of the lamp differs. The lumen

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output will be higher in the 8° lamp as it is more intense, and the lumen output will be significantly lower in the 90° lamp as the light is spread out over a larger surface area. You can’t then only take the lumen output into account as the lighting design of your hotel lobby or conference room will require different types of lighting.

This is another reason why such a large number of fittings are being introduced into the market as there is a large choice in the type of lighting you require to achieve your “preferred ambience”.

ENERGY SAVINGS AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT Making the switch from Halogen to LED may initially cost more, but return on investment can typically occur within the year. A perfect example of this is the Ponte 16 Resort- Macau, installing over 5,500 LED lamps and saves over €150,000 ($AUD236,000) annually on their electricity bill. It achieves savings of just under 1,445,701 kWh and 1,012 tons of CO2 per year.

In the end, replacing your halogen lamps with a high quality LED will save on your electricity bill and in the constant replacement of your Halogen lamps. Make the change, be environmentally sustainable and save on your electricity bill.

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SMART METERS MONITORING ENERGY USE FOR MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY

PAUL WHELAN I CITYSWITCH GREEN OFFICE PROGRAM MANAGER – MELBOURNE

For small and medium sized hotels, smart meters make a lot of sense!

A smart meter records electricity consumption in order to calculate bills, and is a digital replacement for the analogue counters installed in homes and businesses. Smart meters offer a new range of services to the energy consumer, your business, and a new level of detail in the measurement of your energy use.

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ith accurate measurement, your buildings energy management can become more informed and precise. Rather than only having one meter reading taken monthly or quar terly, a smar t meter collects and sends data every half hour. This data can be captured and used to create graphs of usage either by your energy retailer or specialist service provider.

Smar t meters, and the user-friendly data-reading format they provide, are not available to all Australian consumers due to different state policies and energy company offerings. If you don’t already have smart meter technology installed (and it is available in your area), for a small fee, you can request it from your energy company.

Once you have the smar t meter installed, you can either use your energy company’s existing energy management por tal or purchase a specialist software package to track and graph the data via your computer or mobile device.

This article provides background and how-to steps for finding out what services are available in your area, and how to take advantage of the opportunities that smart meters present.

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WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? As the old saying goes, ‘what gets measured gets managed’.

A graph of your energy consumption should give you some big insights, including how much energy is being used, any unexplained spikes show what could be investigated and ‘flattened out’. This will inform any actions you plan to under take.

Impor tantly, by tracking your own performance over time, or comparing it to industry averages, the data will help you to track the impact of energy-saving initiatives you under take, and to communicate success to the rest of the business.

You can use CitySwitch resources, including those listed below, to act on the information obtained from your graph.

Alternatively, contact your local CitySwitch program manager for assistance.

• Energy audit toolkit to find out where the problems are: www.cityswitch.net.au/audittoolkits • Behaviour change toolkits to form an action plan: www.cityswitch.net.au/behaviourchange As you become more experienced in your energy management, you can add more sub-meters to track different floors of a tenancy or the different power circuits; for example, one for

the lighting and base building, one for key pieces of plant and equipment, and ancillary office equipment etc.

New South Wales and Queensland: Lumo, EnergyAustralia, AGL and Origin Energy.

CHOOSING YOUR ENERGY TRACKING SOLUTION

Where services are not offered by your local energy retailer, or you require an enhanced level of tracking detail and functionality, there are a number of low-cost products and services now offered by other companies to help you measure, monitor and manage your office energy efficiency.

Once you have your smar t meter installed, the next task is to understand how detailed your energy tracking requirements are. This will help you to decide whether you prefer to access a simple low-cost solution from your energy retailer (where available), or to feed the meter data into a more specialist resource tracking software system.

Energy retailers in Victoria and New South Wales offer online portals to track consumption, and some enable you to compare with other businesses like your own. It is not yet mandatory for all retailers and distributors to provide this interval data on their por tals. In states other than Victoria and New South Wales, online por tals can also provide shoulder, peak, and off-peak time usage, but not the interval data breakdown. They may also offer hints and tips about how to reduce energy use. The more specialist energy management software products will also have advanced functionality; for example, they let you convert to different energy values (V, A, PF, kW, VAR, Hz, kWh, $, kg CO2-e) and translate to financial savings, see trends over time, set targets, track other resources and expor t data in various formats.

All products will send the data to your computer and/or mobile device via an online interface, sometimes called a por tal, which customers can log in to see their energy use in a meaningful way.

An interactive ‘in-home display’ also used in offices is another device that displays real-time data, without necessarily needing an internet connection. In combination with a smar t meter, portals or in-home displays provide a rich source of information previously not available to energy customers. They are great tools and are aimed at helping to empower you to understand energy use and drive efficiency.

For CitySwitch Signatories, this offers a great oppor tunity to easily track energy use over time and determine where changes can be made in order to achieve greater energy and cost savings. Tracking helps to identify anomalies, spot out-ofhours waste, and to understand energy use peaks and troughs.

Armed with this data, energy managers can work to reduce electricity and better communicate how and where energy is used. CitySwitch program managers can also work with you and your data to build an energy management plan that is tailored to your consumption and focused on the reduction opportunities specific to your business

DIFFERENT STATES, DIFFERENT STANDARDS In Victoria, all companies retailing energy must provide customers with a smar t meter and access to its data. This is regulated under the Energy Retail Code, and clause 27.2 of the Code also stipulates that an energy retailer must provide a customer with their historical data. The following conditions also apply: • The retailer may charge the customer if the request for historical data is not the first request made within the preceding year, or if the requested data is more than two years old, but not if it relates to the handling of a genuine complaint.

• If the data is requested by a customer with a smar t meter, the data must be supplied electronically, in its interval form and in a format that makes the information understandable and accessible to the customer.

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COMPANIES OFFERING ONLINE PORTALS The electricity companies listed below offer online portal access as at June 2014; however, more may offer this service as demand grows.

Victoria: AGL, Australian Power & Gas, EnergyAustralia, Lumo, Origin Energy, Powershop, Jemena, United Energy and SP AusNet.

Temperature Technology

263 Gilbert Street Adelaide SA 5000 www.t-tec.com.au

tt Ph: 08 8231 1266 Fax: 08 8231 1212 sales@t-tec.com.au

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Outside of Victoria, smar t meters are not mandatory but it is a requirement under regulation 86 of the National Energy Retail Rules (NERR)1 for distributors under deemed and negotiated connection contracts to supply information about a customer’s energy consumption or distribution charges to the customer or retailer. This includes historical billing data.

METERING OPTIONS FOR BUSINESSES If you are in Victoria: • All businesses should already have a smar t meter installed as per the mandatory rollout. If you don’t, contact your electricity retailer to request one.

• Contact your electricity retailer and ask them if they have an online energy por tal available to commercial businesses. If they do, get access to it.

• If your electricity retailer does not have an online por tal, your electricity distributor may. Powercor is the distributor for almost all CitySwitch

Signatories in Melbourne, and they, for instance, do not offer an online portal; however, other Victorian distributors do.

• If you cannot get access to an online energy portal through your retailer or distributor, there are a couple of options: 1. C ontact your electricity retailer and request your historical data. It’s a good idea to request as many details as you can at the one time and to ask for the data in table format – as an Excel spreadsheet with clearly marked dates and times. You can then easily use this data to create a graph of your own that will be easier to read and communicate back to your organisation. Note that if you request data more than once a year, your retailer may charge you – check with your retailer.

2. C onsider a solution from a non-retailer that can provide an alternative solution to monitor your energy usage.

If you are in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory or Tasmania: • a remote access smart meter is not currently suppor ted by the current grid/network • alternative products are the only solution in these locations. These products clip onto the incoming energy meter as it enters your premises and provide 15-minute interval data that can be sent to your desktop or mobile device using a wi-fi connection to monitor usage.

If you are in New South Wales, Queensland or the Australian Capital Territory: • If you have requested and paid to install a smar t meter, check with your energy retailer if the data is available through an online por tal, and get access to it if you haven’t already. If your electricity retailer does not have an online por tal, your electricity distributor may.

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• For installation of a smart meter, the process varies with each distributor and retailer, and can cost from $70, plus additional labour, for an electrician (ActeWAGL – Australian Capital Territory), to $400 (Origin Energy – New South Wales).

• If you cannot get access to an online energy por tal through your retailer or distributor, there are a couple of options: 1. Contact your electricity retailer and request your historical data. It’s a good idea to request as many details as you can at the one time, and to ask for the data in table format – as an Excel spreadsheet with clearly marked dates and times. You can then easily use this data to create a graph of your own that will be easier to read and communicate back to your organisation. Note that if you request data more than once a year, your retailer may charge you – check with your retailer.

2. Consider a solution from a specialist provider that can provide an alternative solution to monitor your energy usage.

REFERENCES 1. The NERR currently only applies to jurisdictions that have acceded to the national energy customer framework.

FOUR SIMPLE STEPS TO METERING SUCCESS 1. Check if your meter is analogue or digital • You may be able to determine this just by inspecting the meter (an analogue one will have the rotary dials); however, contact your retailer to confirm.

2. Request for a smart meter to be installed • If you don’t already have a smart meter, request one.

• First check your electricity bill to find out who your retailer and local distributor/network provider is.

• If in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory or Queensland, contact your retailer or a level 2 electrician and find out how much it will cost to install a smart meter. Don’t forget to shop around.

• If you’re in Victoria, you should already have one installed. If not, contact your service provider as soon as possible.

3. Set up an online portal • Once your smart meter is installed, contact your energy retailer or distributor to set up an online portal.

• If your requirements are more sophisticated or likely to become so over time, consider a solution from a specialist service provider, as listed below, that can provide another solution to monitor your energy usage and an enhanced level of tracking detail and functionality.

• If you are in an area where a smart meter is not available, these alternative solutions are your only option.

4. Start managing your usage • Use the graphs of your data use to understand how and when your business uses power and when it might be wasting it.

• Develop an action plan to address wastage and inefficiency.

• Visit the CitySwitch online resource hub for information and tools to help you better measure, monitor and evaluate your energy usage, and contact your local CitySwitch program manager for assistance: www.cityswitch.net.au.

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FULL STEAM AHEAD TO BEAT THE BEDBUGS

JOHN PARKER I ALPHACLEAN

Just the thought of bedbugs can make your skin crawl and reading this ar ticle will probably make you need to scratch, says John Parker, Marketing Director of Alphaclean, but they are a growing problem and need to be tackled.

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lthough bedbugs had been largely eradicated until recently, they have been making a big comeback. Often considered to only affect poor and dirty locations, it’s worth noting that bedbugs aren’t that choosy. If there’s somewhere dark for them to live and they can feast on human blood they’re happy.

As they’re not attracted to dirt, a bedbug infestation isn’t a sign of a lack of cleanliness. Bedbugs can be found in any accommodation, but are more common in short-term lodgings such as hotels, motels or hostels where there is a greater opportunity to be transferred in or out. They are remarkably good travellers – happy to hitch a ride in luggage, on clothes, in furniture or in bedding.

WHAT ARE BEDBUGS? Bedbugs are small parasitic insects which feed primarily on human blood. They are attracted by body heat and the carbon dioxide we breathe out. Like mosquitoes they feed at night when people are at their most vulnerable.

Exposure to bedbugs can be upsetting and stressful, but they aren’t actually dangerous and they don’t transmit any diseases affecting humans. Most people don’t even develop a serious skin reaction to the bites, which are usually found on the more exposed parts of the body. However, anyone running a hotel, motel or hostel should take action straight away to prevent the spread of an infestation, because as well as the potential for guest discomfort, there’s the risk of reputational damage and litigation.

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THEM? Getting staff trained to recognise bedbugs, and the signs of infestation is the first step in the battle. That can mean infestations are picked up early, before they spread and before guests take notice. Signs to watch out for include: black spots on mattresses – this could be their dried faeces; mottled shells that bedbugs may have shed; blood spots on sheets where guests may have rolled over and squashed a bug after it had fed.

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Once an infestation has been identified, it is not straightforward to remove, but the earlier it is caught the better. It usually takes a combination of methods to completely remove bedbugs, which may include insecticides, traps and mattress encasements.

A key factor in the removal is temperature. Bedbugs are very sensitive to cold and heat and they cannot withstand temperatures above 45oC. Laundering and tumble drying items can be very effective, but this won’t get any bugs hiding in non-washable locations. Large heaters can also be installed, but they need to raise the temperature of the room rapidly and can still leave hiding places unaffected. Freezing the items infected by bedbugs is only effective on small items.

STEAMING A 2003 study in the USA (Meek) showed that a program that employs steam rather than insecticides provides better long-term control than the use of insecticides alone. The Texas A&M University Department of Entomology College also found steam equipment “to be portable and relatively inexpensive and represents a non-chemical means of killing all life stages of bed bugs”. This is particularly important as bedbugs display an increasing resistance to chemical solutions.

The portability of steam machines also means they can be used without needing to transfer bedding to a laundry with the risk of transferring bedbugs on the way.

The treatment equipment used in these trials is portable and relatively inexpensive and represents a non-chemical means of killing all life stages of bed bugs.

One of our clients, a youth hostel, has found that steam forms an important part of the eradication process as it kills bedbugs and their eggs. With a regular stream of guests, and therefore potential hosts to bedbugs, they recognise the importance of taking preventative action. The steam can penetrate deep into lockers and crevasses.

Modern steam cleaners use less water and energy, while still enhancing reliability and efficiency. Combined with the long-proven, deep cleaning power of steam, it means modern ‘dry’ steam cleaning machines offer a highly cost-effective and versatile option for the hospitality sector – and one that is also user-friendly and less harmful to the environment.

Bedbugs can strike anywhere, but we’d recommend you go full steam ahead to tackle any infestations as quickly as possible. www.alphaclean.com.au

There are a number of brands and varieties of steam machines available, but there are some criteria to watch out for. The steam produced must be a high temperature and a low vapour flow. It is also best to use ‘dry steam’, which leaves materials and surfaces clean and odour-free with minimal water residue. You should also look for continuous fill boiler systems which allow refills during operation and efficient, integral vacuum system which leave surfaces clean and dry.

UNIQUE FLOORING “Committed to service and quality” Flooring demands innovative designs that are welcoming and unique for the discerning traveller seeking luxury, style and comfort.

A highly competitive industry, hotels demand contemporary flooring that creates ambience yet offers cost effective solutions that address practical, environmental and safety issues, understands the importance of design, function, planning and implementation for the ultimate in hotel flooring.

Visit our website at www.uniqueflooring.com.au or please call Mark Gannon on (02) 9838 7011 to find out how we can customise your hotel.

www.uniqueflooring.com.au 69

Considering state of the art in-room technology?

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PEOPLE, PROFIT, PLANET: THE BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABLE HOSPITALITY RYAN COLLINS I RECYCLING PROGRAMS MANAGER, PLANET ARK

Waste might not be the most glamorous part of running a business, but when you consider that recycling, reducing waste and making small changes can benefit your business financially, enhance your profile in the community and help the environment, it really is a no-brainer.

F

or example, have you ever considered the true cost of your hotel’s waste?

Throwing out usable food or toiletries like soap bars or little bottles of shampoo that have been used once by a guest are the same as putting money in the bin.

Not only is the business paying for the supply of the food, delivery of toiletries and their subsequent disposal if unused, it is also missing out on revenue and savings opportunities. It’s a triple whammy to the business! For the environment, it means the resources that go into harvesting, transporting, processing and distributing the items have all gone to waste.

If you’re looking for proof that introducing green initiatives is good for business, then there are plenty of examples of businesses across Australia that are reaping the many benefits.

A notable recycling star is the Alto Hotel on Bourke in Melbourne. Alto Hotel has set a high industry standard with its attention and commitment to sustainable initiatives. The Alto Hotel has broken through the barriers to workplace recycling and introduced successful strategies such as staff training and support from management thanks to the General Manager, Gary Stickland. The

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initiatives were developed following the establishment of the ‘Alto Green Team’, which is a group of Alto staff interested in and committed to sustainability and achieving positive environmental outcomes for the hotel and its guests.

Some of Alto Hotel’s ‘green initiatives’ have included making 100 per cent of the electricity used wind generated, applying water restrictors to all showers and taps, establishing on-site vegetable scrap composting and eliminating all plastic toiletry bottles and replacing them with refillable, pump action dispensers. Another initiative also includes guest involvement.

Guests are given options to not have their towels and linen changed daily and encouraged to separate their waste into recyclable and general waste in their rooms (using a provided dual-chamber bin).

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By making these changes, the hotel has reduced its energy and water consumption and waste to landfill and halved its carbon dioxide output. The hotel’s commitment to sustainability has also seen its occupancy rate increase to 94 per cent and enhanced staff morale, in turn reducing staff turnover.

Where to start might seem overwhelming, but there is help available for hotels wanting to make positive changes and step into sustainable hospitality. Planet Ark’s BusinessRecycling.com.au website provides a step-by-step toolkit for getting started, including the Choose the Right Recycler Checklist and free signage.

BusinessRecycling.com.au can also help hoteliers with many issues they might face, including those struggling to find where and how they can recycle the hard items –like

mattresses! By using the search function on the website, BusinessRecycling provides a breakdown of locations of mattress recycling facilities in Australia. For example, in Sydney there are 10 drop-off locations alone for mattress recycling.

Government resources are also available, such as the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Bin Trim tool, which helps you measure the waste generated by your hotel and gives you tailored information to reduce, reuse and recycle materials.

There’s never been a better time to get started on reuse and recycling than Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week, taking place between 9th and 15th of November 2015. Don’t forget to check out how your hotel can get involved by visiting recyclingweek.planetark.org.

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Honeywell’s iconic “The Round” model T87 thermostat, one of which is in the Smithsonian.

Image courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermostat

NEIL WEENINK

BACK OF HOUSE SEPTEMBER 2015

“And then, Mavis, there was Building Automation & Control…..”

A

few short years ago, say a couple of hundred, it took only the feel, or a touch of a fluid to enact the cause and correction loop, which is the basis of BAS operation today.

Friends, here and now, we are trying to put into some 800 words the development history of HVAC control, from the use of snow and ice for cooling, and firewood for heating. And boyo how things have changed!!!

In 1970 when I answered the ad for a shift engineer for IHC’s ‘Southern Cross’ in Melbourne, it was like stepping from an ocean liner into a new fangled you-beaut international hotel. Which indeed it was, and indeed remained so until just a few years back. But 1970?? Then it was customary to re-fit each 10 years, and the old lady was just going through her second upheaval. The exception to this if memory serves, was floor coverings. All carpets were tossed at 7-year intervals. Why seven? Your guess is as good as, but probably associated with the yarn mix of those times; not to mention in-colours.

Down below we were pneumatically controlled. And those of you about my age will remember ruptured rubber tubing, the mess of

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condensed air, and the causes associated. The old Chief used to fly clear off his rocker on the subject of air quality; certainly throughout the hotel at large, but insanely with regard to pneumatic systems.

For here indeed was the Achilles heel of the entire HVAC system control, a bit of rust or oil, a faulty vee belt...

In recent years, however these systems have largely been replaced by electronic controls in new installations, because of smaller size, lower cost, greater precision, and the more powerful features of digital controls. Pneumatic devices are still used, however, where upgrade cost, or safety factors dominate.

It was natural that the first HVAC controllers would be pneumatic since engineers understood fluid control. Thus, mechanical engineers could use their experience with the properties of steam and air to control the flow of heated or cooled air.

After the control of air flow and temperature was standardised, the use of electromechanical relays in ladder logic to switch dampers became standardised. Eventually, the relays became electronic switches, as transistors in time could handle greater current loads.

Lovibond® Water Testing By 1985, pneumatic controls could no longer compete with this new technology, although pneumatic control systems (sometimes decades old) are still common in many older buildings today.

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By the year 2000, computerised controllers were common.

Today, some of these controllers can even be accessed by web browsers, which need no longer to be in the same building as the HVAC equipment. This allows some economies of scale, as a single operations centre can easily monitor multiple buildings. Ho Mavis do you hear!!

Pool Water Analysis made easy

Coincidentally, around the year 1985 a few things occurred which were both directly and indirectly of importance to the history of our industry.

Significantly, the BACnet Building Automation and Control network.

The Web Based Open Standard, since its inception by ASHRAE in June 1987 has been steered by the BACnet committee, culminating in the BACnet standard, ANSI/ASHRAE 135-2012. This, Mavis is a huge achievement, as in one stroke the years of ‘them and us’ in the HVAC controls world has been largely minimised.

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BACnet in essence is a set of rules governing the exchange of data over a computer network. Ho! So please as we modern humans automatically do these days “Do a Google” and find out more.

I personally am somewhat chuffed as we used to say, that I was associated with this renaissance. I was President of the Melbourne Division of AIRAH at this time, and thus attuned to this great endeavour by our colleagues in ASHRAE. And now here we are in 2015 with some years since that conceptional meeting in the U.S. Much has happened Mavis, with of late the European Union about to sign on the BACnet data communication protocol – with consequences of huge potential.

The worm surely turns and turns.

Recently I was visiting a fellow in his family room, the room complete with a space oven heater. To my great joy, the thing surely had an early [1953 or thereabouts] Honeywell T87 Mercury Switch Thermostat. These iconic circular stats are truly part of the BAS development story, which you will recall, began with the use of ice for cooling. Usually a sensing device is used to compare the actual state (e.g. temperature) with a target state. Then the control system draws a conclusion: what action has to be taken e.g. start the blower over the ice.

And finally Mavis, did you know that in down town Melbourne there was an ice works where James Harrison is remembered as the inventor of the mechanical refrigeration process creating ice, and indeed founder of the Victorian Ice Works.

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PR 11 NEW FINANCIAL YEAR RESOLUTION FOR HOTEL ENGINEERING

THE REAL TIME FOR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS T

he start of a new financial year is the best time of year to come up with resolutions, especially for the hotel and accommodation industry.

“Way too many operators are in set and forget mode when it comes to cash flow management,” says David Henderson chief executive of accountancy group ROCG Asia Pacific and founder of CashMaxforecaster.com.

“It’s never too early to start planning for the end of the financial year. In fact preparing for the June 30 is a year-round job,” he said.

Whilst a large emphasis is placed on 30 June for financials once that is behind you it is time to think about the broader picture as everything we do will ultimately have an impact upon the financials of the business.

The new financial year is the ideal time to consider items you may have under contract terms such as a review of the leases or financing arrangements. With interest rates at an all time low it may be time to consider if now is the time to replace either existing finance terms or the time to consider new equipment.

In line with this review is the proposed timing of replacement of capital assets.

Technology and innovations move quickly in the current times and you should consider the cost of ongoing maintenance as compared to the new alternatives that may be available.

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Are there items that are consistently hired or rented that may be worth purchasing and if so, what are the options to finance and will this provide a more effective cashflow? Don’t limit yourself by just thinking about the tax impact but also think about your wider cashflow implications.

Henderson said the special needs of the June 30 often catch businesses by surprise, even though the same things must be done on an annual basis.

“Cash flow can become one of the biggest problems for the hospitality industry at the end of each financial year,” he said.

“Far too many claim they are too busy running the business to worry about things such as cash flow.

“Managing cash flow is critical to the success of any business – small or large – and a bit of advance planning might be all that is needed to free up liquid assets and ensure ongoing profitability,” he said.

CashMaxforecaster.com’s 10 Resolutions EOFY for the Hotel Engineer and accommodation operators:

EMBRACE CHANGE

“There can be a down-time in trade for stocktake, slashing of profits margins due to seasonal offers, the settling of debts, chasing of creditors, and a binge of last minute budget-balancing spending.

What works one year might not work the next: unsettled markets, fickle clients, different suppliers and staff, changes in operational procedures, refurbishments, capital asset shifts, different taxes, and complying with updated legislation can all have a big impact on cash flow.

“Without planning, tax time obligations can deplete current cash flow reserves and this can have a negative impact on the following year’s operations,” he said.

As well a changing lifestyle – mortgage, children, travel, retirement plans – can see those cash assets repurposed or diminished.

Most hotel and accommodation industries have the advantage over big corporates in that they can more readily adapt to the changing environment in which they operate, Henderson believes. But some fail to do this and pay heavily.

Resolve to not only embrace change each and every financial year, but to adjust accounting and management practices to accommodate this change. Sticking with the same old way of doing things could limit growth, productivity and profit.

“It is not unusual to find operators rigidly sticking to certain ways of doing things, even when small warning signs start to trigger major alarms,” he said.

LEVERAGE LOW INTEREST RATES Cash reserves are not getting the return they were even just a few years ago but

low interest rates can be made to work in the operator’s favour.

Consider if it is worth investing in capital equipment and paying off debts while keeping lines of credit open.

Resolve to leverage low interest rates but budget now for higher rates over the next few years.

CASH UPFRONT AND IN ADVANCE It might seem counterintuitive to pay for some services and utilities including insurance and phone plans upfront when such outgoings can be managed on a monthly basis.

It is possible though to save up to 10 per cent by shopping around and being willing to make a one-off, advance payment. This is especially true when it is known that certain premiums, such as health insurance, rise annually. Paying for the following year in advance before the price rise can see a saving of 3-6 per cent.

Such savings can be much higher than current interest returns on cash deposits.

Resolve to shop around or negotiate savings on fixed costs.

DIRECT DEBIT NOT DIRECT DEBT Another tactic to improve cash flow is to set up direct debit accounts when discounts for this payment method are offered.

Direct debit can lead to savings of around 4 per cent on fixed costs, but this will be more than wiped out if there are insufficient funds and the supplier and bank impose heavy penalties.

A rising or falling Australian dollar has an impact on consumer confidence and influences if buyers will go offshore for a better deal, even if it is to buy everyday items online from an offshore outlet.

could indirectly impact business cash flow as household expenditure changes.

Resolve to keep an eye on the Aussie dollar.

OFF PEAK RATES

TIME THE ANNUAL RETURN

Prices drop and there is more choice when holidaying out of peak season. The same can be said for financial and legal advice.

If the tax office owes the business money, try and get it back as soon as possible after June 30. The refund might also beat the rush and take less time to process.

Small companies lodging their own returns have until late February 2016 or October this year if there is a history of late reporting.

An accountant will advise on the due date as will the ATO. Resolve to get that cash back as quickly as possible or avoid paying it out for as long as possible.

CHOOSE THE BEST GST OPTION Compulsory collection of the goods and services tax can artificially inflate cash assets by 10 per cent. Refunding that 10 per cent to the ATO as a one-off payment can blow a big hole in any business budget.

To help maximise cash flow, choose a GST payment option carefully.

A small business with an annual turnover of less than $2 million or with a GST turnover of less than $2 million can pay GST by monthly instalments or quarterly.

Resolve to choose the best option for GST payments.

1 JULY CHANGES

This style of auto debt can also damage a good credit rating.

July 1 is the usual date for a raft of tax changes to take effect.

Resolve to manually check that there is no danger of the autopilot failing.

In 2015 there will a reduction in the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 28.5 per cent. This could be offset by an additional levy for businesses with a taxable income of more than $5 million.

DANCE WITH THE DOLLAR Even if a business is not an importer or exporter, chances are somewhere along the supply chain it could be slugged with higher costs as the Aussie dollar slumps or reap the rewards when it rebounds.

Resolve to know how 1 July changes will affect the business.

Even if accounting and legal fees stay the same year round, seeking advice in off peak times can mean an adviser might be better focussed or more appointments are readily available.

It also means end of year planning can start as soon as possible.

Resolve not to leave finding out what is needs to be done until the same time as everyone else.

DEPRECIATION, DEDUCTIONS AND DONATIONS To make the most of a favourable depreciation deal, buy in July.

Grab all cheaper directly deductible bargains right up until midnight on June 30.

A deduction is a deduction based on its purchase date, not whether or not it was used.

Be aware too that charitable donations and gifts can offset tax liability. To claim a tax deduction, first check that the organisation has DGR, deductible gift recipients’ status.

David Henderson started in his family’s small accountancy firm before cracking the international market.

A chartered accountant and the CEO of ROCG Australia Pacific, David strives to make the financial intelligence and practices of key global players accessible to small to medium businesses via CashMaxforecaster.com.

Released for CashMAXforecaster.com Released by: Heusler Public Relations (02) 83541131 M: 0414 388 744

Other changes to personal tax such as a freeze on income thresholds for private health insurance and the Medicare levy as well as changes to family benefits taxes

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ADVERTORIAL

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

MEMBERSHIP FORM PLEASE CHOOSE THE STATE: NSW 

QLD 

VIC 

WA 

I WISH TO APPLY FOR: Renewal of my Membership 

Membership Number (if known):

I WISH TO BECOME A NEW MEMBER VIA: (a) Fellow – a member of at least 10 years standing who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of hotel engineering (as determined by the management committee) or this association may be advanced by the management committee to the grade of Fellow.

This membership class is a life membership of the institute. (b) Honorary Fellow – any person who has rendered conspicuous service to the hotel industry (as determined by the management committee), or any person prominently connected with but not necessarily in the hotel industry who may be approved by the management committee, shall be eligible as an Honorary Fellow.

This membership class is a life membership of the institute. (c) Member – a person shall be eligible as a Member if the applicant holds a certificate, degree or diploma or such other qualification in engineering approved by the management committee, and has at least 5 years experience in a head of engineering position and shall be directly engaged in hotel engineering. (d) Associate Member – a person shall be eligible as an Associate Member if the applicant holds a qualification in engineering approved by the management committee and is directly engaged in hotel engineering and his/her qualifications and/or experience do not in the opinion of the management committee entitle him/her to admission as a Member. (e) Student Member – a person who is attending an appropriate course of instruction at an Institution approved by the management committee shall be eligible as a Student Member (f) Affiliate Member – shall be a person of 21 or more of age who is associated with the Hotel Industry and whose, qualification or experience do not in the opinion of Council entitle them to admission as a Member or Associate member. (f) Corporate Member – entitles applicants endorsed by the Council to be eligible for Corporate Membership, which will carry those rights and entitlements of an Affiliate Members, with a maximum of (5) members of the corporation being eligible to attend monthly meetings. In addition, this membership will entitle the Corporation to receive all specialised material sourced and published by the Institute for overall benefit of the Hotel Industry.

All applicants’ membership classification shall be determined by Council in accordance with the above guidelines.

Membership  Corporate Membership  Associate Membership  Student Membership  Affiliate Membership  Honorary Fellow Membership (no fee)  Fellow Membership (no fee)  SURNAME: GIVEN NAME(S): COMPANY NAME: POSITION: POSTAL WORK ADDRESS: WORK TELEPHONE: WORK FAX: WORK EMAIL: WORK MOBILE: HOME POSTAL ADDRESS: HOME TELEPHONE: HOME FAX: HOME EMAIL: PERSONAL MOBILE: Please send all my correspondence to my:

Work Email 

Please send me an Invoice (if required) for payment by:

Email  Mail (a receipt will be sent by mail) 

Please send me newsletter by:

Email  Mail 

Please send ‘Hotel Engineer’ to my:

Work address 

Home Email 

Home address 



QUALIFICATIONS/EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

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FEES: Membership/Associate Membership:

New Member AUD$130

Yearly Renewal AUD$100

Student Membership:

New Member AUD$90

Yearly Renewal AUD$60

Corporate Fees: New Member AUD$550

Yearly Renewal AUD$550

PAYMENT CAN BE MADE BY: NSW Chapter: Cheque payable to:

Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering (NSW) Chapter

EFT Transfer/Direct Deposit to:

BSB: 062 014 Account Number: 0090 2426 Commonwealth Bank of Australia

(Please use surname/company name as reference)

QLD Chapter: Cheque payable to:

Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering (QLD) Chapter

EFT Transfer/Direct Deposit to:

BSB: 084 462 Account Number: 205126424 National Australia Bank

(Please use surname/company name as reference)

VIC Chapter: Cheque payable to:

Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering (VIC) Chapter

EFT Transfer/Direct Deposit to:

BSB: 013 403 Account Number: 4988 69693 ANZ Ringwood Nth

(Please use surname/company name as reference)

WA Chapter: Cheque payable to:

Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering (WA) Chapter

EFT Transfer/Direct Deposit to:

BSB: 086 006 Account Number: 518 190 216 National Australia Bank

(Please use surname/company name as reference)

MAIL COMPLETED FORMS TO: NSW Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE NSW Chapter, PO Box H263, Australia Square NSW 1215 QLD Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE QLD Chapter, PO Box 5118, Gold Coast Mail Centre 9726 VIC Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE VIC Chapter, PO Box 2136, Caulfield Junction VIC 3161 WA Chapter: The Secretary, AIHE WA Chapter, PO Box 6191, East Perth WA 6892 Your membership application will be processed, which includes the following:: o Certificate of membership

o Membership number

o Member name badge

o Official AIHE receipt

* Note: Allow up to four weeks for processing.

I have read, understood and agreed to conform to the Institute’s Code of Ethics as set out, conditional upon acceptance of my application for membership.

Note: your membership includes receiving ‘Hotel Engineer’ quarterly. As the AIHE is a non-profit organisation, GST is not applicable.

Signed: Date:

FOR INSTITUTE USE ONLY Date received: Fee received: Grading: Cheque #: Entered:

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NEWS Soapaid comes to Melbourne Soapaid is a charity established to collect waste bars of room soap from hotels worldwide, send it to a central processing plant where the discarded soap is cleaned, reprocessed and boxed into new useful bars of soap. It is then shipped overseas for use in countries where hygiene and sanitation is currently a low priority.

Currently it is estimated that approximately 6000 child deaths per day are as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene, diarrhoea being one of the main causes.

As well as helping to save and improve lives for many people, by saving and collecting used room soap, your organisation will also be helping in the reduction of discarded soap that ends up in landfill.

Before Christmas, a pilot programme was launched in Sydney managed by renowned Executive Housekeeper, Maureen Jolowicz.

This proved so successful that a small similar programme was launched in Melbourne with several hotels participating. In order to extend the success of this programme, retired Executive Housekeepers Erica McDonagh and Barbara Sargeant have joined forces with Soapaid along with Marian Stratford as voluntary “ambassadors”

to assist in promoting awareness to hotels, motels and other institutions and providing assistance in doing so.

Erica and Barbara have extensive first-hand experience in the amount of waste generated having between them worked for over 76 years in large 5 star hotels both in Australia and overseas as Executive Housekeepers. Marian is still employed in the hospitality industry having worked in Housekeeping since 1996.

Just by registering on the website (www.soapaid.org) you will receive all the information you should need to assist staff as well as labels for boxes and the contact person for collection. Collection in Melbourne will be by a nominated Rotary representative at a time that is convenient to both parties.

Soapaid has partnered with several large organisations including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Rotary International, the latter who will collect locally and arrange distribution overseas. Details of these organisations can be found on the website.

Further details and support can be obtained by contacting; Erica McDonagh on 0418 502 387 Barbara Sargeant on 0407 173 943 Marian Stratford on 0411 590 136

Panasonic Alkaline Batteries Look no further than Weatherdon for competitive pricing on dependable batteries.

• Radios

We stock a range of Panasonic Alkaline batteries which are designed with a power density that enables them to last longer while still supporting industrial strength applications.

Sold in carton quantity for your convenience:

The Panasonic Industrial Alkaline series are designed to provide high performance results and reliable power for a wide range of devices.

Featuring a shelf life of up to 7 years when stored at 68°F (20°C) 80% capacity – and a 5 year shelf life for 9V batteries.

These batteries are suitable for use in the following commercial applications: • Torches • Smoke alarms

• Remote hand-held devices • AA & AAA – Cartons of 40 • C, D & 9V – Cartons of 10

Weatherdon are a proud Australian owned company with over 40 years’ experience in the hotel industry.

With our head office and warehouse distribution centrally located in Sydney, we are able to offer an efficient delivery service throughout Australia.

Contact Information: R. Weatherdon & Co. Pty. Ltd. Unit 8, 12 Frederick St. St. Leonards NSW 2065 Ph: (02) 9906 2202 Fax: (02) 9906 3466 Email: sales@weatherdon.com.au Web: www.weatherdon.com.au

• Security systems

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NEWS Reasons to Install a Verdé Solutions Hand Dryer Since their introduction into the Australian market 3 years ago, Verdé hand dryers have become the leading choice for facilities managers, architects and building specifiers alike.

They are fully tested and certified in Australia to exceed all Australian Safety standards. This means peace of mind for the specifier of the Verdé hand dryer.

The Verdé hand dryer will dry your hands in 10 seconds. No more queues of impatient patrons

in the bathroom waiting their turn to use a poorly functioning product.

All of the above features are included in the most stylish and cost effective hand dryer available.

The jet type hand dryer can typically be a “noisy” product. Verdés’ engineers have managed to make Verdé hand dryers the quietest of their type on the Australian market.

Verdé Solutions provide a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee with all of their products.

The Verdé hand dryers have a water collection tray within the unit. This means no water drips on to the floor, as is the case with other dryers. Slip Hazards are eliminated with the use of the Verdé hand dryers.

90% more cost effective than paper towel, Verdé Solutions hand dryers, provide the perfect answer to your hand drying dilemma.

For more information visit www.verdesolutions.com.au

Optical Solutions Australia OSA is Australia’s number one supplier of optical fibre based product solutions to the Communications Industry. Specialising in communications infrastructure, OSA provides an extensive range of passive and active products selected from world leading suppliers to meet our customer requirements.

We have a unique ability to service customers and projects of all sizes and have been entrusted with design, supply and support services for some of Australia’s largest infrastructure and telecommunications projects covering a multitude of industries.

Optical Solutions Australia Pty Ltd was formed in 2001 by a group of industry specialists. With

locations covering all corners of Australia, our strengths lie in our staff whose experience covers a depth of technical knowledge and awareness of industry ever changing developments that puts OSA a step ahead of our competitors. Our approach has always been to offer complete end to end solutions, designing & building networks meeting both Australian and Global Standards while maintaining compliant vendor agnostic solutions across all levels.

the mining camps we are now providing better solutions for other verticals, such as Aged Care, Gated Communities, Commercial High-rise, Hotels & Resorts, as well as Education and Health Care, providing services beyond triple play, including CCTV, Access Control, Intercom, DAS and BMS. For more information please call (07) 3399 5280 or visit www.opticalsolutions.com.au

With our core business in fibre optics and networking we are heavily involved in FTTH (Fibre to the Home) solutions such as GPON. With our partners in this market sector, we have revolutionised the way mining camps are deployed and serviced. With our award winning success in

ASSA ABLOY Hospitality ASSA ABLOY Hospitality has served as the leading global technology provider of access control and Energy Management Systems (EMS) for over 35 years.

Our advanced solutions have been further enhanced with the launch of our revolutionary new Mobile Access platform.This award-winning Seosbased technology has been designed to maximise security, operational efficiency and convenience for the Hotel market.

Mobile Access enhances the guest experience by allowing facilities to manage and assign security credentials to individuals, allowing them to access

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their rooms, using their own smart mobile device.

This enables data to be transmitted via our application, including the ability to reserve and book rooms, as well as remote check-in and check-out functionality.

efficient ongoing management.This also enhances the reputation of your hotel within the highly competitive hospitality market and provides guests with a greater sense of interaction and satisfaction by leveraging the benefits of Mobile Access.

Guests can arrive at any time and go straight to their rooms using our mobile application. With no need for keys, keycards or having to wait in a reception desk queue, guests are given a seamless and secure method that saves time and enhances the value of your Hotel.

For more information on our solutions and how they can benefit your operation, please contact our office at 1 300 796 233 or visit www.assaabloyhospitality.com

Mobile Access enables you to run a smooth arrival process for new guests , and facilitates

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