Energy consumption is directly related to the release of pollutants into the atmosphere. That is why the Sol Meliá Works and Maintenance Department continues to work towards the consolidation of the SAVE* project focused on energy savings and efficiency in hotels.
There are currently 143 hotels participating in the SAVE project (energy saving and efficiency measures are included in the SAVE project led by the Works and Maintenance Department). The hotels involved in the project must have all of their historical energy use data loaded on the Business Warehouse system to take part in the programme. Every month energy and water use in all of the hotels that take part in the project is monitored and analysed and any differences are examined. The direct energy consumption in 2008 of these 143 hotels by source is as follows: Electricity (Kwh) 332,650,780 Natural gas (m3) 6,355,482 LPG (Kg.) 3,951,668 Diesel oil (l) 7,057,070.
The initiatives have been taken in the following areas:
| Consumos 2008 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity (Kwh) | Natural Gas (m3) | LPG (Kg.) | Diesel oil (l) |
| 332,650,780 | 6,355,482 | 3,951,668 | 7,057,070 |
The initiatives developed under the SAVE project have generated savings of 2,118,227 kwh of electricity and 1,229,504 litres of water. Natural gas use has grown to 156,568 m3 thanks to the use of gas in some hotels in place of diesel oil. Gas has several advantages over other fuels thanks to its low level of emissions, low cost, continuous supply and reduced maintenance.
The initiatives have been taken in the following areas:
The Company seeks an integrated report on consumption using the SAP BW system. There are currently three types of report adapted to allow access to different levels of information and so facilitate its analysis: a monthly report for general hotel staff, an energy use report and a comparative report on average emissions of CO2.
In 2008 a new section on the SAVE project was created on the Employee Portal which provides staff with information on the energy saving measures that they could implement and is also a meeting point for sharing information on best practises applied in different business units and the results they have generated. In cooperation with the RTI (Responsible Tourism Institute), Sol Meliá has also promoted training and awareness workshops for hotel and corporate staff and proposed objectives for ratios in each SAVE hotel to make them easier to monitor and improve ratios in consumption per stay.
- Water flow regulators in taps and showers saving both water and fuel. There are currently 47 hotels that have implemented this efficient water management system, generating the following savings:
| Consumos 2008 | ||
|---|---|---|
| WATER (m3) | GAS (m3) | DIESEL OIL (l) |
| 267,198 | 156,568 | 394,056 |
- Fuel savings through additives in diesel oil. The additives are mixed with the diesel oil in boilers to achieve fuel savings, a reduction in pollution, an improvement in boiler performance, an improvement in cold weather conditions and avoiding the fuel freezing. This measure has led to savings of 131,500 litres of diesel oil.
-Standardisation of efficient systems for lighting through agreements with marketleading manufacturers. After an analysis of the most common lighting systems in different hotel public areas, a manual has been prepared to replace those systems with other more efficient systems.
- Improvements in lightingn In 2008 there were 4 investments in lighting projects which generated savings of 401,716 Kwh, and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 198,849 kg, equivalent to the planting of 9,942 trees. The projects replace incandescent, halogen or fluorescent bulbs with lowenergy, long-life bulbs, creating reductions in energy use, costs, environmental impact and waste. Electromagnetic systems were also replaced with electronic systems, lengthening the life of bulbs used in applications that are used frequently during the day such as in systems which detect human presence, generating savings of around 25% in both energy use and emissions.
In cooperation with Philips, in 2008 LED technology was used to light up the façade of the ME Madrid:
- Improvements in building cladding Investment in the installation of Solar Film at the Tryp Azafata to reduce the thermal charges on the building. Estimated reduction of 25,000 kwh per year.
Systems which detect human presence have continued to be implemented in new builds or renovations, thus optimising lighting control and reducing energy use while improving comfort for guests.
As a result of the previous measures and others taken at the beginning of the SAVE project, Sol Meliá, together with Alsa, is the first company to sign up for the System of Voluntary Commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Spanish Sustainability Observatory).
In addition to showing the Company’s commitment to sustainable development, thanks to the certification issued by Bureau Veritas, the certification process has also demonstrated the rigour applied in the measurement of consumption and reductions in energy use of emissions.
The total direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases was 209,701,083 Kg of CO2. Apart from the CO2 emissions we would like to mention another type of emission which also plays an important role in the contamination of our planet: direct emissions of NOx and SO2. For the 99 hotels that form part of the SAVE project in 2008 the emissions of these gases are the following:
| NOx | SOx |
|---|---|
| 47,919 Kg | 23,641 Kg |
Thanks to the measures applied in energy use in 2008, the reduction in CO2 emissions was 3,846,574 Kg, equivalent to the planting of 192,329 trees.
In 2008 there were two training workshops carried out with the RTI, the first in Tenerife in the Meliá Jardines del Teide attended by 26 hotel staff. The second was carried out in corporate offices in Palma de Mallorca and was attended by 30 people.
Continuing with work started in 2007 after the agreement with the Entorno Foundation- WBCSD, Sol Meliá took part in the working group on Energy and Climate Change with the Entorno foundation - WBCSD Spain made up of more than twenty companies, to work together towards meeting the challenges of climate change.
The total consumption of water in 2008 for all the participants in the SAVE project was 7,034,262 m3. Currently all of our hotels are connected to water treatment systems which are considered appropriate.
Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts is the world's largest resort hotel company and the largest hotel chain in Spain in both resort and city hotels. Sol Meliá is third in the European ranking and the twelfth largest hotel chain in the world. As well as being the resort chain in the world it is also the largest hotel company in Iberoamerica and the Caribbean. The company currently operates more than 300 hotels in 30 countries on 4 continents. Sol Meliá includes Melia, Tryp Hotels, Sol Hotels, Gran Melia, Innside, Paradisus Resorts and Me by Melia.