DRAFT
Case study
Savings worth £48,500
identified from resource
efficiency improvements
at a hotel
Situated in Boat of Garten in the Cairngorms National Park, the family-run Boat Hotel
has 34 rooms, a bar and a bistro. It also hosts large meetings and events that hold up
to 65 guests at a time.
Background
In 2013, the owners of the Boat Hotel wanted to
save money by improving their resource efficiency.
However, none of the staff had the necessary
expertise or skills to do this, so the hotel’s Director,
Jon Erasmus, contacted Resource Efficient Scotland
for help.
biomass system at the Boat Hotel, to provide all of
the hotel’s heating and hot water, it was estimated
that annual heating costs could be reduced by over
£16,500.
In addition, income from the Renewable Heat
Incentive (RHI), which provides funding support for
every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of renewable heat
generated for 20 years, would provide another
£24,000 a year.
Wall and loft insulation
An annex to the hotel has uninsulated cavity walls.
Typically, in a building such as this, approximately
33% of all heat lost is through the walls. Employing a
professional cavity wall installer to fill the gap
between the two walls with an insulating material
will significantly reduce heat loss and costs.
Once insulated, Resource Efficient Scotland
estimated that the Boat Hotel would save over
£3,500 a year. When the new biomass boiler is
installed, and the costs of energy reduced, the
savings could still be over £2,300 a year.
Key opportunities
Our local Implementation Advisor visited the hotel
and carried out a free, comprehensive, resource
efficiency review. This highlighted a number of key
areas where improvements could be made.
Heating
An oil-fired boiler provides heat and hot water for
the hotel. It was recommended that this should be
replaced by a biomass boiler. The new boiler could
be fired with locally sourced wood chips or wood
pellets with the final choice depending on the
system size, local availability and costs for delivery.
Modern biomass systems are clean running; can be
accurately controlled; and allow high levels of
automation, comfort and efficiencies. By installing a
“The Resource
Efficient Scotland
advice has given
us the confidence
to go ahead and
start making
improvements to
reduce our costs and
improve our green
credentials.
”Jon Erasmus
Director,
The Boat Hotel
Additional cost savings could be realised by insulating
accessible loft areas to the recommended thickness
(for example, 270mm of mineral wool insulation).
Solar photovoltaic panels
It was suggested that the Boat Hotel should
consider fitting solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to the
roof of the annex building. This will generate
renewable electricity that can be used in the hotel
and reduce annual electricity costs by £650. In
addition, the UK Government’s Feed-in Tariff
provides a revenue based on a payment for every
unit of renewable electricity generated. Taking this
into consideration, the total annual financial benefit
to the hotel would be nearly £1,600.
www.boathotel.co.uk
Case study – Savings worth £48,500 identified from resource
efficiency improvements at a hotel
Water use
A range of quick-win water saving opportunities
were also identified during the review. To reduce
water costs, it was recommended that:
• manually operated spray nozzles should be used
in the kitchen rather than leaving taps running;
and
• water saving devices should be fitted, such as
cistern volume adjusters in the toilets, aerators
on taps and showerheads, and urinal flushing
controllers.
Lighting
It was recommended that the existing tungsten
filament lamps should be replaced with light
emitting diode (LED) technology throughout the
hotel. Compared with conventional lamps, which
have a life expectancy of 1,000 hours, LEDs last for
around 50,000 hours and use about 80% less
electricity. Not only does this reduce purchase costs
and energy bills, but also cuts maintenance costs
and guest disruption because lamps do not need to
be changed as often.
Modern biomass
systems are clean
running; can be
accurately controlled;
and allow high levels of
automation, comfort
and efficiencies.
It is estimated that these simple and inexpensive
techniques could reduce the hotel’s water bill by
over £650 a year.
To find even bigger water savings, it was
recommended that the hotel should develop a
water mass balance. This will highlight where water
enters the premises and where it is used. From this,
the hotel will be able to determine where it uses
significant amounts of water and thus allow it to
identify further opportunities to reduce
consumption. It was also suggested that meter
readings should be noted late at night when guests
are asleep and compared with readings taken early
in the morning before guests wake up. If there is an
unexpected difference between the two readings,
then this could mean there is a leak, or taps or
machinery have been left running.
Business cost benefits
By implementing all of the suggestions made by
the Resource Efficient Scotland Implementation
Advisor, the Boat Hotel could realise total annual
savings of over £48,500, a significant saving for a
small, rural business.
Replication potential
The types of energy improvement and water
reduction initiatives recommended for the Boat
Hotel are relevant to organisations in many sectors
and of all sizes throughout Scotland. Whether it’s
the simple, low-cost measures or those requiring
more substantial capital investment, they will all
help to protect against rising costs and ensure the
long-term viability of a business.
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