Hotels have just seven years to...

UAE-based Farnek has launched a digital solution to support the hospitality industry’s sustainability efforts

Farnek, a green facilities management company, has launched a new online remote digital platform called PowerTek, developed by in-house experts at Farnek’s sister company HITEK.

The data-driven energy performance monitoring tool supports hotels and the wider business community, through the measuring, tracking, monitoring and benchmarking of energy and water consumption, as well as waste management.

PowerTek takes into account multiple variables that can influence a hotel’s environmental metrics such as occupancy, guest nights, number of guest rooms, F&B covers, guest profiles, staff hours, air-conditioning and weather conditions. This helps hotels to maintain higher operational efficiency, and lower costs and the associated carbon emissions.

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Farnek director of Consultancy & Sustainability, Nadia Ibrahim said: “Following the science, to prevent irreversible climate change, we must restrict the global increase in temperature to 1.5°C. To achieve this, the net emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2e) will need to be reduced by up to 50% by 2030 and reach net zero levels by around 2050.

“Putting that into perspective, according to an international study by Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, the hospitality industry needs to reduce its carbon emissions by 66% per room by 2030, and by 90% per room by 2050. Currently the hospitality industry is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These statistics clearly underscore the urgency of combating climate change. Hotels have just seven years to reduce their emissions by nearly two thirds.”

According to Farnek’s analysis, which uses data from its own hotel clients as well as comparing EGBC & Cornell Hotel benchmarking studies, four and five-star hotels have the potential to save up to 10% annually on their utility consumption.

The launch of PowerTek coincides with a recent announcement by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) to reintroduce a Carbon Calculator tool that measures the carbon footprint within Dubai’s hospitality sector.

Every month, hotels are now mandated to submit their consumption of nine carbon emission sources: electricity, water, district cooling, liquefied petroleum gas, landfill waste, recycled waste, petrol, diesel and refrigerants. This information is collated and analysed by the DET to provide industry insights on the sector’s collective carbon footprint.

For more information, visit www.farnek.com