Pictures of the Future    Fall 2006

When Green Means Gold

Technology is making it possible to operate large buildings such as hotels and office complexes in an environmentally friendly manner. What’s more, intelligent networks are not only cutting costs, but attracting top customers and improving service.

Sometimes things are really simple. For instance, to protect our environment we should use as little energy and water as possible. And what about buildings? Well, naturally, the same applies to them. The latest trend with respect to the planning of hotels, offices, universities, hospitals and other large structures is therefore fittingly known as "Green Buildings." The concept encompasses the entire scope of a building’s interaction with its environment, including its compatibility with its surroundings, the types of materials used to build it, construction techniques and, of course, its technology. Operators who take these factors into account and ensure optimal networking and controlling can save a lot of money, while contributing to a sustainable environment.

Of course it’s not all that simple, since no one building is exactly like another. Furthermore, as any hotel manager will tell you, the people who use buildings can also be very demanding. Still, different goals such as reducing costs and ensuring customer satisfaction can best be reconciled through a strategy of sustainability. Siemens uses its Total Building Solutions concept to link a building’s system environments, thereby creating completely new possibilities for using and managing buildings.

There are several reasons for the popularity of the sustainability concept. First, many people are very nature-focused. They want foods containing no pesticides or hormones, clothes made of natural fibers, and furniture free of toxic materials. In addition, rising prices make saving energy attractive. Companies have responded to this trend by developing increasingly sophisticated systems such as highly efficient heating equipment and new types of water conservation systems.

It’s a Breeze. The U.S. is experiencing a sustainability boom. "Both the public and private sectors have realized that instead of generating costs, this concept can actually bring huge savings," says Richard Walker, an expert for environmentally friendly Siemens solutions in the U.S. For example, Siemens has developed and installed a particularly advanced ventilation and cooling system at the headquarters of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), an organization involved in the protection of the unique ecosystem of the largest estuary in the U.S. It’s thus not surprising that the foundation was determined to use recycled and recyclable materials to build its headquarters where possible. For example, rainwater cisterns and composting toilet systems at the building have reduced water consumption by 90 percent. Due to these efforts, CBF, whose offices are among the "greenest" in the U.S., received the platinum award for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

CBF’s ventilation system harnesses the continual breeze coming from the bay. Devices that measure humidity and temperature inside and outside the building send their data to the system, which automatically shuts down when artificial heating or cooling is no longer required. There are also illuminated displays in the offices that inform employees when to open their windows. Siemens divided the climate control areas into individual zones, which means that the lower floors can be heated even if no heat is being provided to upper floors that have been warmed by sunlight. The control system also uses sensors that register when the conference room doors to a roof garden are open, in which case it will shut down the air conditioning. This example illustrates the trend toward building automation. Implementing an energy savings concept during construction can significantly reduce investment and energy costs. For instance, the CBF headquarters building requires around two thirds less energy than a comparable conventional office building.

iPod Hotel. Siemens Building Technologies (SBT) also used a green approach to win the tender for the new Mövenpick Hotel in downtown Frankfurt. Instead of adhering to the traditional separation between electrical and building system technologies, the solution covered everything from major electrical equipment, switches and outlets to fire alarm systems, video surveillance, access control, building automation and even parking space management. The benefits are obvious. Planning services from a single source saves time and money, cable lines can be jointly used, and customers need only deal with one contact person, who also handles the final acceptance process for the entire system.

But that’s only the beginning. It is also possible to intelligently link system controls and thus offer users totally new possibilities. In search of solutions tailored to their guests’ needs, operators of high-end hotels are focusing on green hotels, business hotels and hotels with high security standards. Guests at such establishments expect perfect service. "Guests don’t want to be part of a system," says Michael Hartmann, manager of the Siemens’ Hospitality sector. "They want special attention—particularly those who travel a lot." When a frequent guest asks for champagne, the staff should know what brand that guest prefers. The same applies to other preferences, such as which flowers. Annoyances such as radio alarms that go off in the night or telephone displays that remain lit at night must be eliminated as well.

Two things are required to achieve these goals. The first is a remote control device that guests of any age can use easily. "We’re thinking here about a design similar to that of BMW’s iDrive or the iPod from Apple," Hartmann explains.

The second requirement is a new IT architecture that enables hotels to centrally manage their numerous control systems for everything from air conditioning and telephones to all back-office and monitoring functions. Siemens is currently developing both.

This invisible technology can transform many new ideas into reality. For example, using "energy score cards," hotels could offer guests a discount for their next visit if they reduce the energy consumption in their rooms. This could become a key marketing element, since environmentally conscious guests generally stay at green hotels. Another current trend is "eco-luxury," which involves resorts and lodges that meet the highest customer demands—but in an environmentally compatible manner. The design of such hotels, which are located in picturesque areas allows them to blend in with their surroundings. Bathers cool off in artificial lakes that look quite natural, instead of chlorinated pools. Water is filtered and reused, or released into neighboring irrigation systems.

Underwater Rooms. A completely opposite trend involves hotels that offer unique experiences. Such facilities are now sprouting up in the Middle East and the U.S. Dubai is currently planning a new facility known as the Flyotel, which will stretch 200 m above the sea in the shape of a wing and eclipse the famous Burj al Arab. Hotels with a total of 29,000 beds are now also being built in Dubai’s new Bawadi district, and 6,500 beds will be available in the Asia-Asia Hotel, which will be the world’s largest. In Las Vegas, Siemens is supplying much of the equipment and systems for an MGM Mirage group complex that will include a 4,000-bed hotel, a casino, shopping malls and luxury apartments (Hotels). Siemens will also be involved in another spectacular hotel project—the Hydropolis, which will be located in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai. Work on the hotel, which will have 200 rooms and be located 20 meters below sea level, is scheduled to begin this year. The hotel was planned by Munich architect Joachim Hauser for the Dubai Development and Investment Authority.

Such huge projects in the Middle East and the Unted States would be impossible without the requisite infrastructure. "You need energy and water," says Hartmann. Here, many partners worldwide rely on Siemens to help build power plants, distribution networks, water pumps and recycling facilities.

And some hotel operators are now even looking beyond the earth for new ideas. Star architect Peter Inston, for example, has already planned a "Lunar Hilton" for the Hilton Group—a moon hotel that the chain wants to open in 2050. Although that’s still quite far down the line, you can be sure Siemens will be there when construction begins.
                                                                                                             Katrin Nikolaus