Putting WaterSense® to Work
Georgia Hotel Saves $1M Annually
By Maximizing Mechanical System
Sector: Hotels; Focus: Mechanical Systems
Project Summary
With water and sewer costs in Atlanta, Georgia, increasing by more
than $20 per hundred cubic feet (CCF) of water between 2000 and
2013, Hyatt Regency Atlanta has made water conservation a priority,
with a heavy emphasis on reducing water use in its cooling towers,
water-cooled equipment, and chiller and boiler systems. As a result,
the hotel used 35 percent less water in 2013 compared to 2000. Had
Hyatt Regency Atlanta continued to use as much water as it did in
2000, the drastically increased water rates would have cost the hotel
$1 million more per year in water and sewer costs.
The hotel has also encouraged water savings by engaging staff and
instituting a Green Team to help ensure that the systems put in place
are effective. By making everyone in the facility a part of the process,
Hyatt Regency Atlanta is able to promote water savings on every level.
In addition to reducing water use through mechanical and heating,
ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) best management practices,
the hotel installed high-efficiency restroom fixtures in guest rooms;
reduced exterior landscaping and supplemental irrigation; served water
only on request in its restaurants; installed high-efficiency toilets and
non-water urinals in public restrooms; and started a towel and linen
reuse program. Through these efforts, Hyatt Regency Atlanta has
managed to stay below the average utility cost per room among hotels
in Atlanta and was awarded "Top Water Saver" by the Atlanta Better
Buildings Challenge in July 2013.
Staying a Step Ahead Drives Savings
To stay at the forefront of water and energy efficiency improvements,
Hyatt Regency Atlanta developed a long-term capital plan that keeps
track of all future building system projects, such as chillers, HVAC, and
boilers that might need to be replaced. When projecting equipment
replacements, the hotel considers efficiency improvements into the life
cycle of these projects so that the return on investment (ROI) can
influence project timing. For example, if a chiller is nearing the end of
its projected useful life, replacing it with a newer, more efficient model
could translate to water and utility cost savings, influencing the timing
of the replacement.
Hyatt Regency Atlanta also optimizes water efficiency and
performance by operating all of its mechanical equipment through a
Case Study
Highlights
• Hotel: Hyatt Regency Atlanta
• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Property size: 1.5 million square
feet
• Number of guest rooms: 1,260
• Water savings: Reduced water
consumption by 35 percent
between 2000 and 2013, saving
36 million gallons of water in
2013 alone
• Cost savings: Approximately $1
million annually in water and
sewer costs
Hyatt Regency Atlanta received the
Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge "Top
Water Saver" award.
PHONE (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) WEBSITE www.epa.gov/watersense EMAlLwatersense@epa.gov
EPA-832-F-14-002-B
July 2014
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fully automated Building Automation System (BAS). You can't manage what you don't measure, and the BAS
allows the facility managers to see the operational parameters of all mechanical systems; track and trend system
water and energy use; analyze system efficiency; and focus on areas for improvement.
T $30.00
-- $25.00
- $20.00
$15.00 9
-- $10.00 O
- $5.00 a>
m
35,000
$0.00
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
As Atlanta water and sewer costs (indicated by the red line) have increased, Hyatt Regency Atlanta has
reduced its water use (indicated by the blue graph). Elimination of single-pass cooling contributed to the
major water use reductions through 2002, while cooling tower optimization, air handler condensate recovery,
and chiller and boiler replacements contributed to the major drop in consumption between 2007 and 2013.
Eliminating Inefficient Systems
Single-pass cooling systems use water to remove heat and cool equipment and require approximately 40 times
more water to remove the same amount of heat as a cooling tower. About 17 years ago, Hyatt Regency Atlanta
replaced all 25 of its single-pass cooled ice machines with air-cooled models. Recognizing the amount of water
wasted with water-cooled equipment, Hyatt Regency Atlanta eliminated the remainder of its single-pass cooling in
the early 2000s, when the hotel removed two water-cooled air handlers.
Optimizing Cooling Towers Results in Payback
Hyatt Regency Atlanta and its water treatment vendor recognized that the most significant way to reduce water
use in its six cooling towers was to increase the towers' cycles of concentration. To do so, the hotel's vendor uses
conductivity metering and trace monitoring to automate blowdown when the total dissolved solids concentration
reaches its set point, rather than initiating blowdown manually or on a timed schedule. Through this practice,
Hyatt Regency Atlanta raised its cooling tower cycles of concentration from 5.0 to 8.0 over a 15-year period.
The hotel also decided to use "free water"—condensate generated by its air handler and fan coil units—to offset
the total amount of potable water it needs to add to its cooling tower system. The condensate is naturally
generated when hot, humid air passes over the cold coils in the air handler and fan coil units. By recovering
condensate, the hotel is able to send approximately 1 million gallons of condensate water per year to its cooling
towers. Simple payback for the $12,000 condensate recovery system only took six months, driving the project's
internal ROI to more than 200 percent. To further increase its water savings, Hyatt Regency Atlanta is considering
adding a rainwater collection system to its property, which would allow captured rainwater to be used to offset the
potable water demand on the cooling tower.
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Boosting Efficiency in Chillers and
Boilers
Between 2011 and 2013, Hyatt Regency Atlanta
improved water and energy efficiency in its chiller and
boiler plants, reducing energy use by 10.6 percent.
Optimizing a chiller system for energy efficiency
reduces the heating load on the cooling tower, which
means that less water needs to be evaporated to
dissipate the reduced heat load. Likewise, energy
efficiency in the boiler system results in water efficiency.
Optimizing these two systems allowed Hyatt Regency
Atlanta to reduce water and energy use, contributing to
its overall 36 million gallons of water savings in 2013
alone.
Between 2011 and 2013, Hyatt modernized
optimized its chiller and boiler plants.
and
Acknowledgements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) WaterSense program acknowledges Hyatt Regency Atlanta
Senior Director of Engineering Randy Childers for providing information for this case study.
Learn More
To learn more about water efficiency in commercial and institutional buildings, visit the WaterSense website at
www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial to access WaterSense at Work best management practices, tools, case
studies, and more.
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