Analysis of Energy and Environmental Indicators for Sustainable Operation of Mexican Hotels in Tropical Climate Aided by Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This study assessed the energy-use index and carbon-footprint performance of nine medium-category Mexican hotels (two–four stars) located in tropical-climate regions. The consumption of electrical and thermal energies of each hotel was collected during audits. Based on this, various scenarios of the partial replacement of the most energy-consuming devices were evaluated and synthesized in an expert model based on artificial neural networks. The artificial-intelligence model was designed to simultaneously associate the energy-consumption indicators, environmental impact, and economic savings of hotels based on their category, location, room number, number of existing electrical or thermal devices, and their percentage of substitution with more energy-efficient technologies. The model was used to compare the various partial-technology-substitution alternatives in each hotel that could reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions based on the current values reported by the energy-use and environmental-impact indicators. The results of the proposed approach showed that even without making total replacements of equipment such as interior and exterior lighting or air conditioners, it was possible to identify configurations that could reduce the hotels’ energy use per room-year by 9–12%. In the environmental case, using more efficient technologies could reduce environmental mitigation. The proposed methodology represents an attractive option to facilitate the analyses and the decision making of administrators according to the needs of the type of hotel to improve its performance, which also affects the reduction in operating costs.