HOTREC | Energy Efficiency Report

BEST-PRACTICE INITIATIVES

BY HOTREC MEMBERS

Austria: Guidelines on energy management in the hospitality sector

Together with the former Federal Ministry for science, research and economic affairs

and the Austrian Hotelier Association (ÖHV), APHA and APRA prepared Guidelines on

energy management in the hospitality sector which is already the third edition on this

topic and has been published in May 2015.

The Guidelines cover the legal provisions of the EU-Directive on energy efficiency

(2012/27/EU) which has been implemented into national law by the Austrian Energy

Efficiency Act (entered into force on 1. January 2015).

Besides the legal situation, chapter 4 of the brochure contains many energy-efficient

measures. With the help of a rating system (expenditure of time, costs, complexity and

benefit) the brochure should help hotels and restaurants to evaluate those measures.

Other chapters contain details on financing and promotion of energy-efficiency improvements. The last part of

the Guidelines presents a number of good-practice-hotels and restaurants in Austria.

For more information:

Belgium: launch of the Energy Friendly Horeca project

Energy is a high cost for Horeca entrepreneurs. There are different obstacles explaining why entrepreneurs do not

easily take environmental oriented initiatives. There is a lack of energy efficiency knowledge. The entrepreneurs

do not have the time to train themselves or they think that the matter is over-complicated. Another reason is

the fact that many entrepreneurs do not own their infrastructure. So it is difficult to persuade them to invest into

someone else’s building.

Horeca Vlaanderen distributed in 2014 an inspiration brochure concerning energy efficiency. The brochure

contained best practices of Horeca entrepreneurs that successfully implemented environmental oriented

initiatives and the financial advantages. It was a nice brochure but it did not result in many energy efficiency

actions.

The Flemish Energy Agency (Flemish Government) organised a study (KOALA) where they did screenings of

buildings with a touristic core business: amusement parks, meeting locations, hotels, etc. Many of these buildings

also have Horeca facilities. The conclusions where that there are a lot of quick wins: small energy initiatives that

do not cost a lot of effort and investment for the entrepreneur and have a large return on investment.

With the knowledge from the results of the inspirational brochure and the KOALA study, Horeca Vlaanderen

and the Flemish Energy Agency joined forces for a new project: Energievriendelijke Horeca (i.e. Energy Friendly

Horeca). Horeca Vlaanderen unburdens the entrepreneurs and offers quick wins in environmental oriented

initiatives at beneficial rates.

Improving energy efficiency is necessary for many hospitality businesses across Europe in order to save costs

and adjust to the new climate change paradigm. To help their Members facing this challenge, national hospitality

associations have developed many initiatives and tools. This section offers a first insight at some selected best-

practice examples and initiatives which concretely help hospitality businesses maximising energy and financial

savings.

ÖsterreichischeHoteliervereinigung

Die freie Interessenvertretung

Energiemanagement

in der Hotellerie

und Gastronomie

Leitfaden, 3. Auflage

Making tourism more resource efficient: guidance and solutions to raise energy efficiency in the european hospitality industry