Hilton Worldwide Could be Making More Room for Schneider Electric Energy Management Solutions

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Besides being one of the best known and most respected names in the hospitality industry, Hilton is also one of the largest companies in the sector with 10 brands, more than 3,800 hotels, 140,000 team members and over 610,000 hotel rooms in 91 countries throughout the world.

Hilton has always incorporated technology to improve its efficiency as well as the experience of its guests. For example, when the company opened the high rise Dallas Hilton all the elevators, laundry chutes, airshafts, and other non-customer facilities were placed on the building’s west side. That way all of the guest rooms enjoyed a cooler environment out of the fierce glare of the western sun.

When Conrad N. Hilton opened the first hotel to bear the Hilton name in 1925, he aimed to operate the best hotel in Texas. Today, the company has a global focus to actively manage its business “through the lens of sustainability”. Consequently it has made a 5-year commitment, from 2009 – 2012 to reduce its energy consumption by 20%; to reduce CO2 emissions by 20%; to reduce waste output by 20% and reduce water consumption by 10%.

I met with Darren Cook, senior director of engineering for Hilton Worldwide, when he visited Cisco House at Olympic Park during London 2012. “Energy and the environment is an integral part of everything we do,” he told me.

“Costs are spiraling up globally as resources dry up. We have to manage them more responsibly. We tend to use Schneider Electric products wherever we can,” he said, “We have a great relationship with the guys. We have used their innovation in electrical and building controls, building management systems, and energy management and monitoring.”

As a long term customer, I asked Darren how his visit to Cisco House and participation in the business transformation tour had changed his perception of Schneider Electric as a group.

“The tour was fantastic,” Darren told me. “I didn’t realize the cooperation Schneider Electric had with Cisco, and the innovation that’s coming forward from that partnership. The use of these technologies in my environment, in building controls, is going to be invaluable going forward.”

So, what sort of opportunities does Darren Cook think the partnership opens up for Hilton Wordwide?

“Well, we’re certainly looking at Smart Buildings and Smart Grids and networks – how we can link buildings together in order to control them better is of particular interest to me,” said Darren Cook.

In addition to the building and energy management systems installed in the House, Schneider Electric showcased the core facets of a smart city: smart energy: smart mobility; smart water; smart public services; smart buildings, data centers and homes; and smart integration. It also demonstrated how energy costs can be reduced by implementing simple solutions and new business models across the entire energy lifecycle.

During 2012, Schneider Electric has announced a number of integrations with Cisco, helping to improve energy management in key constructions such as buildings, offices and data centers, these include:

• Schneider Electric Torana™ Application Server which integrates Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ architecture and the Cisco® EnergyWise™ offering.
• Schneider Electric StruxureWare^™ for Data Centers with Cisco UCS Manager Plug-In
• Schneider Electric PowerChute^® Network Shutdown and Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• Schneider Electric Convergent Building Infrastructure Solution (CBIS)