Award-winning Energy Management

As a member of the Nikko Hotels International group, which operates 62 premium hotels around the world, the San Francisco facility also had a corporate goal of continually looking for ways to reduce its carbon footprint. The efficient performance of the Magnitude chillers contributed to the hotel's impressive track record in receiving the U.S. EPA Energy Star® Award which honors businesses that demonstrate superior energy management. Hotel Nikko San Francisco is a seven-time recipient of the Energy Star award for the hospitality industry segment."The low-maintenance Daikin chillers fit our sustainability strategy of maximizing what we can do in house. This includes energy-efficient lighting and vigilance with preventative maintenance and calibration of our equipment," says Russell Palacio, chief engineer at Hotel Nikko San Francisco.

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Meeting sustainability goals

Palacio credits the San Francisco Energy Watch program in furthering the hotel's sustainability initiatives. The Program is a joint effort of Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) and the San Francisco Department of the Environment. Its goal is twofold—help businesses lower their energy bills through energy efficiency, and help the city reduce its environmental footprint. SF Energy Watch offers free on-site energy assessments, makes recommendations for energy efficient equipment, provides financial incentives and points out ways to lower utility bills. Through the SF Energy Watch program, lighting retrofits were performed in the entire building resulting in significant energy savings.

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"SF Energy Watch staff also helped us arrange the energy rebate with our utility, PG&E, on the purchase of the two Daikin chillers," Palacio says. The PG&E utility rebate was significant, which returned a portion of the hotel's cost of purchasing and installing the chillers under a program for business retrofits. The electric savings calculated for the rebate in early 2010, following installation of the chillers, represents 15.2 percent of the baseline electric usage.

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Further energy savings resulted from the variable frequency drives (VFDs) which are integral to the compressor on the Magnitude chillers. "In San Francisco we have a peak season from May 1 to October 31 with off peak, partial peak and peak durations during the day," says Chris Reyes, assistant chief engineer at Hotel Nikko San Francisco. "With the new chillers' VFDs and their soft start capability, they don't draw a lot of amps so we can turn them on at any time and not be penalized by the utility for starting them."

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Easy integration

Hotel Nikko San Francisco uses the Metasys® building automation system (BAS) by Johnson Controls. The Daikin chillers were integrated into that BAS, through the MicroTech® II unit controller with its Open Choices^® feature. "The MicroTech chiller controller controls the pumps and our cooling tower to optimize the efficiency and performance of the chiller," Palacio says.

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Guest rooms use a stand-alone energy management system which automatically shuts off when the room is no longer occupied, another energy-saving initiative by Hotel Nikko San Francisco that doesn't compromise guest comfort.

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A system showcase

"To date, the units are performing very well. In fact, we show them to other facilities managers as a sort of showcase," Palacio says. Overall, the chiller replacement at Hotel Nikko San Francisco exemplifies how the Daikin Magnitude chiller solution raises the bar for hotel guest comfort and efficient operation, all the while contributing to a sustainable environment for employees, guests and the community of San Francisco.