Hotel Tech-in is our regular feature that takes a closer look at emerging technology in the hospitality industry.
Hotels are increasingly adopting new artificial intelligence technologies to improve operations and enhance the guest experience. At Resorts World Las Vegas, it’s the AI behind the walls that’s having a significant propertywide impact.
Resorts World recently tapped Johnson Controls to implement an AI-powered system to optimize the property’s existing central utility plant infrastructure, including water-cooled centrifugal chillers, cooling towers, water pumps and heat exchangers that power the 3,500-key resort.
Without replacing any equipment at the resort, Johnson Controls is improving operational efficiency, with its Metasys building automation system and OpenBlue AI-powered solutions. According to Resorts World, the technology has generated significant cost savings and reduced energy consumption.
To learn more about what’s happening behind the scenes at one of the largest hospitality complexes on the Strip, Hotel Dive sat down with Jamie Cameron, vice president and general manager for OpenBlue at Johnson Controls. He shared how the AI-powered plant optimization system works and what impact it can have on resort infrastructure operations as well as the guest experience.
How the system works
With Johnson Controls’ Metasys and OpenBlue technology, the central utility plant at Resorts World runs autonomously to optimize functions such as chiller staging, pump speeds and cooling tower operation in real time, Cameron shared.
The Metasys building management system provides centralized visibility and control across the property, Cameron noted. Meanwhile, the cloud-based OpenBlue technology helps predict chilled water demand and automatically determines the most efficient equipment combinations every 15 minutes.
As part of the system integration, every major piece of plant equipment at a facility has an adaptive model that predicts its energy performance and cost under all operating conditions, according to Johnson Controls. As equipment conditions change, the system adjusts the models to optimize performance.
“Understanding the life cycle of this equipment is critical so that guest service is never interrupted."
Jamie Cameron
Vice President and General Manager for OpenBlue at Johnson Controls
The technology uses several key inputs to minimize utility costs and maximize potential utility program revenues, Cameron said.
For example, seven-day weather forecasts are analyzed to predict energy loads, equipment performance and ambient conditions.
Building schedules are also taken into account to predict loads. At Resorts World, the system evaluates how many guests are at the property at a given time, accounting for weekends, holidays and special events, Cameron noted.
Additionally, equipment maintenance schedules are used to optimize systems before, during and after equipment is taken out of service, per Johnson Controls.
The plant optimization system enables the resort to respond quickly to changing conditions, improve system performance and streamline operations, according to Cameron. This, in turn, helps the property optimize costs, hit carbon- and energy-saving goals and achieve sustainability outcomes with maximum ROI.
The impact
Resorts World initially integrated Johnson Controls’ plant optimization technology “mainly for sustainability rather than cost reduction” because it wanted to reduce its carbon footprint, Cameron said.
The technology has resulted in a 10.2% reduction in chilled water plant energy usage at the resort, according to Johnson Controls. Resorts World has also seen $110,000 in annual energy cost savings.
Additionally, the system has the potential to improve the guest experience by providing a “more reliable and connected infrastructure,” Cameron said. Contributing to this is the system’s predictive maintenance function, enabling operators to have the “strategic advantage” to know exactly when equipment is going to fail.
“Understanding the life cycle of this equipment is critical so that guest service is never interrupted,” Cameron said.
Since partnering with Johnson Controls, Resorts World has “seen incredible improvements in operational efficiency … while preserving an excellent guest experience,” Brandon Morrison, head of sustainability at Resorts World, said in a statement.
